VOA标准英语2013--Midwest Tea Party Activists Not Surprised by IRS Scrutiny

 

Midwest Tea Party Activists¹ Not Surprised by IRS Scrutiny²

Former Illinois Congressman³ Joe Walsh, a Republican, has heard a lot about the IRS from his conservative supporters, and not just in the last several weeks.

“I had, during my two years in Congress, had heard from a number of groups that there was increased activity, a lot of questions and reports being asked by the Internal Revenue Service, so we weren’t surprised, but, now that it's official, incredibly outraged,” said Walsh.

Walsh was elected to office in the 2010 mid-term elections, around the time the IRS began scrutinizing⁵ applications for tax-exemption from politically-conservative groups, aiming its probes at groups that had "Tea Party," "Patriot⁶" and other key words in their names.

Walsh said the practice affected⁷ many of those who supported him in that election, and in his failed bid to retain his seat in the 2012 election.

“Hearing from a number of my donors⁸, some wealthy Republican conservative, slash⁹ [/], donors who also would raise some concerns about notices they were getting from the IRS, and I think this was building up across the country,” he said.

“We always assumed or suspected that that’s what was happening, because I talk to folks all across the country, so we know that people were being held up for 12 months,” said Illinois Tea Party founder¹⁰ Denise Cattoni.

She said some conservative groups in her state decided¹¹ to forgo¹² applying for tax-exempt status for fear of drawing unwelcome attention from the IRS.

“Once word got out in 2010 that that was happening, there were some groups that said it’s just not worth it. I never got involved in this to be targeted by the IRS,” she said.

Walsh has channeled the outrage⁴ at the IRS onto his nightly conservative talk radio show, where he says he is now hearing from more than just his regular conservative listeners.

“On the radio show, [its] not just Tea Party people. For a lot of us who have been afraid of something like this for a long long time, this is what we are talking about,” said Walsh.

The IRS has publicly apologized for its wrongdoing, and President Barack Obama has expressed his outrage at the revelations, though conservative activists say that is not enough.  

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill already are probing the issue further, and plan a series of committee hearings in both the House and Senate. 

1 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

3 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。

4 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

5 scrutinizing   

v.仔细检查，详审( scrutinize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• His grandfather's stern eyes were scrutinizing him, and Chueh-hui felt his face reddening. 祖父的严厉的眼光射在他的脸上。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）
• The machine hushed, extraction and injection nozzles poised, scrutinizing its targets. 机器“嘘”地一声静了下来，输入输出管道各就各位，检查着它的目标。 来自互联网

6 patriot   

n.爱国者，爱国主义者

参考例句：

• He avowed himself a patriot.他自称自己是爱国者。
• He is a patriot who has won the admiration of the French already.他是一个已经赢得法国人敬仰的爱国者。

7 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

8 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 slash   

vi.大幅度削减；vt.猛砍，尖锐抨击，大幅减少；n.猛砍，斜线，长切口，衣衩

参考例句：

• The shop plans to slash fur prices after Spring Festival.该店计划在春节之后把皮货降价。
• Don't slash your horse in that cruel way.不要那样残忍地鞭打你的马。

10 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

11 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

12 forgo   

v.放弃，抛弃

参考例句：

• Time to prepare was a luxuary he would have to forgo.因为时间不够，他不得不放弃做准备工作。
• She would willingly forgo a birthday treat if only her warring parents would declare a truce.只要她的父母停止争吵，她愿意放弃生日宴请。