VOA标准英语2012--Fresh Upheaval Enlivens Republican Presidential Campaign

Fresh Upheaval¹ Enlivens Republican Presidential Campaign

Paul Hines from Texas is used to attracting attention in his 1999 Plymouth Prowler. He drove it to an event in South Carolina to support his current favorite candidate, Newt Gingrich.
"It's been painted before. This is just about like the tenth version of it. We started out with Rick Perry and he didn't do very good. Then we switched over to Herman Cain, and he quit. And now we've got Newt Gingrich on here," Hines explained.
Hines isn't the only one to make that shift. Texas Governor Rick Perry himself knows he hasn't performed well.
"Therefore, today I am suspending my campaign and endorsing² Newt Gingrich for president. I believe Newt is a conservative visionary who can transform our country. We have had our differences, which campaigns inevitably³ bring out," Perry stated. "And Newt is not perfect, but who among us is?
Gingrich is campaigning hard in South Carolina, and opinion polls show him gaining ground on Republican frontrunner Mitt⁴ Romney.
But even as Gingrich surges, there are new questions about his personal life. And that worries conservative voter Kit⁵ Boan. "I like Newt very much, I really do like Newt. But I think, you know, this news today about his second wife is pretty explosive," he said. "And it's very, very hurtful if it's true at all."
That news comes from Gingrich's second wife Marianne -- her claim that he once asked her to accept his extramarital affair with his then-mistress Callista. She's now his third wife and is a fixture⁶ on the campaign trail.
Boan says he likes Gingrich, but he is voting for Rick Santorum, a former senator from Pennsylvania, a Roman Catholic and the father of seven. "I'm going to vote my conscience. I feel like, you know, nobody is perfect, but at least he [Rick Santorum] thinks, I think, closer to my way of thinking as far as family values are concerned."
Voters in South Carolina have yet to rally around one single conservative candidate. Until Perry dropped out, he, Santorum and Gingrich had split the conservative vote, giving Romney an advantage.
Anti-abortion activist⁷ Johnny Gardner thinks yet another candidate is the best fit. "I'm definitely voting for Ron Paul. I believe he's the only man in the Republican Party that has any kind of a plan to outlaw⁸ abortion," he said.
Many expect social conservatives and religious-minded people to play a major role in the South Carolina primary.
American University professor Jennifer Lawless will be watching to see if those conservatives support Romney. "Romney did very well among conservative Republicans in New Hampshire. It wasn't only the moderates that brought him the victory. If conservatives in South Carolina also begin to support him, then that's a clear signal that the Republican electorate⁹ is beginning to coalesce¹⁰ around him, and it's virtually impossible for anyone else to garner¹¹ that nomination," she stated.
But South Carolina's primary is simply the next step in the campaign season. Candidates and voters will soon be looking farther south to Florida's primary later this month.

1 upheaval   

n.胀起，(地壳)的隆起；剧变，动乱

参考例句：

• It was faced with the greatest social upheaval since World War Ⅱ.它面临第二次世界大战以来最大的社会动乱。
• The country has been thrown into an upheaval.这个国家已经陷入动乱之中。

2 endorsing   

v.赞同( endorse的现在分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• Yet Communist leaders are also publicly endorsing religion in an unprecedented way. 不过，共产党领导层对宗教信仰的公开认可也是以前不曾有过的。 来自互联网
• Connecticut Independent Senator Joseph Lieberman is endorsing Republican Senator John McCain. 康涅狄格州独立派参议员约瑟夫。列波曼将会票选共和议员约翰。麦凯恩。 来自互联网

3 inevitably   

adv.不可避免地；必然发生地

参考例句：

• In the way you go on,you are inevitably coming apart.照你们这样下去，毫无疑问是会散伙的。
• Technological changes will inevitably lead to unemployment.技术变革必然会导致失业。

4 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。

5 kit   

n.用具包，成套工具；随身携带物

参考例句：

• The kit consisted of about twenty cosmetic items.整套工具包括大约20种化妆用品。
• The captain wants to inspect your kit.船长想检查你的行装。

6 fixture   

n.固定设备；预定日期；比赛时间；定期存款

参考例句：

• Lighting fixture must be installed at once.必须立即安装照明设备。
• The cordless kettle may now be a fixture in most kitchens.无绳电热水壶现在可能是多数厨房的固定设备。

7 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

8 outlaw   

n.歹徒，亡命之徒；vt.宣布…为不合法

参考例句：

• The outlaw hid out in the hills for several months.逃犯在山里隐藏了几个月。
• The outlaw has been caught.歹徒已被抓住了。

9 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。

10 coalesce   

v.联合，结合，合并

参考例句：

• And these rings of gas would then eventually coalesce and form the planets.这些气体环最后终于凝结形成行星。
• They will probably collide again and again until they coalesce.他们可能会一次又一次地发生碰撞，直到他们合并。

11 garner   

v.收藏；取得

参考例句：

• He has garnered extensive support for his proposals.他的提议得到了广泛的支持。
• Squirrels garner nuts for the winter.松鼠为过冬储存松果。