VOA标准英语2011--Republican Presidential Hopefuls Focus o

Republican Presidential Hopefuls Focus on Obama, Economy

Following their first major presidential debate, Republican White House contenders have made it clear they intend to make the 2012 U.S. presidential election a referendum on President Barack Obama's handling of the domestic economy. Political analysts² say the strategy is no surprise and could make for a very close election next year.
Seven Republican contenders took part in the presidential debate, and political analysts generally gave the higher grades to former Massachusetts governor Mitt³ Romney and Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann.
Romney has solidified⁴ his lead in the polls as the Republican frontrunner in recent weeks and is citing his business background as an advantage in discussing how to revive the U.S. economy.
"The right way for America to create jobs is to keep government in its place and to allow the private sector⁵ and the energy and passion of the American people to create a brighter future for our kids and for ourselves," said Romney.
Despite his lead in the polls, Romney still faces concerns from conservatives who question his previous moderate stances on issues like abortion⁶, climate change and health care reform.
Michele Bachmann officially joined the presidential race during Monday's debate and experts said she made a strong initial impression even though less well known that Romney nationally.
Bachmann has appeal to two important groups within the Republican Party-Evangelical Christians⁷ and supporters of the Tea Party movement pushing for smaller government and a repeal⁸ of President Obama's health care law.
"As president of the United States I will not rest until I repeal 'Obamacare.' It is a promise. Take it to the bank. Cash the check. I will make sure that that happens," said Bachmann.
Five other contenders took part in the debate including former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty, former U.S. House speaker Newt Gingrich, former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum, Texas Congressman⁹ Ron Paul and Georgia businessman Herman Cain.
The Republican contenders focused their rhetorical fire on President Obama and not each other, at least for now, signaling they intend to make Obama's handling of the economy the central issue in next year's campaign.
Recent polls indicate President Obama's approval ratings have slipped slightly after surging last month in the wake of the killing¹⁰ of al-Qaida leader Osama bin¹¹ Laden¹².
Political analysts say bad economic news is to blame, especially the recent tick up in the jobless rate to 9.1 percent.
John Fortier is with the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington:
"But if there is not much change in direction, four years of bad economic times, even if it started under [former President] George Bush, is a bad sign for the president," said Fortier.
Fortier spoke¹³ on VOA's Encounter program, as did political analyst¹ Stuart Rothenberg.
"I think we are headed for a real race. I am assuming that the economy that we see today is going to be something like the economy we see in the summer and fall of 2012," noted¹⁴ Rothenberg.
The latest polls show only Mitt Romney comes close to defeating President Obama if the election were held today. But all of that could change in the months to come, says Quinnipiac University pollster Peter Brown.
"We do not know what the playing field will be like in the fall of 2012," noted Brown. "Tell me what the price of a gallon of gasoline is. Tell me what the unemployment rate is. Is the United States embroiled¹⁵ in foreign conflicts that the electorate¹⁶ is unhappy about? Those are all unknowns right now that you just can not know."
Former Utah governor Jon Huntsman is expected to join the presidential field next week and former Alaska governor Sarah Palin is still considering joining the race as well.

1 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。

2 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。

3 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。

4 solidified   

（使）成为固体，（使）变硬，（使）变得坚固( solidify的过去式和过去分词 )； 使团结一致； 充实，巩固； 具体化

参考例句：

• Her attitudes solidified through privilege and habit. 由于特权和习惯使然，她的看法变得越来越难以改变。
• When threatened, he fires spheres of solidified air from his launcher! 当危险来临，他就会发射它的弹药！

5 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

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 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

8 repeal   

n.废止，撤消；v.废止，撤消

参考例句：

• He plans to repeal a number of current policies.他计划废除一些当前的政策。
• He has made out a strong case for the repeal of the law.他提出强有力的理由，赞成废除该法令。

9 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

10 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

11 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

12 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

13 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

14 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。

15 embroiled   

adj.卷入的；纠缠不清的

参考例句：

• He became embroiled in a dispute with his neighbours. 他与邻居们发生了争执。
• John and Peter were quarrelling, but Mary refused to get embroiled. 约翰和彼得在争吵，但玛丽不愿卷入。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 electorate   

n.全体选民；选区

参考例句：

• The government was responsible to the electorate.政府对全体选民负责。
• He has the backing of almost a quarter of the electorate.他得到了几乎1/4选民的支持。