2007年VOA标准英语-2007 May Be 'Year of the Woman' in French Polit

By Lisa Bryant
Paris
31 January 2007

In April, France holds presidential elections that may usher¹ in the country's first female leader.  Socialist² politician Segolene Royal, 53, has been dominating the news for months.  However, she is hardly the only woman running.  Indeed, Lisa Bryant reports for VOA from Paris that 2007 may be "the year of the woman" in France with a potential surge of female candidates in upcoming legislative³ elections as well.

Corinne Lepage still remembers being humiliated⁴, a decade ago, as French lawmakers tore apart draft environmental legislation introduced by a fellow conservative politician. She was France's minister of the environment at the time, under former prime minister Alain Juppe.

Lepage says the deputies treated the document disrespectfully, and her as well.  She believes that would never have happened, had she been a man.

The incident certainly did not kill Lepage's appetite for politics.  She has thrown her hat into France's presidential race, taking on an alias⁵ - that of the influential⁶, 16th century French queen Catherine de Medicis. 

Today, she is among at least half a dozen female candidates hoping to run in the first round of voting, in April.

Female candidates are also clamoring to run in June legislative elections. Their numbers prompted this headline in the weekly Le Journal du Dimanche:  "2007: The Year of Women?"

Political scientists like Janine Mossuz-Lavau say being a woman this election season may be an asset.

Mossuz-Lavau says a number of factors explain the new, more welcoming climate for female politicians in France. French legislation to equalize the political playing field has helped. Many French women work these days, which also favors political engagement. Then there is the international context: Women have recently been elected presidents for the first time in Chile and Liberia.

pact7 for the environment, promoted by environment activist8 Nicolas Hulot" hspace="2" src="/upimg/allimg/070518/1350530.jpg" width="171" vspace="2" border="0" />

Segolene Royal delivers a speech before signing 'Pacte Ecologique' or pact for the environment, promoted by environment activist Nicolas Hulot

Nobody is capitalizing more on the trend than Socialist lawmaker Segolene Royal.  Although she has lost points recently after a series of political gaffes⁹, she topped French polls for months. If she is elected, she would be France's first female president.

Royal is no newcomer.  She has been in politics since 1981.  But, with her wide smile, her elegant outfits¹⁰ and her grassroots "listen-to-the-people" image, she passes as a fresh and attractive face.

French analyst¹¹ Dominique Moisi says Royal is the right gender¹².

"She is a woman," he noted¹³.  "And, a woman sounds modern.  A woman sounds like the thing to do.  We've tried everything and failed, so far. Why not try a woman?"

Most of the other female presidential candidates are also political veterans. They include former Environment Minister Dominique Voynet, who is running for the Green Party, and Communist Party boss Marie-George Buffet¹⁴.

Then there is Troskyite Arlette Laguiller, 66, who became the first French woman to run for president, in 1974. At the time, a French general suggested she would do better marrying a parachutist than running for office. But Laguiller believes her candidacy sparked a debate on the place of women in politics.

Still, Laguiller notes, even if there are more female candidates for the presidential elections today, they remain a minority in politics, especially in parliament.

According to the Geneva-based Inter-Parliamentary Union, women hold just 12 percent of seats in France's National Assembly, or lower house, and 17 percent in the Senate. Only five of the 27 European Union countries score lower. Globally, France ranks an unimpressive 86th place out of 139 nations, behind Greece, Gambia, Afghanistan and Tunisia.

Emmanuelle Latour, secretary general of France's Parity¹⁵ Observatory¹⁶, a government-created body, says France is only slowly entering the democratic revolution, when it comes to gender parity, mostly because of European directives.  She says male dominance in politics and in the private sector¹⁷ has historical backing.  For example, France once observed Salic laws that barred women from ascending¹⁸ the throne.

But Latour believes that things can change with a little political will.  She points to the example of neighboring Spain, where Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has championed women's rights through new legislation and by appointing an equal number of men and women to his cabinet.

Several French prime ministers have also promoted women in politics, with varying degrees of conviction.  In 2000, the former leftist government passed a parity law, stipulating¹⁹ political parties field an equal number of male and female candidates in legislative and local elections.   Although most of the smaller parties have observed the law, the two largest, the Socialists²⁰ and the Union for a Popular Movement Party, have not.

This year may be different. The Socialists, for one, have vowed²¹ to observe the parity law in the June legislative vote.

But for now, the country's attention is focused on the presidential race and the chances that one woman, Segolene Royal, might win it.

1 usher   

n.带位员，招待员；vt.引导，护送；vi.做招待，担任引座员

参考例句：

• The usher seated us in the front row.引座员让我们在前排就座。
• They were quickly ushered away.他们被迅速领开。

2 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

3 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

4 humiliated   

感到羞愧的

参考例句：

• Parents are humiliated if their children behave badly when guests are present. 子女在客人面前举止失当，父母也失体面。
• He was ashamed and bitterly humiliated. 他感到羞耻，丢尽了面子。

5 alias   

n.化名；别名；adv.又名

参考例句：

• His real name was Johnson,but he often went by the alias of Smith.他的真名是约翰逊，但是他常常用化名史密斯。
• You can replace this automatically generated alias with a more meaningful one.可用更有意义的名称替换这一自动生成的别名。

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 pact   

n.合同，条约，公约，协定

参考例句：

• The two opposition parties made an electoral pact.那两个反对党订了一个有关选举的协定。
• The trade pact between those two countries came to an end.那两国的通商协定宣告结束。

8 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

9 gaffes   

n.失礼，出丑( gaffe的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The presidential candidate made three mistakes, or gaffes, during his speech. 校长候选人在演讲中出了三次错，或失态。 来自超越目标英语 第4册
• When the microphones were on, gaffes gushed from his lips. 而当电话响起，他却口无遮拦，屡屡失言。 来自互联网

10 outfits   

n.全套装备( outfit的名词复数 )；一套服装；集体；组织v.装备，配置设备，供给服装( outfit的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• He jobbed out the contract to a number of small outfits. 他把承包工程分包给许多小单位。 来自辞典例句
• Some cyclists carry repair outfits because they may have a puncture. 有些骑自行车的人带修理工具，因为他们车胎可能小孔。 来自辞典例句

11 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。

12 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。

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 buffet   

n.自助餐；饮食柜台；餐台

参考例句：

• Are you having a sit-down meal or a buffet at the wedding?你想在婚礼中摆桌宴还是搞自助餐？
• Could you tell me what specialties you have for the buffet?你能告诉我你们的自助餐有什么特色菜吗？

15 parity   

n.平价，等价，比价，对等

参考例句：

• The two currencies have now reached parity.这两种货币现已达到同等价值。
• Women have yet to achieve wage or occupational parity in many fields.女性在很多领域还没能争取到薪金、职位方面的平等。

16 observatory   

n.天文台，气象台，瞭望台，观测台

参考例句：

• Guy's house was close to the observatory.盖伊的房子离天文台很近。
• Officials from Greenwich Observatory have the clock checked twice a day.格林威治天文台的职员们每天对大钟检查两次。

17 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

18 ascending   

adj.上升的，向上的

参考例句：

• Now draw or trace ten dinosaurs in ascending order of size.现在按照体型由小到大的顺序画出或是临摹出10只恐龙。

19 stipulating   

v.（尤指在协议或建议中）规定，约定，讲明（条件等）( stipulate的现在分词 )；规定，明确要求

参考例句：

• Shall we first sign a barter trade agreement stipulating the general terms and conditions? 我们先签一个易货贸易协议，规定一般性条款，行吗？ 来自互联网
• The other firm are stipulating for and early exchange of information regarding the contract. 作为协议条件，另一家公司坚持要求早日交换有关合同的信息。 来自互联网

20 socialists   

社会主义者( socialist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The socialists saw themselves as true heirs of the Enlightenment. 社会主义者认为自己是启蒙运动的真正继承者。
• The Socialists junked dogma when they came to office in 1982. 社会党人1982年上台执政后，就把其政治信条弃之不顾。

21 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。