VOA标准英语2012--New Hampshire Prepares for Presidential Primary

New Hampshire Prepares for Presidential Primary

 

In less than a week, voters in the northeastern state of New Hampshire will cast ballots¹ in the first U.S. presidential primary, following last Tuesday's Iowa caucuses³. People going to the polls in New Hampshire are looking at very different issues in deciding who should be the Republican candidate to challenge President Barack Obama in the November election.

New Hampshire is a northeastern state of postcard-perfect scenes like this. Time seems to slow in its tiny, scenic⁴ towns until presidential candidates rush into the state, once every four years. They bring along noisy cheering (or booing) crowds along with nasty campaign ads.

Republican and Democratic voters choose their nominees⁵, state-by-state, in primary contests like New Hampshire's.

But voters in New Hampshire are better off, financially, than the rest of the country.

High priced items do well in the state's big cities.

A Lexus dealership⁶ in Manchester is moving into a new $7 million showroom. General Sales Manager Nigel Long says the last quarter earnings⁷ were fantastic.

"When people have money, people have money," he said.

Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt8 Romney greets audience members at a campaign stop in Peterborough, New Hampshire January 4, 2012, one day after winning the Iowa caucus2.

But that's not what's motivating people who live far from city buildings. Here, New Hampshire's country roads lead to financial rough times that have soured many on this year's presidential primary.

Franny Longo shaves wood for the Peterboro Basket Company where she's worked for 25 years.

"I've been able to make ends meet. That's all I can say," she said. "Struggling, working hard to make ends meet."

The Peterboro Basket Company has been around for more than 150 years - a true "Made in America" company, with wood from New England Ash trees, medallions from Rhode Island and leather straps⁹ from Massachusetts. It's a successful business which grew 38 percent last year. But owner Joan Dodds will cast a vote for change in Tuesday's primary.

"I know the country's in trouble and we need to do something and not wait too much longer," she said.

New Hampshire's state motto is "live free or die." Residents are fiercely independent. But also, fiercely undecided when it comes to the primary.

Factory worker Matt Rocca knows how to finish off a bicycle basket. But he doesn't know who will get his vote.

"Not quite yet," he said. "I'm going to start looking later on."

Neil Levesque is a New Hampshire native who's worked on numerous campaigns. He now runs the Institute of Politics at St. Anselm College in Manchester.

"New Hampshire voters will wait until the last minute before they are concrete about what they want to do and they will switch if the candidate makes a big mistake. They will switch," he said. "New Hampshire is also known for big upsets."

The big upset would be if Mitt Romney - the former governor of an adjacent state - were to lose. Polls show him in the lead at about 40 percent among Republican candidates. He's so confident that he campaigned Thursday in South Carolina, which holds its primary after New Hampshire.

But with the many undecided voters in this state, all the candidates will fight hard in the coming days, selling themselves to the residents who have money... and those who do not.

1 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 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。

3 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

4 scenic   

adj.自然景色的，景色优美的

参考例句：

• The scenic beauty of the place entranced the visitors.这里的美丽风光把游客们迷住了。
• The scenic spot is on northwestern outskirts of Beijing.这个风景区位于北京的西北远郊。

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 dealership   

n.商品特许经销处

参考例句：

• The car dealership has a large inventory of used cars. 这家汽车经销商拥有数量庞大的二手车。
• A key to this effort is the experience in the dealership. 达到这个成果的关键是销售的体验。

7 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

8 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。

9 straps   

n.带子( strap的名词复数 )；挎带；肩带；背带v.用皮带捆扎( strap的第三人称单数 )；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带

参考例句：

• the shoulder straps of her dress 她连衣裙上的肩带
• The straps can be adjusted to suit the wearer. 这些背带可进行调整以适合使用者。