万花筒2008-03-16:Stand by Your Man

Why so many woman support their husbands when scandal hits

Govenor Spitzer was not alone at the podium, he was joined by his wife of more than 20 years, Silda Wall Spitzer. Why do these spouses² of high-profile men remain by their side in the midst of a scandal? Here’s ABC’s Jeremy Hubbard. 

I apologize first and most importantly to my family

It has become a familiar scene, a politician caught up in a sex scandal addressing the media, his supportive humiliated³ wife by his side. Yesterday was New York governor Eliot Spitzer. A few weeks ago, the mayor of Detroit. A few months ago, Idaho senator Larry Craig.

Let me be clear. I’m not gay, I never have been gay.

Well psychologists understand why high profile men sometimes do the things they do.

After you have accomplished⁴ so much, it’s just like what’s next. They need that next jolt⁵, that next excitement.

What some people can’t understand is why do the wives stand by their men.

My heart just aches for her, because I know the pain that you know she was just enduring right now.

Dina Matos understands better than most. You'll remember back in 2004 when she stood alongside her husband then New Jersey⁶ governor Jim McGreevey as he came out of the closet.

For me, I was there because I loved him.

She said she stayed with McGreevey for the sake of her daughter. The couple later went through a high-profile nasty divorce. From the days of Gary Hart’s dalliances to Bill Clinton’s denials the wives are often the ones who were criticized and scrutinized⁷ for sticking with their spouse¹ and as this latest scandal unfolds, an unwilling⁸ expert has a piece of advice for the wife of New York's embattled governor.

Just do what you think is right, not what’s politically expedient⁹, not what people want you to do.

Jeremy Hubbard, ABC news.

And here’s one indication of the enormous interest in the story, the website of the New York Times which broke the Spitzer story crashed yesterday for only the third time because there was too much traffic. The last time this happened was on 9/11th and two months later when an airplane crashed in Queens. The site has ten times more bandwidth today than it did then

1 spouse   

n.配偶(指夫或妻)

参考例句：

• Her spouse will come to see her on Sunday.她的丈夫星期天要来看她。
• What is the best way to keep your spouse happy in the marriage?在婚姻中保持配偶幸福的最好方法是什么？

2 spouses   

n.配偶，夫或妻( spouse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Jobs are available for spouses on campus and in the community. 校园里和社区里有配偶可做的工作。 来自辞典例句
• An astonishing number of spouses-most particularly in the upper-income brackets-have no close notion of their husbands'paychecks. 相当大一部分妇女——特别在高收入阶层——并不很了解他们丈夫的薪金。 来自辞典例句

3 humiliated   

感到羞愧的

参考例句：

• Parents are humiliated if their children behave badly when guests are present. 子女在客人面前举止失当，父母也失体面。
• He was ashamed and bitterly humiliated. 他感到羞耻，丢尽了面子。

4 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

5 jolt   

v.（使）摇动，（使）震动，（使）颠簸

参考例句：

• We were worried that one tiny jolt could worsen her injuries.我们担心稍微颠簸一下就可能会使她的伤势恶化。
• They were working frantically in the fear that an aftershock would jolt the house again.他们拼命地干着，担心余震可能会使房子再次受到震动。

6 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

7 scrutinized   

v.仔细检查，详审( scrutinize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The jeweler scrutinized the diamond for flaws. 宝石商人仔细察看钻石有无瑕庇 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Together we scrutinized the twelve lemon cakes from the delicatessen shop. 我们一起把甜食店里买来的十二块柠檬蛋糕细细打量了一番。 来自英汉文学 - 盖茨比

8 unwilling   

adj.不情愿的

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。

9 expedient   

adj.有用的，有利的；n.紧急的办法，权宜之计

参考例句：

• The government found it expedient to relax censorship a little.政府发现略微放宽审查是可取的。
• Every kind of expedient was devised by our friends.我们的朋友想出了各种各样的应急办法。