VOA标准英语2008年-New Hampshire Hosts First US Presidential Prima

By Meredith Buel
Exeter, New Hampshire
06 January 2008

Voters will go the polls Tuesday in the northeastern U.S. state of New Hampshire for America's first presidential primary. Public opinion polls show the races for the Democratic and Republican nominations² are extraordinarily³ close, following more than a year of campaigning by a large field of candidates. VOA Correspondent Meredith Buel has details in this report from Exeter, New Hampshire.

Small, picturesque⁴ towns like Exeter dot the landscape here in New Hampshire, best known as the first U.S. state where Americans go to the polls to select the Republican and Democratic Party's nominees⁵.

The beautiful, snow-covered landscape provides a pastoral backdrop for a primary election that frequently propels political candidates toward their party's nomination¹ for president.

"The value of the early primaries is precisely⁶ to have a slingshot effect, to propel you towards victory in the later primaries," said Allan Lichtman, a professor and presidential historian at American University in Washington.

Victories in the recent Iowa caucuses⁷ by the Democratic Senator from Illinois, Barack Obama, and the former Republican governor of Arkansas, Mike Huckabee, have reshaped the race for the White House.

They defeated national frontrunners New York Democratic Senator and former first lady Hillary Clinton and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a Republican.

Unlike voters in larger states with later primaries, voters here in New Hampshire have the opportunity to meet with the candidates in relatively⁸ small groups and ask them questions about important issues.

"These people have been studying," said Stephen Hess, a senior fellow and political analyst⁹ at the Brookings Institution. "They almost feel that they can not vote for the candidate unless they have personally looked him in his eye and shook his hand."

About 45 percent of New Hampshire's voters are independent, and it is often difficult to predict how they will vote in the primary.

"Independents play a huge role in the New Hampshire primary because they can choose to vote in either the Republican or Democratic primaries," said historian Allan Lichtman. "They could be a large segment of the vote in a very small state and a very independent-minded state like New Hampshire."

Here in Exeter two of those independent voters are Linda and John Noon, who have just moved back home after living abroad in Europe.

"Well I am interested to hear what the candidates have to say because I have been living overseas so I need to hear more information. But I am interested in what their ideas are on health care and the war [in Iraq], mainly," they said.

This husband and wife say they are both still undecided about who to vote for, but Mr. Noon says he is leaning toward Barack Obama.

"I think of him as someone like [President John F.] Kennedy who was kind of an underdog. I am ready for a change, and I would like to see someone in there who is different," they said.

Polls show Obama, who is campaigning to be the first black man elected as America's president, is succeeding in identifying himself as the Democratic candidate most likely to bring change to policies in Washington.

"Certainly if Obama wins here on Tuesday then it is going to be on to states like South Carolina where there is a large African-American population," said Dante Scala, a professor of political science at the University of New Hampshire. "If African-American voters look and see that Obama is for real, that a black candidate can win in two of the whitest states in the country, they are going to take Obama seriously and get on the bandwagon. If that happens, then it is tough to see where Hillary Clinton is going to break through."

For the Republicans, Mike Huckabee, a former Baptist preacher, stunned¹⁰ many analysts¹¹ by winning the Iowa caucuses.

In New Hampshire, polls say Huckabee currently trails former Massachusetts governor Mitt¹² Romney and Arizona Senator John McCain.

"What is at stake here in New Hampshire on the Republican side is really the contest to be the anti-Huckabee candidate, and John McCain really wants to get in that position and he can with a victory in New Hampshire," said Scala.

So here in Exeter and across New Hampshire voters are preparing to select their candidates for president.

Winning New Hampshire is no guarantee a politician will win his or her party's nomination, but a victory here will provide a boost for any candidate in this year's highly competitive race for the White House.

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 nominations   

n.提名，任命( nomination的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Nominations are invited for the post of party chairman. 为党主席职位征集候选人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Much coverage surrounded his abortive bids for the 1960,1964, and 1968 Republican Presidential nominations. 许多消息报道都围绕着1960年、1964年和1968年他为争取提名为共和党总统候选人所做努力的失败。 来自辞典例句

3 extraordinarily   

adv.格外地；极端地

参考例句：

• She is an extraordinarily beautiful girl.她是个美丽非凡的姑娘。
• The sea was extraordinarily calm that morning.那天清晨，大海出奇地宁静。

4 picturesque   

adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的

参考例句：

• You can see the picturesque shores beside the river.在河边你可以看到景色如画的两岸。
• That was a picturesque phrase.那是一个形象化的说法。

5 nominees   

n.被提名者，被任命者( nominee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She's one of the nominees. 她是被提名者之一。 来自超越目标英语 第2册
• A startling number of his nominees for senior positions have imploded. 他所提名的高级官员被否决的数目令人震惊。 来自互联网

6 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

7 caucuses   

n.（政党决定政策或推举竞选人的）核心成员( caucus的名词复数 )；决策干部；决策委员会；秘密会议

参考例句：

• Republican caucuses will happen in about 410 towns across Maine. 共和党团会议选举将在缅因州的约410个城镇进行。 来自互联网

8 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

9 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。

10 stunned   

adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
• The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。

11 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

12 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。