2006年VOA标准英语-Senate Hearings on Supreme Court Nominee B

By Deborah Tate
Washington
08 January 2006

In Washington, The Senate Judiciary Committee begins a week of hearings Monday on the nomination¹ of Judge Samuel Alito to the Supreme² Court. Appeals Court Judge Alito is expected to face tough questions, dealing³ with a range of issues, from presidential war powers and abortion⁴ rights to civil liberties and the death penalty.

Samuel Alito (File photo)  
  
If confirmed, Judge Alito, a political conservative, would succeed retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, a centrist, who often cast the deciding vote in five-to-four decisions in controversial cases on the closely divided court. So, critics fear he could shift the high court's ideological⁵ balance.

Many Democrats⁷ are concerned Judge Alito may try to overturn the landmark⁸ 1973 Supreme Court case, known as Roe⁹ versus¹⁰ Wade¹¹, which legalized abortion. They cite a 1985 memo¹² he wrote in an application for a job with the Reagan administration, in which he said the Constitution does not protect a right to an abortion.

Senator Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat⁶ and member of the Judiciary Committee, addressed the issue on Fox News Sunday. "My question is, are his views, let's say, on abortion, the same as they were in 1985, when he wrote in an application that the Constitution does not protect a woman's rights in this area?" she said. "Now, if that is true, and he still holds to that, this will make him a very difficult nominee¹³ for many of us."

But the Republican chairman of the committee, Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, says Judge Alito assured him during meetings late last year that his personal views on abortion would not affect his legal decisions.

A key question for Senator Specter will be the judge's views on the recent disclosure that President Bush ordered, without warrants, spying on Americans with suspected terrorist ties. He spoke¹⁴ on CBS's Face the Nation.

"You have what appears to be a conflict between the president's claim of executive war powers to eavesdrop¹⁵, without a warrant, and a conflict with what the Congress has done on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act," he said. "I think it is a fair inquiry¹⁶, and I intend to press the question with Judge Alito as to how he would approach these issues on a jurisprudential [basis]."

Senator Specter says he plans to hold hearings on the domestic surveillance program in early February.

Supporters of Judge Alito say he is a mainstream¹⁷ conservative, who is well-qualified¹⁸ to serve on the high court. Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, spoke on Fox News Sunday. "He is the most qualified person to be nominated to the Supreme Court in 70 years, in terms of judicial¹⁹ experience," he said.

The hearings begin with opening statements from all 18 members of the Judiciary Committee, followed by Judge Alito's opening statement.

Senators will begin at least two days of questioning of the nominee on Tuesday. Later in the week, about 30 witnesses will testify for or against the nomination. The committee is tentatively scheduled to vote to send the nomination to the full Senate on January 17.

Despite likely opposition²⁰ from Democrats, Judge Alito is expected to be confirmed by the full, Republican-led Senate by the end of the month.

1 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。

2 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。

3 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

4 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

5 ideological   

a.意识形态的

参考例句：

• He always tries to link his study with his ideological problems. 他总是把学习和自己的思想问题联系起来。
• He helped me enormously with advice on how to do ideological work. 他告诉我怎样做思想工作，对我有很大帮助。

6 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

7 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》

8 landmark   

n.陆标，划时代的事，地界标

参考例句：

• The Russian Revolution represents a landmark in world history.俄国革命是世界历史上的一个里程碑。
• The tower was once a landmark for ships.这座塔曾是船只的陆标。

9 roe   

n.鱼卵；獐鹿

参考例句：

• We will serve smoked cod's roe at the dinner.宴会上我们将上一道熏鳕鱼子。
• I'll scramble some eggs with roe?我用鱼籽炒几个鸡蛋好吗？

10 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

11 wade   

v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉

参考例句：

• We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
• We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。

12 memo   

n.照会，备忘录；便笺；通知书；规章

参考例句：

• Do you want me to send the memo out?您要我把这份备忘录分发出去吗？
• Can you type a memo for me?您能帮我打一份备忘录吗？

13 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。

14 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。

15 eavesdrop   

v.偷听，倾听

参考例句：

• He ensconced himself in the closet in order to eavesdrop.他藏在壁橱里，以便偷听。
• It is not polite to eavesdrop on the conversation of other people.偷听他人说话是很不礼貌的。

16 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

17 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

18 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

19 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

20 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。