2006年VOA标准英语-Political Controversy Over Ports May be Di

By Jim Malone
Washington
10 March 2006

 
President Bush 
  
The decision by a company based in Dubai to abandon efforts to take over management of several large U.S. ports may have diffused¹ a political controversy² that pitted President Bush against some of his most loyal Republican supporters in Congress.  Opposition³ to the Dubai company's plan had sparked strong opposition from both Republicans and Democrats⁴.

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The decision by Dubai Ports World came as a relief both to the White House and Republican congressional leaders.

Republicans, like California Congressman⁵ Jerry Lewis, had led the charge in opposing the deal.

"This is a national security bill," said Lewis.  "We want to make sure that the security of our ports is in America's hands."

Public opinion polls show Americans opposed the operation of major seaports⁶ by a company based in Dubai. The deal also faced strong bipartisan opposition in Congress.

Political analyst⁷ Michael Barone says it is the latest example of strains between President Bush and his conservative Republican supporters in Congress.

"And a lot of his conservative Republicans have complaints on spending, on immigration, and many of them oppose temporary guest worker programs," said Barone.  "They did not like the [Supreme Court] nomination⁸ of Harriet Miers, which was withdrawn⁹, and they really do not like this Dubai ports deal, I think in part, because public opinion has been so steadily¹⁰ against it."

Another analyst, Thomas Mann of the Brookings Institution in Washington, sees the collapse¹¹ of the port deal as a major political setback¹² for President Bush.

"Frankly¹³, this goes well beyond his conservative base," said Mann.  "The problem to most Americans across parties is that it goes to a matter of competence¹⁴, and reinforces the reaction they had after Hurricane Katrina."

The decision by Dubai Ports World to turn over management of the ports to a U.S. entity¹⁵ seemed to satisfy many of those who had opposed Dubai involvement on national security grounds.

"This is over," said Republican Congressman Peter King of New York.  "We can all go forward and there is no acrimony, there is no more problem, there is no more division. We all stand together."

President Bush had threatened to veto any congressional attempts to block the deal.  And even though the political squabble with his fellow Republicans may be settled for now, Mr. Bush does worry about the implications for U.S. foreign relations.

"I am concerned about a broader message this issue could send to our friends and allies around the world, particularly in the Middle East," said Mr. Bush.  "In order to win the war on terror, we have got to strengthen our relationships and friendships with moderate Arab countries in the Middle East."

Political analysts¹⁶ say the administration misjudged the intensity¹⁷ of public opposition to the ports deal, especially with the focus on security in the wake of the 2001 terrorist attacks.

Karlyn Bowman monitors public opinion at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington.

"Most Americans believe that there will be another terrorist attack on our soil," she said.  "A good chunk¹⁸ of them believe that they themselves could be victims of terrorism.  And so, it is always in the background, concern about another terrorist attack in the United States."

The ports deal controversy has not helped the president's public approval ratings, which are already depressed¹⁹, largely because of the situation in Iraq.

Several recent surveys place Mr. Bush's approval ratings between 34 and 41 percent.
 
 

1 diffused   

散布的，普及的，扩散的

参考例句：

• A drop of milk diffused in the water. 一滴牛奶在水中扩散开来。
• Gases and liquids diffused. 气体和液体慢慢混合了。

2 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

3 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。

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 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。

6 seaports   

n.海港( seaport的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Airports have joined seaports as ports of entry for the visiting foreigner. 机场和海港一样成为来访的外国人的入境关口。 来自互联网
• Sanya has 16 seaports, 10 islands and 180km of coastline. 三亚有16个港口、10个海岛和180公里的海岸线。 来自互联网

7 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

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 withdrawn   

vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出

参考例句：

• Our force has been withdrawn from the danger area.我们的军队已从危险地区撤出。
• All foreign troops should be withdrawn to their own countries.一切外国军队都应撤回本国去。

10 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

11 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

12 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。

13 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

14 competence   

n.能力，胜任，称职

参考例句：

• This mess is a poor reflection on his competence.这种混乱情况说明他难当此任。
• These are matters within the competence of the court.这些是法院权限以内的事。

15 entity   

n.实体，独立存在体，实际存在物

参考例句：

• The country is no longer one political entity.这个国家不再是一个统一的政治实体了。
• As a separate legal entity,the corporation must pay taxes.作为一个独立的法律实体，公司必须纳税。

16 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

17 intensity   

n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度

参考例句：

• I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings on this issue.我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋。
• The strike is growing in intensity.罢工日益加剧。

18 chunk   

n.厚片，大块，相当大的部分（数量）

参考例句：

• They had to be careful of floating chunks of ice.他们必须当心大块浮冰。
• The company owns a chunk of farmland near Gatwick Airport.该公司拥有盖特威克机场周边的大片农田。

19 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。