VOA标准英语2012--Arab-Americans Unhappy with Republican Party

Arab-Americans Unhappy with Republican Party

Some 300,000 Arab Americans live in Michigan, many of them in the Detroit area.
They are part of a close-knit community, built on conservative social values.
In the 1990’s, more than one-third of Arab-Americans in the United States identified themselves as Republicans.
But community leaders say that has changed.
Osama Siblani, publisher of Arab American News.com says since 2001, years of what many in his community describe as "anti-Arab" and "anti-Muslim" sentiment within the Republican Party, has soured Arab-Americans on this year's primary elections.
"When it comes to religious values and family and entrepreneurism, small business, we're on the side on the Republican(s)," noted¹ Siblani. "That's why I just don’t see how the Republicans could alienate² such a very powerful community that fits right in their agenda, on the domestic agenda."
Warren David, head of the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee in Washington, says in 35 years of political activism he’s never seen so little political enthusiasm among Arab-Americans -- many of whom traditionally supported Republicans.
“For the most part there's a lot of them that are not excited at all about the Republican party," David explained. "The Republican party today is not a Republican party that Arab-Americans can support.”
Officially, the Republican Party says it wants everyone to feel welcome. But Arab-American groups say the war in Iraq, as well as domestic anti-terrorism measures, which they say have resulted in ethnic³ profiling, have left them frustrated⁴ with the conservative political landscape.
A 2010 poll by Zogby International showed that only 12 percent of Arab-Americans born outside the U.S. want to see Republicans in control of Congress.
But at a Lebanese bakery in Dearborn, a Detroit suburb, people seemed more concerned about the party’s fiscal⁵ policy than any other single issue.
“I think they only work for the rich people," one female customer said. "They don’t really pull for the middle class and the lower-class people.”
“I think that the Republicans push more for war and it seems like the money is going outside the country, where basically I don’t think it should go. It should stick here, where we’re hurting," opined Mariam Sobh, a Dearborn resident.
Several key Arab-American groups recently endorsed⁶ Ron Paul for the Republican presidential nomination⁷.
Community leaders like Osama Siblani say the move is partly an “olive branch” to the Republican party, a message that the more than three million Arab-Americans are ready to engage in dialogue again with the party they say has abandoned them.

1 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。

2 alienate   

vt.使疏远，离间；转让(财产等)

参考例句：

• His attempts to alienate the two friends failed because they had complete faith.他离间那两个朋友的企图失败了，因为他们彼此完全信任。
• We'd better not alienate ourselves from the colleagues.我们最好还是不要与同事们疏远。

3 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

4 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 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。

6 endorsed   

vt.& vi.endorse的过去式或过去分词形式v.赞同( endorse的过去式和过去分词 )；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：

• The committee endorsed an initiative by the chairman to enter discussion about a possible merger. 委员会通过了主席提出的新方案，开始就可能进行的并购进行讨论。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The government has broadly endorsed a research paper proposing new educational targets for 14-year-olds. 政府基本上支持建议对14 岁少年实行新教育目标的研究报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 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。