VOA慢速英语2020--彭斯是极端保守派

Vice¹ President Mike Pence, a Loyal Conservative

Editor's Note: Today's profile is of Vice President Mike Pence, the Republican Party vice presidential nominee². Check in tomorrow for a profile of Sen. Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party vice presidential nominee.

Vice President Mike Pence was not known in many parts of the United States four years ago when Donald Trump³ named him as his choice for vice president.

At the time, Pence was the governor of Indiana. Before that, he had served six terms in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Over 16 years in elected office, Pence built a solid record of supporting conservative policies and legislation. He also developed close ties to evangelical Christians⁵, an influential⁶ group of conservative voters. Some political observers believe they might make up one fourth of the U.S. electorate⁷.

In his 2016 election victory, Trump won a large percentage of the evangelical vote. Part of the reason was the Republican Party's nomination⁸ of Mike Pence as vice president.

From his earliest days as a politician, Pence has described himself as "a Christian⁴, a conservative and a Republican, in that order."

As vice president, Pence is known for his loyalty⁹ to Trump. However, during the 2016 campaign, he did criticize him. After the release of a video of Trump making insulting comments about women, Pence said, "I do not condone¹⁰ his remarks and cannot defend them."

The 61-year-old Pence has been married to his wife Karen, a schoolteacher, for 35 years. The two have three children.

Greg Pence, the vice president's older brother, serves in the U.S. House of Representatives. He represents an area just east of Indianapolis, Indiana's capital.

A rising politician lawmaker

Mike Pence grew up in Indiana. He earned a law degree and worked as a lawyer before turning to politics. He lost his first two campaigns for a seat in the House in 1988 and 1990. But Pence kept his voice and face before Indiana voters, working as a conservative radio and television talk show host from 1994 to 1999.

In 2000, he won the first of six two-year terms in Congress, where he established a conservative voting record and became an influential member of the Republican Party. During one term, he was chairman of the Republican Study Committee, a group of conservative lawmakers. But he lost a vote to become the Republican minority leader at a time the Democratic Party controlled the House.

During his 12 years in Congress, he proposed 90 bills and resolutions, but none of them became law.

Pence as governor of Indiana

Pence won the Indiana governorship in 2012 and continued his support of issues important to conservatives. He signed measures aimed at cutting taxes and restricting a woman's right to end her pregnancy¹¹.

He also signed a law blocking local governments in the state from requiring businesses to pay wages and aid to workers more than what is required by federal law.

In an issue that got national attention, Pence signed a measure called the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The law gave individuals and companies permission to say that their religious rights would likely be hurt if they were required to treat all customers the same. Conservatives in the state and in other places used the measure to oppose the legalization of same-sex marriages.

But after protests from some Republicans and businesses that said they would refuse to move to the state or expand existing operations, Pence compromised. He amended¹² the law to bar discrimination based on sexuality or gender¹³ identity.

As vice president

Pence faced his biggest test as vice president when the coronavirus health crisis reached the United States in early 2020. Trump asked him to oversee¹⁴ the government's effort to limit the spread of the virus or "flatten¹⁵ the curve." Pence has been leading the administration's effort for testing and treatment while also supporting research to develop a vaccine¹⁶.

Pence chaired meetings of the White House coronavirus task force. And for several weeks, he spoke¹⁷ about the fight against the coronavirus at nationally televised press conferences. During these meetings, he answered questions from reporters.

Pence has been criticized for reporting progress against the virus in the U.S. as tens of thousands of Americans died from COVID-19 and tens of millions of workers lost their jobs. In private meetings, Pence urged Republican senators to note "encouraging signs" in the country's battle against the virus.

Pence repeated the administration's position that the number of cases in the U.S. was rising because the country was doing more testing. Critics have said that this position ignores that by June 2020, the number of cases was rising in states and cities that were largely free of the virus in March and April.

In June, Pence wrote an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal. In it, he argued that there was too much panic over the coronavirus. He praised Trump and said the U.S. "public health system is far stronger than it was four months ago, and we are winning the fight against the invisible enemy." He also blamed some in the news media for creating fear over the spread of the virus.

Coronavirus crisis continues

The increase in coronavirus cases has slowed nationwide, but not stopped. The Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering has been following the spread of the virus. It reports that the U.S. has over 6 million confirmed cases, with more than 183,000 deaths reported.

I'm Mario Ritter, Jr.

Words in This Story

electorate – n. the people who can vote in an election

condone – v. to forgive or approve of something

degree –n. an official document that is given to someone who has successfully completed studies at a university or college

host – n. a person who talks on a radio or television program

customers – n. someone who buys goods or services from a business

encouraging – adj. causing a hopeful feeling

panic – n. sudden, overpowering fright

1 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

2 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

3 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

4 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

5 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

6 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。

7 electorate   

n.全体选民；选区

参考例句：

• The government was responsible to the electorate.政府对全体选民负责。
• He has the backing of almost a quarter of the electorate.他得到了几乎1/4选民的支持。

8 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

9 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。

10 condone   

v.宽恕；原谅

参考例句：

• I cannot condone the use of violence.我不能宽恕使用暴力的行为。
• I will not condone a course of action that will lead us to war.我绝不允许任何导致战争的行为。

11 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

12 Amended   

adj. 修正的 动词amend的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He asked to see the amended version. 他要求看修订本。
• He amended his speech by making some additions and deletions. 他对讲稿作了些增删修改。

13 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

14 oversee   

vt.监督，管理

参考例句：

• Soldiers oversee the food handouts.士兵们看管着救济食品。
• Use a surveyor or architect to oversee and inspect the different stages of the work.请一位房产检视员或建筑师来监督并检查不同阶段的工作。

15 flatten   

v.把．．．弄平，使倒伏；使(漆等)失去光泽

参考例句：

• We can flatten out a piece of metal by hammering it.我们可以用锤子把一块金属敲平。
• The wrinkled silk will flatten out if you iron it.发皱的丝绸可以用熨斗烫平。

16 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

17 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。