VOA标准英语2013--Venezuelan Election is Again Choice Between Socialism, Capitalism

 

Venezuelan Election is Again Choice Between Socialism, Capitalism¹

Business has not been good for Rotzen Villabon, who owns a gift shop called Viqiu. He needs dollars to import products made in China but he can't find any at the official exchange rate of 6.5 Bolivares per U.S. dollar. He says the supply is even limited on the black market at a much higher exchange rate.

“It has been really hard to find dollars, and we can find some at an exchange rate of 25 per dollar but not the amount that we want. So that is the reason that business is down,” said Villabon.

The strict controls on foreign currency are fueling the country's soaring inflation and causing scarcity² of needed items from food to beauty products.

Villabon said he will vote for Henrique Capriles, who has promised to open up the economy to foreign investment and make Venezuela more business friendly.

“I think if Capriles wins there will be change. Not overnight, we have to be clear, because the conditions are really complicated. We don't have liquidity³ in this country and, whoever wins the election, it's going to be a hard time,” he said.

For many supporters of interim⁴ President Maduro, the election is about preserving social programs like free housing, education and health care put in place by President Hugo Chavez, who died last month after a long battle with cancer.

Jose Antonio Silva and his brother just received free treatment at a local health clinic.

“And if Maduro, God willing, wins the election, this will continue because this is a project the president wanted for the poor people,” he said.

The candidates agree that Venezuela needs to curb⁵ double-digit inflation and both support social programs for the poor. But many voters see stark⁶ ideological⁷ differences in the candidates and President Maduro currently holds a significant lead over Capriles in the polls. 

The election takes place this coming Sunday. 

1 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。

2 scarcity   

n.缺乏，不足，萧条

参考例句：

• The scarcity of skilled workers is worrying the government.熟练工人的缺乏困扰着政府。
• The scarcity of fruit was caused by the drought.水果供不应求是由于干旱造成的。

3 liquidity   

n.流动性，偿债能力，流动资产

参考例句：

• The bank has progressively increased its liquidity.银行逐渐地增加其流动资产。
• The demand for and the supply of credit is closely linked to changes in liquidity.信用的供求和流动资金的变化有密切关系。

4 interim   

adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间

参考例句：

• The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
• It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。

5 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

6 stark   

adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
• He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。

7 ideological   

a.意识形态的

参考例句：

• He always tries to link his study with his ideological problems. 他总是把学习和自己的思想问题联系起来。
• He helped me enormously with advice on how to do ideological work. 他告诉我怎样做思想工作，对我有很大帮助。