VOA常速英语2007-Ukrainian Exit Poll Shows Presidential Party Dis

By Peter Fedynsky
Kyiv
01 October 2007

An early exit poll for the special Ukrainian parliamentary election shows the party of President Viktor Yushchenko coming in a distant third against the political organization of the man he defeated for the presidency¹ in 2004. VOA Correspondent Peter Fedynsky reports from Kyiv.

The independent Voters' Committee of Ukraine released the preliminary results shortly after the polls closed. Based on a survey of 16,000 voters, the Regions Party of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych came in first with 35.5 percent. Mr. Yanukovych lost the disputed presidential election of 2004 to President Viktor Yushchenko, whose Our Ukraine Party garnered² over 13 percent. Mr. Yushchenko was also surpassed by BYuT, the party of Yulia Tymoshenko, whom the president dismissed as prime minister in 2005. Her organization got more than 31 percent.

The Socialist³ Party, according to the exit poll, received 2.5 percent. Given the poll's margin⁴ of error, the Socialists⁵ have a chance of remaining in Parliament if they cross the three per cent minimum in the official vote count. The current parliamentary speaker, Oleksandr Moroz is a Socialist and could lose his seat altogether.

The bloc⁶ of former speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn is shown getting nearly four percent.

The Communist Party did better than expected, obtaining just over five percent.

Fourteen other parties in the exit poll, including the Agrarian⁷, Green, and Christian⁸ parties, got less than one per cent each.

The Voters' Committee poll was financed by a grant from the embassies of the United States, Norway, and the Netherlands, as well as government programs of Denmark and Switzerland. Swedish and American private organizations also assisted.

Exit poll manager Ilko Kucheriv told the VOA that rival exit polls have been used in earlier Ukrainian elections to cast doubt on election results. Kucheriv said people often link the credibility of exit polls to the source of their financing.

To allay⁹ suspicions, Kucheriv said the Voters Committee consulted with American and Russian pollsters, who examined the organization's methodology and gave appropriate recommendations. He says every step of the process has been documented and will be made available at the Kyiv Mohyla Academy, one of Ukraine's leading universities.

Final results might not be available for several days because of difficulties getting tallies¹⁰ from rural areas of Ukraine.

1 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

2 garnered   

v.收集并（通常）贮藏（某物），取得，获得( garner的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Mr. Smith gradually garnered a national reputation as a financial expert. 史密斯先生逐渐赢得全国金融专家的声誉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He has garnered extensive support for his proposals. 他的提议得到了广泛的支持。 来自辞典例句

3 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。

4 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

5 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。

6 bloc   

n.集团；联盟

参考例句：

• A solid bloc of union members support the decision.工会会员团结起来支持该决定。
• There have been growing tensions within the trading bloc.贸易同盟国的关系越来越紧张。

7 agrarian   

adj.土地的，农村的，农业的

参考例句：

• People are leaving an agrarian way of life to go to the city.人们正在放弃农业生活方式而转向城市。
• This was a feature of agrarian development in Britain.这是大不列颠土地所有制发展的一个特征。

8 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

9 allay   

v.消除，减轻(恐惧、怀疑等)

参考例句：

• The police tried to allay her fears but failed.警察力图减轻她的恐惧，但是没有收到什么效果。
• They are trying to allay public fears about the spread of the disease.他们正竭力减轻公众对这种疾病传播的恐惧。

10 tallies   

n.账( tally的名词复数 )；符合；（计数的）签；标签v.计算，清点( tally的第三人称单数 )；加标签（或标记）于；（使）符合；（使）吻合

参考例句：

• Cash on hand tallies with the figure in the accounts. 现款跟账上的数目没有出入。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He tallies his own marks. 他把自己的得分记了下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》