2006年VOA标准英语-Bush Continues Push to Build Public Suppor

By Jim Malone
Washington
22 March 2006

President Bush has taken his campaign to build public support for the war in Iraq to West Virginia.  It is the latest in a series of speeches by Mr. Bush aimed at reassuring¹ Americans that his administration has a plan for Iraq and that democracy can prevail there.

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George Bush
  

President Bush often says that leaders cannot govern by public opinion polls.

But the White House is well aware of the declining level of public support for the Iraq mission amid daily news reports of violence and chaos² there.

Several recent polls suggest large majorities of Americans now fear Iraq is about to plunge³ into civil war and that the U.S. led mission to bring democracy to Iraq is doomed⁴ to failure.

Mr. Bush sought to counter that perception at a news conference this week.

"And I can understand how Americans are worried about whether or not we can win," he said.  "I think most Americans understand we need to win.  But they are concerned about whether or not we can win.  So one of the reasons I go around the country, to [places like] Cleveland, is to explain why I think we can win."

Opposition⁵ Democrats⁷ remain divided on what to do about Iraq.  But they have focused their recent criticisms on what they regard as overly optimistic assessments⁹ of the situation in Iraq by the president, Vice¹⁰ President Dick Cheney and Defense¹¹ Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
 
 
Joseph Biden
  
"No foreign policy can be sustained in the United States of America without the informed consent of the American people," said Joe Biden, the top Democrat⁶ on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "And informed means just that, successes and failure, a realistic assessment⁸ of where we are and what the president plans to do about it."

President Bush gave a series of speeches on Iraq late last year that helped to slightly improve his standing¹² in the polls.

But polling expert Karlyn Bowman with the American Enterprise Institute in Washington says the public's view of Iraq has been generally on a negative track for sometime now.

"When Saddam Hussein was captured, public opinion ticked up a bit and during the elections in Iraq, public opinion once again moved up a tiny bit," she noted¹³.  "But the overall trajectory¹⁴ has been downward."

Some of the president's conservative supporters blame biased¹⁵ news reporting for the lack of public support on Iraq.

Analyst¹⁶ Michael Barone is among those who argue that the American public is not getting a full accounting¹⁷ of the successes in Iraq on a daily basis.

"We have got a media that many members of whom would like to see the United States unsuccessful in this effort and some of their reporting has been tilted¹⁸ accordingly," said Mr. Barone.

Recent polls suggest that a small but growing number of Republicans have joined Democrats and independent voters who have become disenchanted with the president's handling of Iraq.

Political analyst Stuart Rothenberg says the public's loss of confidence in the Iraq mission has also undercut the president's personal credibility.

"But the sum total of all these events, starting with Iraq, are growing doubts about how forthright¹⁹ the president has been as president and whether he has made wise decisions or not," said Mr. Rothenberg.

Despite the dismal²⁰ poll results, anti-war demonstrations²¹ are drawing fewer people than ever and there appears to be relatively²² little clamor from most of the public or most opposition Democrats for an immediate²³ pullout of U.S. troops from Iraq.

"We do not have an angry American public as much as we have kind of a fatigued²⁴, disappointed, disillusioned²⁵ public," added Mr. Rothenberg.  "The anger is not there, I think, because we do not have a military draft, the kinds of people who are over fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan have really volunteered for that, and so there is not this angry middle class that is trying to protect its sons and daughters from going over there."

President Bush says future U.S. presidents and governments in Iraq will decide when American troops are no longer needed there.  That will likely ensure that Iraq will remain a key issue not only in this year's midterm congressional elections, but in the 2008 presidential election as well.

1 reassuring   

a.使人消除恐惧和疑虑的，使人放心的

参考例句：

• He gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. 他轻拍了一下她的肩膀让她放心。
• With a reassuring pat on her arm, he left. 他鼓励地拍了拍她的手臂就离开了。

2 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

3 plunge   

v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲

参考例句：

• Test pool's water temperature before you plunge in.在你跳入之前你应该测试水温。
• That would plunge them in the broil of the two countries.那将会使他们陷入这两国的争斗之中。

4 doomed   

命定的

参考例句：

• The court doomed the accused to a long term of imprisonment. 法庭判处被告长期监禁。
• A country ruled by an iron hand is doomed to suffer. 被铁腕人物统治的国家定会遭受不幸的。

5 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。

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 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

9 assessments   

n.评估( assessment的名词复数 )；评价；（应偿付金额的）估定；（为征税对财产所作的）估价

参考例句：

• He was shrewd in his personal assessments. 他总能对人作出精明的评价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Surveys show about two-thirds use such assessments, while half employ personality tests. 调查表明，约有三分之二的公司采用了这种测评；而一半的公司则采用工作人员个人品质测试。 来自百科语句

10 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。

11 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

12 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

13 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

14 trajectory   

n.弹道，轨道

参考例句：

• It is not difficult to sketch the subsequent trajectory.很容易描绘出它们最终的轨迹。
• The path followed by a projectile is called its trajectory.抛物体所循的路径称为它的轨道。

15 biased   

a.有偏见的

参考例句：

• a school biased towards music and art 一所偏重音乐和艺术的学校
• The Methods: They employed were heavily biased in the gentry's favour. 他们采用的方法严重偏袒中上阶级。

16 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。

17 accounting   

n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表

参考例句：

• A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
• There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。

18 tilted   

v. 倾斜的

参考例句：

• Suddenly the boat tilted to one side. 小船突然倾向一侧。
• She tilted her chin at him defiantly. 她向他翘起下巴表示挑衅。

19 forthright   

adj.直率的，直截了当的 [同]frank

参考例句：

• It's sometimes difficult to be forthright and not give offence.又直率又不得罪人，这有时很难办到。
• He told me forthright just why he refused to take my side.他直率地告诉我他不肯站在我这一边的原因。

20 dismal   

adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的

参考例句：

• That is a rather dismal melody.那是一支相当忧郁的歌曲。
• My prospects of returning to a suitable job are dismal.我重新找到一个合适的工作岗位的希望很渺茫。

21 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

22 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

23 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

24 fatigued   

adj. 疲乏的

参考例句：

• The exercises fatigued her. 操练使她感到很疲乏。
• The President smiled, with fatigued tolerance for a minor person's naivety. 总统笑了笑，疲惫地表现出对一个下级人员的天真想法的宽容。

25 disillusioned   

a.不再抱幻想的，大失所望的，幻想破灭的

参考例句：

• I soon became disillusioned with the job. 我不久便对这个工作不再抱幻想了。
• Many people who are disillusioned in reality assimilate life to a dream. 许多对现实失望的人把人生比作一场梦。