VOA标准英语2011--Tea Party Shakes, Shapes US Politics

Tea Party Shakes, Shapes US Politics

Protests against Wall Street and economic inequality have grown in New York, Washington and other U.S. cities, as citizens speak out against corporate¹ interests. These protests in some ways mirror the rise of the so-called "Tea Party" movement two years ago. The Tea Party wants to cut taxes and reduce the size of the central government, and it now plays a major role in the battle for the Republican Party's presidential nomination². It has influence, but it remains³ a loosely-organized movement with no central leadership.
The first Tea Party rallies drew a lot of people who had never been involved in politics. The Tea Party expressed public anger over the 2008 economic crisis, the government bailout of large banks and the growing national debt.
But it remains a loose-knit movement, with no one leader. The majority of Tea Party supporters are middle class, non-Hispanic whites.
However, presidential candidate Herman Cain is very popular in the Tea Party and black Americans who do show up at rallies are often among the most vocal⁴ participants.
Anita Moncrief once worked with a community organizing group that supported President Barack Obama, but now rejects government social programs.
"We are teaching to celebrate prosperity and capitalism⁵ and that is the only pathway out of poverty that is viable," said Moncrief.
In past elections, conservatives focused on issues like abortion⁶ and gay marriage, but Tea Party supporter Amy Long says the nation's fiscal⁷ health is paramount⁸.
"I care about the social issues and that is great, but now is not the time, I think, that I need the perfect candidate," said Long. "I just want someone to get in there and get us out of debt."
Rice University political science professor Mark Jones says the Tea Party has drawn⁹ the lines for next year's presidential contest by clamoring for deficit¹⁰ reduction, but rejecting Democrat¹¹ Party calls for increased revenue. He says the movement's ability to rally large numbers of voters gives it a special hold on the Republican Party.
"The Tea Party groups are so prominent within there and have such strong mobilization capabilities¹² that many even centrist Republicans are wary¹³ of alienating¹⁴ them," explained Professor Mark Jones of Rice University. But Jones adds that Tea Party pressure on Republicans to reject compromise gives President Obama a strong card to play with moderate voters.
"He can say that these Republican extremists, out of fear of the Tea Party, 'have blocked all my efforts to improve the economy,'" noted¹⁵ Jones.
And, although a majority of voters worry about the deficit and growing debt, polls show they are even more concerned about economic stagnation¹⁶ and unemployment.

1 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

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 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。

4 vocal   

adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目

参考例句：

• The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
• Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。

5 capitalism   

n.资本主义

参考例句：

• The essence of his argument is that capitalism cannot succeed.他的论点的核心是资本主义不能成功。
• Capitalism began to develop in Russia in the 19th century.十九世纪资本主义在俄国开始发展。

6 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

7 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

8 paramount   

a.最重要的，最高权力的

参考例句：

• My paramount object is to save the Union and destroy slavery.我的最高目标是拯救美国，摧毁奴隶制度。
• Nitrogen is of paramount importance to life on earth.氮对地球上的生命至关重要。

9 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。

10 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

11 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

12 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

13 wary   

adj.谨慎的，机警的，小心的

参考例句：

• He is wary of telling secrets to others.他谨防向他人泄露秘密。
• Paula frowned,suddenly wary.宝拉皱了皱眉头，突然警惕起来。

14 alienating   

v.使疏远( alienate的现在分词 )；使不友好；转让；让渡（财产等）

参考例句：

• The phenomena of alienation are widespread. Sports are also alienating. 异化现象普遍存在，体育运动也不例外。 来自互联网
• How can you appeal to them without alienating the mainstream crowd? 你是怎么在不疏忽主流玩家的情况下吸引住他们呢？ 来自互联网

15 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

16 stagnation   

n. 停滞

参考例句：

• Poor economic policies led to a long period of stagnation and decline. 糟糕的经济政策道致了长时间的经济萧条和下滑。
• Motion is absolute while stagnation is relative. 运动是绝对的，而静止是相对的。