VOA标准英语2008年-Georgia's Presidential Election Closes, Shaakas

By VOA News
05 January 2008

Voters in Georgia cast ballots¹ Saturday to determine whether former President Mikhail Saakashvili will return to office.

Early exit polls show that Mr. Saakashvili is poised² to win a narrow margin³. He needs to get 50 percent plus one extra vote to avoid a second round.

Mr. Saakashvili faced six challengers in the polls, which took place under heavy snowfall across the small republic south of the Russian border.

His closest rival, Levan Gachechiladze, backed by a coalition⁴ of nine opposition⁵ parties, is challenging the validity of the vote.

Mr. Saakashvili called early presidential elections to restore peace following a series of massive anti-government protests in the capital, Tbilisi, in November.

Ahead of the election, the opposition accused Mr. Saakashvili of planning to rig the outcome and threatened to protest the results.

He vowed⁶ that the election would be democratic and transparent⁷.

Hundreds of international observers are expected to play an important role in determining the legitimacy⁸ of today's vote.

Earlier Saturday, opposition leaders accused authorities of forcing citizens in some polling stations to vote for Mr. Saakashvili and other violations⁹.

Another candidate is Georgian media tycoon¹⁰ Badri Patarkatsishvili, who withdrew his candidacy last week, then reversed himself Thursday. He quit after several Georgian television stations aired a tape showing him offering $100 million to an Interior Ministry¹¹ official, in exchange for a ministry pledge not to use police force against opposition protesters.

Mr. Patarkatsishvili was a driving force in last November's protests.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.

1 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 poised   

a.摆好姿势不动的

参考例句：

• The hawk poised in mid-air ready to swoop. 老鹰在半空中盘旋，准备俯冲。
• Tina was tense, her hand poised over the telephone. 蒂娜心情紧张，手悬在电话机上。

3 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。

4 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

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 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。

7 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

8 legitimacy   

n.合法，正当

参考例句：

• The newspaper was directly challenging the government's legitimacy.报纸直接质疑政府的合法性。
• Managing from the top down,we operate with full legitimacy.我们进行由上而下的管理有充分的合法性。

9 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

10 tycoon   

n.有钱有势的企业家，大亨

参考例句：

• The tycoon is on the verge of bankruptcy.那名大亨濒临破产的边缘。
• The tycoon has many servants to minister to his needs.那位大亨有很多人服侍他。

11 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。