VOA标准英语2009年-Philippine President Says She Will Not Ext

Philippine President Gloria Arroyo¹ says she has no desire to extend her term past next May. Mrs. Arroyo made the comments during her final state of the nation address before the Philippine Congress.
　
Philippine President Gloria Arroyo (File)

In much of her speech, President Arroyo, an economist², boasted of the Philippines' economic resilience in the global downturn.

"The story of the Philippines in 2008 is that the country weathered a succession of global crises, in fuel, in food, then in finance and the economy in a global recession, never losing focus and with economic fundamentals intact," said Mrs. Arroyo. "The state of our nation is a strong economy."

But it was not Mrs. Arroyo's achievements that brought the crowds out on a rainy Monday afternoon. Security was tight as thousands of people protested in Manila against proposed constitutional changes that, they say, would allow the president to extend her term.

The House of Representatives passed a bill last month that authorizes³ Congress to amend⁴ the Constitution. Her allies want to change the system of government from presidential to parliamentary.

Mrs. Arroyo denied the rumors⁵ that she wants to remain in office, and lambasted her critics for creating "self-imagined threats" to democracy.

"I have never expressed the desire to extend myself beyond my term," she said. "Many of those who accuse me of it try to cling like nails to their posts."

Half of the country's 22 senators boycotted⁶ her speech in protest to the proposed constitutional changes.

The Philippines is scheduled to hold a presidential election in May 2010. Mrs. Arroyo is constitutionally barred from seeking another term.

Mrs. Arroyo assumed the presidency⁷ in January 2001 after street protests led to the collapse⁸ of the government of President Joseph Estrada, who was later convicted of plunder⁹. Her election as president in 2004 by a narrow margin¹⁰ was marred¹¹ by fraud allegations.

In eight years, she battled impeachment¹² attempts and attempts of a military takeover. She has denied allegations of corruption¹³ and electoral fraud. But in a recent survey, the president had the lowest approval rating among top government officials in the Philippines.

1 arroyo   

n.干涸的河床，小河

参考例句：

• She continued along the path until she came to the arroyo.她沿着小路一直走到小河边。
• They had a picnic by the arroyo.他们在干枯的河床边野餐过。

2 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

3 authorizes   

授权，批准，委托( authorize的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The dictionary authorizes the two spellings 'traveler' and 'traveller'. 字典裁定traveler和traveller两种拼法都对。
• The dictionary authorizes the two spellings "honor" and "honour.". 字典裁定 honor 及 honour 两种拼法均可。

4 amend   

vt.修改，修订，改进；n.[pl.]赔罪，赔偿

参考例句：

• The teacher advised him to amend his way of living.老师劝他改变生活方式。
• You must amend your pronunciation.你必须改正你的发音。

5 rumors   

n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷

参考例句：

• Rumors have it that the school was burned down. 有谣言说学校给烧掉了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Rumors of a revolt were afloat. 叛变的谣言四起。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 boycotted   

抵制，拒绝参加( boycott的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Athletes from several countries boycotted the Olympic Games. 有好几国的运动员抵制奥林匹克运动会。
• The opposition party earlier boycotted the Diet agenda, demanding Miyaji's resignation. 反对党曾杯葛国会议程，要宫路下台。

7 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。

8 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

9 plunder   

vt.劫掠财物，掠夺；n.劫掠物，赃物；劫掠

参考例句：

• The thieves hid their plunder in the cave.贼把赃物藏在山洞里。
• Trade should not serve as a means of economic plunder.贸易不应当成为经济掠夺的手段。

10 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。

11 marred   

adj. 被损毁, 污损的

参考例句：

• The game was marred by the behaviour of drunken fans. 喝醉了的球迷行为不轨，把比赛给搅了。
• Bad diction marred the effectiveness of his speech. 措词不当影响了他演说的效果。

12 impeachment   

n.弹劾；控告；怀疑

参考例句：

• Impeachment is considered a drastic measure in the United States.在美国，弹劾被视为一种非常激烈的措施。
• The verdict resulting from his impeachment destroyed his political career.他遭弹劾后得到的判决毁了他的政治生涯。

13 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。