2007年VOA标准英语-Front-runner for Indian Presidency Becomes Focu

By Anjana Pasricha
New Delhi
19 July 2007

Indian lawmakers have begun voting to choose the country's next president, and Pratibha Patil is widely expected to become the first woman to hold the post. The position is largely ceremonial, but as Anjana Pasricha reports from New Delhi, the campaign has provoked unprecedented¹ controversy².

Pratibha Patil (file photo)

As several thousand lawmakers of the federal parliament and state legislatures cast their votes to choose the country's 13th president, there were few doubts about who would emerge the winner.

Seventy-two-year-old Pratibha Patil, the nominee³ of the ruling Congress party and its allies, is expected to defeat Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, who is backed by the opposition⁴ Bharatiya Janata Party.

The Congress Party has described its choice of Patil as a push for gender⁵ equality in a country where a woman has not previously⁶ served as head of state - although another woman, the late Indira Gandhi, has held the more powerful post of prime minister. Patil was pulled from relative political obscurity after Congress's allies rejected other candidates.

But her candidacy soon ran into rough weather as opponents unearthed⁷ a series of embarrassing allegations. The most serious one is that a cooperative bank she helped establish folded when her relatives defaulted on huge loans. She has also been accused do trying to shield her brother in a murder investigation⁸.

Patil denies all the accusations⁹, and says they are politically motivated. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called the attacks "mudslinging."

Independent political analyst¹⁰ Mahesh Rangarajan says Patil appears to have been chosen mainly for her loyalty¹¹ to the Congress Party, and he calls both presidential candidates "uninspiring."

"Most Indian presidents in the past have been men of letters, or they have been people who have held very high pubic offices at a federal level, there have been a couple who have come in from the world of specialized¹² knowledge ... In that sense, this is not a field where the players are of that kind of stature," said Rangarajan.

It is not only Patil's past that is haunting her. She has made some controversial statements since she was nominated for the presidency¹³.

She offended Muslims by saying that Indian women first wore the veil to protect themselves against Muslim invaders¹⁴. Others were put off by her assertion that she experienced a "divine premonition" that she was destined¹⁵ for higher office.

Patil's candidacy has triggered bitter exchanges between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress Party. The BJP has called Patil "a person unfit to occupy the highest office." Congress has hit back at the BJP candidate, Shekawat, criticizing him for joining the British-run police force in 1942 at a time when India was struggling for independence.

The president's post is largely ceremonial, but it can become significant in times of political turbulence¹⁶. The results of the election will be announced Saturday.

1 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

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 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

4 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。

5 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。

6 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

7 unearthed   

出土的（考古）

参考例句：

• Many unearthed cultural relics are set forth in the exhibition hall. 展览馆里陈列着许多出土文物。
• Some utensils were in a state of decay when they were unearthed. 有些器皿在出土时已经残破。

8 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

9 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

10 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。

11 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

12 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。

13 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。

14 invaders   

入侵者，侵略者，侵入物( invader的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They prepared to repel the invaders. 他们准备赶走侵略军。
• The family has traced its ancestry to the Norman invaders. 这个家族将自己的世系追溯到诺曼征服者。

15 destined   

adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的

参考例句：

• It was destined that they would marry.他们结婚是缘分。
• The shipment is destined for America.这批货物将运往美国。

16 turbulence   

n.喧嚣，狂暴，骚乱，湍流

参考例句：

• The turbulence caused the plane to turn over.空气的激流导致飞机翻转。
• The world advances amidst turbulence.世界在动荡中前进。