VOA标准英语2008年-Two-Way Races Continue in Republican, Democrati

By Brian Wagner
Greenville, South Carolina
20 January 2008

Senator John McCain claimed victory Saturday in the key Republican primary in South Carolina, while Hillary Clinton won a Democratic caucus¹ in Nevada. VOA's Brian Wagner reports the vote results suggest no clear leader has emerged in either party's race for the presidential nomination².

Hillary Clinton's campaign added the caucus victory in Nevada to earlier wins in New Hampshire and Michigan. The outcome follows a hard-fought battle between her and Senator Barack Obama, in which each received the support of important trade unions in the state.

Clinton campaign communications director Howard Wolfson told CBS Face the Nation that Nevada voters were drawn³ to the senator's economic proposals.

"Hillary Clinton won overwhelmingly and the reason is because she has a plan to inject stimulus⁴ and turn the economy around," said Wolfson.

Obama campaign officials also tried to claim a victory in Nevada, saying that while more Clinton voters turned out, Obama actually won more delegates than needed to receive the Democratic party's nomination.

Speaking on Face the Nation, an Obama strategist, David Axelrod, said the contest remains⁵ close.

"I think this race goes on, it is a dead-even race and it goes on to South Carolina," said Axelrod.

Experts say Obama needs to perform well in next Saturday's Democratic primary in South Carolina, which has a large African-American population.

On the Republican side, both John McCain and Mitt⁶ Romney claimed victories Saturday. McCain beat former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee in the South Carolina primary, which is expected to signal key support for McCain in upcoming votes in other southern states. Romney won by a large margin⁷ in the party's caucus in Nevada, where he was the only candidate to campaign actively⁸.

McCain told CNN that his victory on Saturday shows he appeals to a broad base of Republican voters.

"All over the state of South Carolina we received broad based, strong support from conservatives, moderates, liberals, all over the state," said John McCain. "We are very happy with the result."

Romney has sought to emphasize his business experience, saying it will help him find measures to overcome the nation's economic troubles. Speaking on Fox News Sunday, he said he appeals to voters seeking new ideas in Washington, while he says McCain has spent too much time in the nation's capital.

"If they want someone instead who has been in the real economy over the last 25, 30 years, who understands why jobs come and why they go, and what it takes to grow an economy, I think I will be that person," said Mitt Romney.

Candidates for both the Republican and Democratic presidential nominations⁹ agree that while the latest votes are important, there are still many states left to vote.

1 caucus   

n.秘密会议；干部会议；v.（参加）干部开会议

参考例句：

• This multi-staged caucus takes several months.这个多级会议常常历时好几个月。
• It kept the Democratic caucus from fragmenting.它也使得民主党的核心小组避免了土崩瓦解的危险。

2 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。

3 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

4 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

5 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

6 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。

7 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。

8 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

9 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