2006年VOA标准英语-President Bush Set to Deliver Important Sp

By Mil Arcega
Washington, DC
31 January 2006
 
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George W. Bush  
  
U.S. President George W. Bush will lay out his vision for the year ahead when he delivers his annual state of the union address on Tuesday.  As VOA's Mil Arcega reports, the speech is an important one for the president and his political party.

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President Bush is set to deliver his sixth annual State of the Union address this week.  Political observers say this one will be crucial for the president as he tries to get his second term agenda on track. 

Jim Malone is the senior political correspondent at the Voice of America.  "Don't forget, he had a rough year in 2005.  His poll ratings went down because of Iraq, domestic energy prices and the response to Hurricane Katrina.  The State of the Union address offers him a chance to get off on the right foot for 2006 and set the political agenda."

A recent ABC News/Washington Post poll shows only 42 percent of Americans approve of the job the president is doing, down from 46 percent at the beginning of this year.

James Carville  
  
Democratic Party strategist James Carville expects the president's speech will gloss² over recent Republican Party troubles and dwell on positive themes. "The gist¹ of the speech tonight is, ‘things are better than you think.’  There's not a lot in that message but it may the best he has at the moment."

Conservative political commentator³ Bay Buchanan says the polls indicate a general discontent among Americans.  And she says the president's job will be to convince them that he's listening.

 
Bay Buchanan
  
"I think he has to say, ‘I understand we've got some problems.  Things are good in this area and this area, but I understand we have some problems.  I understand that people are getting laid off by the thousands here. We've got to address that and come up with some ideas’."

Although the president is expected to talk about some new initiatives on health care, the economy, and the use of renewable energy sources, political observers believe the president will play to his strengths and focus on issues involving national security, winning the war in Iraq and combating the emergence⁴ of Iran as a nuclear threat. 

"He needs to build on these themes because 2006 is a congressional election year in the United States and it's not just for George W. Bush and his political standing,” says Mr. Malone.  “He also wants to improve the political fortunes of Republicans in Congress who are looking to hold on to both the House and the Senate."

The State of the Union address is typically seen by more Americans than any other presidential address every year.

1 gist   

n.要旨；梗概

参考例句：

• Can you give me the gist of this report?你能告诉我这个报告的要点吗？
• He is quick in grasping the gist of a book.他敏于了解书的要点。

2 gloss   

n.光泽，光滑；虚饰；注释；vt.加光泽于；掩饰

参考例句：

• John tried in vain to gloss over his faults.约翰极力想掩饰自己的缺点，但是没有用。
• She rubbed up the silver plates to a high gloss.她把银盘擦得很亮。

3 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。

4 emergence   

n.浮现，显现，出现，（植物）突出体

参考例句：

• The last decade saw the emergence of a dynamic economy.最近10年见证了经济增长的姿态。
• Language emerges and develops with the emergence and development of society.语言是随着社会的产生而产生，随着社会的发展而发展的。