U.S. state Maryland's legislature approves same sex marriage

 　　WASHINGTON, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- U.S. state of Maryland's legislature on Thursday approved same sex marriage and the state's Democratic governor is expected to sign it into law.

　　The state Senate voted 25-22 to approve the law, less than a week after the House of Delegates passed the measure in a tight vote. The state's Governor Martin O'Malley is expected to sign the legislation. He is a supporter of the bill. It will make Maryland the eighth state to legalize gay marriage.

　　The measure's opponents have vowed¹ to bring it to referendum in November. They will need to gather at least 55,726 valid² signatures of Maryland voters to put it on the ballot³.

　　So far, seven U.S. states, including Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont and Washington and the District of Columbia have legalized same sex marriage, but the issue remains⁴ highly controversial in the United States.

1 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

2 valid   

adj.有确实根据的；有效的；正当的，合法的

参考例句：

• His claim to own the house is valid.他主张对此屋的所有权有效。
• Do you have valid reasons for your absence?你的缺席有正当理由吗？

3 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

4 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。