VOA慢速英语2011--Rahm Emanuel Gets Ready for New Job as M

THIS IS AMERICA - Rahm Emanuel Gets Ready for New Job as Mayor of Chicago

BOB DOUGHTY¹: Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I’m Bob Doughty.
FAITH LAPIDUS: And I'm Faith Lapidus. This week on our program we look at the interesting political life of America's third largest city, Chicago.
(MUSIC)
BARACK OBAMA: "Hello, Chicago! [Applause.] It is good to be back in Chicago! [Applause.]"
BOB DOUGHTY: Chicago, Illinois, is the hometown of President Obama. He appeared at three fund-raising events on April fourteenth -- the first events of his campaign for re-election next year.
Mr. Obama is basing his campaign headquarters in Chicago. He pointed² out that this is the first time in modern history that a sitting president has based a re-election campaign outside of Washington.
Rahm Emanuel smiles as he talks to his supporters and volunteers at his campaign office in Chicago
BARACK OBAMA: "This is the city where I got my start in politics twenty-five years ago, working with churches on the South Side to bring jobs to the jobless and hope to the hopeless. It’s where I stood with so many of you in Grant Park, almost two and a half years ago when we showed the world that all things are possible in the United States of America. [Applause.]"
VOICE TWO: Soon another notable event will take place in Chicago. Richard M. Daley is retiring as mayor of the city. Mayor Daley has led Chicago for twenty-two years, since nineteen eighty-nine.
Chicagoans have elected Rahm Emanuel as their next mayor. Mr. Emanuel served as chief of staff to President Obama. He has also served as a Democratic congressman³ from the Chicago area.
Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley
On May sixteenth Rahm Emanuel will become the top political leader of a city famous for its politics, long controlled by Democrats⁴. In fact, Chicago has not had a Republican mayor in eighty years, since William "Big Bill" Thompson left office in nineteen thirty-one.
BOB DOUGHTY: Chicago is a big place to govern -- the business center of the Midwest. The city lies along the shore of one of the Great Lakes, Lake Michigan. Some of the wealthiest people in Chicago live in the high-rise buildings along the lakeshore.
Chicago is divided into fifty legislative⁵ areas called wards⁷. Each ward⁶ elects a representative known as an alderman to the Chicago City Council.
Last year's national census⁸ found that two million seven hundred thousand people were living in the city. That was a decrease of about seven percent since the last census in two thousand.
The population is racially and ethnically⁹ mixed. Whites are the largest group at forty-five percent. The city also has large numbers of blacks and Hispanics. And it has large numbers of people who work in Chicago but live in the growing suburbs outside the city.
FAITH LAPIDUS: The most influential¹⁰ political organization in Chicago is the Cook County Democratic Party. The organization is also known as the "Chicago Machine" or simply "The Machine." Many of its leaders have been of Irish, Polish and other immigrant ancestry¹¹.
Chicago is often called "the city that works." At its best, the machine has made things work smoothly¹². But at its worst, the centering of power in one group has led to cases of corruption¹³ over the years.
Professor James Thurber directs a political studies center at American University in Washington. Professor Thurber says an effective political machine depends on a well-organized party that treats its supporters well.
JAMES THURBER: "When I think of Chicago politics, I think of politics built on well-disciplined machines, machines that get people jobs. They actually make sure that certain streets get ploughed and other streets do not get ploughed when there is a snowstorm. They control recruitment of who goes into political office. And if you are not loyal to the machine, and the policy of the machine, you are out.”
Professor Thurber points out that many American cities had political machines in the past. But around the nineteen hundreds, a change took place. Cities began to give jobs to civil service employees instead of political appointees. But Professor Thurber says in Chicago, the tradition of a skillfully operated political machine continued.
JAMES THURBER: "It slowly is declining in its effectiveness, though."
(MUSIC)
BOB DOUGHTY: Mayor Daley won seventy percent of the vote in his last election in two thousand seven. Chicagoans elected him six times. But last September, he surprised many people with this announcement.
RICHARD M. DALEY: "Today I am announcing that I will not seek a seventh term as mayor of the city of Chicago. Simply put, it is time. It is time for me, it is time for Chicago, to move on. Improving Chicago has been the ongoing¹⁴ work of my life. I loved every minute of it."
Mayor Daley's father, Richard J. Daley, was also mayor for many years. He was first elected in nineteen fifty-five. Over the years he played an influential part in national politics in the Democratic Party. Richard J. Daley led Chicago for twenty-one years. He died in office in nineteen seventy-six, thirteen years before his son became mayor.
Another of his sons, John Daley, is a Cook County commissioner¹⁵. And another son, William Daley, is now chief of staff to President Obama. Remember? That's the job Rahm Emanuel held until last October.
VOICE TWO: Mayor Daley led improvements in the downtown, lakefront and North Side areas. He put a garden on the roof of City Hall. And he supported the building of Millennium¹⁶ Park near Lake Michigan. People go there for music, theater, ice skating and other entertainment.
But in two thousand nine, even with support from President Obama, Chicago lost its campaign to host the Summer Olympics. Olympic organizers chose Rio de Janeiro for twenty-sixteen, awarding the games to South America for the first time.
(MUSIC)
BOB DOUGHTY: Chicago's next mayor, Rahm Emanuel, says he wants make the streets safer, especially for children on their way to school. Gangs are a problem, and in the past few years a number of young people have been attacked by other young people.
Mr. Emanuel says he also wants to improve the city's finances. Chicago is struggling with a budget deficit¹⁷ of more than six hundred fifty million dollars.
Rahm Emanuel was elected in February with fifty-five percent of the vote. He will be the city's first Jewish mayor. He defeated five other candidates.
RAHM EMANUEL: "What makes this vote gratifying is that it was built on votes from every corner of this city, from people who believe that a common set of challenges must be met with a common purpose."
But the election provided a fresh example of the rough politics for which Chicago is known. Rahm Emanuel had to go through a legal fight all the way to the Illinois Supreme¹⁸ Court just to get on the ballot¹⁹.
Some Chicagoans accused him of failing to meet residency requirements as a candidate for mayor. Mr. Emanuel argued that he was still a legal resident of Chicago even when he was serving the president in Washington.
He helped Mr. Obama move from the Senate to the White House in the two thousand eight election. But he also has a lot of experience in local politics. He helped raise record amounts of money for Mayor Daley's election in nineteen eighty-nine.
FAITH LAPIDUS: American University Professor James Thurber says Rahm Emanuel will need the cooperation of the Chicago City Council to succeed. But Don Rose, a longtime political commentator²⁰ in Chicago, says it remains²¹ to be seen if the new mayor will get the support of Alderman Edward Burke. Mr. Burke is sometimes called the most powerful alderman in Chicago.
Mr. Emanuel will be seeing some new faces on the fifty-member council. Eighteen new members have been chosen in the past four years.
(MUSIC)
BOB DOUGHTY: Politics is not the only game in Chicago. The city has two major league baseball teams, the White Sox and the Cubs²³. Fans of the Cubs are famous for their loyalty²⁴ to a team that has not won a World Series championship since nineteen eight. "Everyone loves a loser, and the Cubs are exactly that," says Roy Olson, a former sportswriter and a Cub²² fan since childhood.
But no matter what happens in sports or politics, Chicagoans have their music. Blues²⁵ is a traditional favorite. So is jazz which can be found in clubs from Rush Street to the city limits and beyond.
In nineteen seventy-five, John Kander, Fred Ebb²⁶ and Bob Fosse opened a Broadway musical called "Chicago." The show makes fun of crime and corruption in the city during the nineteen twenties. It takes place during Prohibition²⁷, the period when the United States banned alcohol.
The musical has led to a movie and foreign productions. It remains a popular song-and-dance show for theatergoers in New York.
Here are jazz pianist Brad Ellis and his Little Big Band playing a piece from "Chicago" called "All That Jazz."
(MUSIC)
The music sounds sweet and energetic and simple and complex -- not so different from the city itself.
(MUSIC)
FAITH LAPIDUS: Our program was written by Jerilyn Watson and produced by Brianna Blake. I’m Faith Lapidus.
BOB DOUGHTY: And I’m Bob Doughty. You can read and listen to our programs and get podcasts at voaspecialenglish.com. Join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.

1 doughty   

adj.勇猛的，坚强的

参考例句：

• Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质：脾气倔强，性格刚强。
• The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。

2 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

3 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

4 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

6 ward   

n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开

参考例句：

• The hospital has a medical ward and a surgical ward.这家医院有内科病房和外科病房。
• During the evening picnic,I'll carry a torch to ward off the bugs.傍晚野餐时，我要点根火把，抵挡蚊虫。

7 wards   

区( ward的名词复数 )； 病房； 受监护的未成年者； 被人照顾或控制的状态

参考例句：

• This hospital has 20 medical [surgical] wards. 这所医院有 20 个内科[外科]病房。
• It was a big constituency divided into three wards. 这是一个大选区，下设三个分区。

8 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

9 ethnically   

adv.人种上，民族上

参考例句：

• Ethnically, the Yuan Empire comprised most of modern China's ethnic groups. 元朝的民族成分包括现今中国绝大多数民族。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• Russia is ethnically relatively homogeneous. 俄罗斯是个民族成分相对单一的国家。 来自辞典例句

10 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

11 ancestry   

n.祖先，家世

参考例句：

• Their ancestry settled the land in 1856.他们的祖辈1856年在这块土地上定居下来。
• He is an American of French ancestry.他是法国血统的美国人。

12 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

13 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

14 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

15 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

16 millennium   

n.一千年，千禧年；太平盛世

参考例句：

• The whole world was counting down to the new millennium.全世界都在倒计时迎接新千年的到来。
• We waited as the clock ticked away the last few seconds of the old millennium.我们静候着时钟滴答走过千年的最后几秒钟。

17 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

18 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

19 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。

20 commentator   

n.注释者，解说者；实况广播评论员

参考例句：

• He is a good commentator because he can get across the game.他能简单地解说这场比赛，是个好的解说者。
• The commentator made a big mistake during the live broadcast.在直播节目中评论员犯了个大错误。

21 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。

22 cub   

n.幼兽，年轻无经验的人

参考例句：

• The lion cub's mother was hunting for what she needs. 这只幼师的母亲正在捕猎。
• The cub licked the milk from its mother's breast. 这头幼兽吸吮着它妈妈的奶水。

23 cubs   

n.幼小的兽，不懂规矩的年轻人( cub的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a lioness guarding her cubs 守护幼崽的母狮
• Lion cubs depend on their mother to feed them. 狮子的幼仔依靠母狮喂养。 来自《简明英汉词典》

24 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

25 blues   

n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐

参考例句：

• She was in the back of a smoky bar singing the blues.她在烟雾弥漫的酒吧深处唱着布鲁斯歌曲。
• He was in the blues on account of his failure in business.他因事业失败而意志消沉。

26 ebb   

vi.衰退，减退；n.处于低潮，处于衰退状态

参考例句：

• The flood and ebb tides alternates with each other.涨潮和落潮交替更迭。
• They swam till the tide began to ebb.他们一直游到开始退潮。

27 prohibition   

n.禁止；禁令，禁律

参考例句：

• The prohibition against drunken driving will save many lives.禁止酒后开车将会减少许多死亡事故。
• They voted in favour of the prohibition of smoking in public areas.他们投票赞成禁止在公共场所吸烟。