Obama, Romney resume campaign as they dash to finish line

 WASHINGTON, Nov. 1 (Xinhua) -- With superstorm Sandy dissipating, U.S. President Barack Obama and his Republican challenger Mitt¹ Romney are on Thursday back on the campaign trail, trying to make up for the lost time as they dash towards the finish line.

At a campaign rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Obama said the U.S. economy is turning around under his leadership, but Romney is advocating "top down" economics that preceded the downturn.

The president continued to tout² his own record, citing the health care law, new financial regulations, education and research programs, and efforts to reduce federal debt by raising taxes on the wealthy as well as budget cuts.

He derided³ Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, for advocating for change, a slogan made famous by Obama in 2008.

"We know what change looks like," Obama said. "What the governor's offering sure ain't change."

Obama, who canceled campaign events for the first half of the week, is holding three events Thursday, besides Wisconsin, he is also visiting Las Vegas, Nevada, and Denver, Colorado, trying to solidify⁴ his razor-thin lead in those swing states.

Romney, on the other hand, is playing defense⁵ in Virginia, where latest polls have shown his momentum⁶ has stalled. He is holding three events in Roanoke, Doswell and Virginia Beach, all in the Republican leaning southern part of the state.

During his speech delivered in Roanoke, Romney wasted little time before he ended the informal political truce⁷ with Obama when Sandy hit, and resumed attacks on the president's record.

"Do you want four more years like the last four years? Do you want four more years where 23 million Americans are struggling to have a good job? Do you want four more years where earnings⁸ are going down every year? Do you want four more years of trillion- dollar deficits⁹ in Washington?" asked Romney. "There's no question in my view that we really can't have four more years like the last four years."

Noting the Obama campaign has been playing game with his last name, Romney suggested that Chicago should change their slogan of "forward" to "forewarned."

"I know the Obama folks are chanting four more years, four more years, but our chant is this -- five more days, five more days," said Romney.

The two candidates are making closing arguments before Americans head to polling stations across the country next Tuesday, and at the same time trying to make up for the lost time when Sandy hit, cramming¹⁰ over a dozen events into the last several days.

1 mitt   

n.棒球手套，拳击手套，无指手套；vt.铐住，握手

参考例句：

• I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日，我送给他一只棒球手套。
• Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。

2 tout   

v.推销，招徕；兜售；吹捧，劝诱

参考例句：

• They say it will let them tout progress in the war.他们称这将有助于鼓吹他们在战争中的成果。
• If your case studies just tout results,don't bother requiring registration to view them.如果你的案例研究只是吹捧结果，就别烦扰别人来注册访问了。

3 derided   

v.取笑，嘲笑( deride的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• His views were derided as old-fashioned. 他的观点被当作旧思想受到嘲弄。
• Gazing up to the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity. 我抬头疑视着黑暗，感到自己是一个被虚荣心驱使和拨弄的可怜虫。 来自辞典例句

4 solidify   

v.(使)凝固，(使)固化，(使)团结

参考例句：

• Opinion on this question began to solidify.对这个问题的意见开始具体化了。
• Water will solidify into ice if you freeze it.水冷冻会结冰。

5 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

6 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

7 truce   

n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束

参考例句：

• The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。
• She had thought of flying out to breathe the fresh air in an interval of truce.她想跑出去呼吸一下休战期间的新鲜空气。

8 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

9 deficits   

n.不足额( deficit的名词复数 )；赤字；亏空；亏损

参考例句：

• The Ministry of Finance consistently overestimated its budget deficits. 财政部一贯高估预算赤字。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Many of the world's farmers are also incurring economic deficits. 世界上许多农民还在遭受经济上的亏损。 来自辞典例句

10 cramming   

n.塞满，填鸭式的用功v.塞入( cram的现在分词 )；填塞；塞满；（为考试而）死记硬背功课

参考例句：

• Being hungry for the whole morning, I couldn't help cramming myself. 我饿了一上午，禁不住狼吞虎咽了起来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She's cramming for her history exam. 她考历史之前临时抱佛脚。 来自《简明英汉词典》