2007年VOA标准英语-Thompson Candidacy Could Shake Up US Presidenti

By Jim Malone
Washington
01 June 2007

Former U.S. Senator Fred Thompson's expected entry into the 2008 presidential campaign is likely to shake up the battle for the Republican Party nomination¹. VOA National correspondent Jim Malone has more from Washington.

Fred Thompson waits to speak at  Lincoln Club in Newport Beach, California, 4 May 2007

Thompson is forming what his aides call a testing the waters committee that will sound out potential campaign donors³ about a Thompson bid for the White House.

Thompson served as a U.S. senator from Tennessee during the 1990s and first came to public attention as a Republican lawyer on the Senate Watergate committee during the presidency⁴ of Richard Nixon in the mid-1970s.

But perhaps Thompson's biggest political asset is that he is well known as an actor in movies and on the popular long-running television series Law and Order.

Thompson supports President Bush on Iraq and favors a strong approach on national security and on curbing⁵ illegal immigration.

He recently spoke⁶ to a Republican group in California.

"We live in a world where 40 countries have fissile material sufficient to make a nuclear weapon and the bad guys are trying their best to get their hands on it," he said. "And we live in a country with porous⁷ borders and porous ports. It does not take a genius to put all that together and see the problem that we have got in this country."

Thompson is running third or fourth among Republican contenders in most public opinion polls, a reasonably strong position given that he is not yet an official candidate.

But getting into the race late would mean Thompson would have to scramble⁸ to raise money to compete with the current Republican frontrunners who have been out campaigning and raising money for months.

Mitt2 Romney, left, embraces former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, as Senator John McCain walks by after the Republican debate, 15 May 2007" hspace="2" src="/upimg/allimg/070608/1412421.jpg" width="210" vspace="2" border="0" />

Republican presidential hopefuls Mitt Romney, left, embraces Rudy Giuliani, as John McCain walks by after Republican debate, 15 May 2007

The polls indicate the top Republican contenders at the moment are former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Arizona Senator John McCain and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, who campaigned recently in Iowa.

Several surveys suggest about a third of Republican voters have not settled on a presidential candidate and would welcome either Thompson or former House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich joining the race.

"There is a level of dissatisfaction and unhappiness with the top tier of the Republican presidential candidates," said Tom DeFrank of the New York Daily News, who was a guest on VOA's Issues in the News program. "Many Republican conservatives have problems for different reasons with all of them and they are looking for somebody else. They are looking for somebody who is more like Ronald Reagan."

Thompson is conservative on social issues like abortion⁹ and that appeals to religious conservatives, a key constituency in the Republican Party.

In addition, the lengthy¹⁰ campaign could cause some voters to tire of the current crop of candidates and look for a new face.

"You know, the people who are very prominent now and appear to be the potential winners may fade and people may lose interest in them," said Ross Baker¹¹, a political expert at Rutgers University in New Jersey¹². "Their campaigns may falter¹³."

The Republican field is already crowded with 10 contenders.

In the Democratic race, eight candidates are vying¹⁴ for the party nomination. Some Democratic activists¹⁵ continue to urge former Vice¹⁶ President Al Gore¹⁷ to join the race, but so far he has declined.

The top Democratic contenders at the moment are New York Senator Hillary Clinton, Illinois Senator Barack Obama and former North Carolina Senator John Edwards.

1 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。

2 mitt   

n.棒球手套，拳击手套，无指手套；vt.铐住，握手

参考例句：

• I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日，我送给他一只棒球手套。
• Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。

3 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 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。

5 curbing   

n.边石，边石的材料v.限制，克制，抑制( curb的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Progress has been made in curbing inflation. 在控制通货膨胀方面已取得了进展。
• A range of policies have been introduced aimed at curbing inflation. 为了抑制通货膨胀实施了一系列的政策。

6 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 porous   

adj.可渗透的，多孔的

参考例句：

• He added sand to the soil to make it more porous.他往土里掺沙子以提高渗水性能。
• The shell has to be slightly porous to enable oxygen to pass in.外壳不得不有些细小的孔以便能使氧气通过。

8 scramble   

v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料

参考例句：

• He broke his leg in his scramble down the wall.他爬墙摔断了腿。
• It was a long scramble to the top of the hill.到山顶须要爬登一段长路。

9 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

10 lengthy   

adj.漫长的，冗长的

参考例句：

• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
• The professor wrote a lengthy book on Napoleon.教授写了一部有关拿破仑的巨著。

11 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

12 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

13 falter   

vi.(嗓音)颤抖，结巴地说；犹豫；蹒跚

参考例句：

• His voice began to falter.他的声音开始发颤。
• As he neared the house his steps faltered.当他走近房子时，脚步迟疑了起来。

14 vying   

adj.竞争的；比赛的

参考例句：

• California is vying with other states to capture a piece of the growing communications market.为了在日渐扩大的通讯市场分得一杯羹，加利福尼亚正在和其他州展开竞争。
• Four rescue plans are vying to save the zoo.4个拯救动物园的方案正争得不可开交。

15 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 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。

17 gore   

n.凝血，血污；v.（动物）用角撞伤，用牙刺破；缝以补裆；顶

参考例句：

• The fox lay dying in a pool of gore.狐狸倒在血泊中奄奄一息。
• Carruthers had been gored by a rhinoceros.卡拉瑟斯被犀牛顶伤了。