VOA标准英语2012--Putin's Challengers Seek Attention With TV Ads

Putin's Challengers Seek Attention With TV Ads

Vladimir Zhirinovsky is running for president of Russia for the fifth time since 1991.
In his TV ads, he whips a stubborn donkey. He shouts: “This lousy little donkey is a symbol of our country.”
The Carnegie Endowment's Moscow analyst¹, Masha Lipman, wonders whether Zhirinovsky really wants to win the presidential election:
“He is whipping a donkey, saying Russia is backward," Lipman said. "So is Russia a donkey? Using his whip to make it move. And he exclaims in exasperation²: 'It wouldn’t even move!' Then it ends ... with the phrase [Vote for] ‘Zhirinovsky and everything will be fine.’ Which is how he sees Russia today. Which is kind of insulting.”
Communist Party candidate Gennady Zyuganov is running for the fourth time since 1996. His fast-paced TV ad shows images of modern Russia.
Lipman's view: “This Russia is beautiful and grand. This is Russia of big and shiny factories, of beautiful plains and mountains. In every way this is a great and beautiful country, which is somewhat controversial, as it make him look as if he has been president already. If everything looks so good, what is the whole point of competing with the person who rules it?”
Mr. Putin served two terms as president before, stepping down only because the constitution bars a head of state from serving three consecutive³ terms. He has since been prime minister, but his successor as president, Dmitry Medvedev, deferred⁴ his own political ambitions to allow Mr. Putin to return to the top job at the Kremlin.
Zyuganov, running second at this point in the presidential race, has his own challenger in Mikhail Prokhorov, a billionaire who is rising in opinion polls. Prokhorov's confident appearance and message appeals to Russia’s growing liberal middle class. He says a new Russia needs a new president.
“A president who returns our belief in ourselves," he says. "Demand more: Mikhail Prokhorov. New president, new Russia!”
Sergei Mironov, candidate of the Fair Russia party, takes up an anti-corruption⁵ theme in his ad: Mironov says, “we need to change those in power, and I’ll fight them till the end.”
Despite those fighting words, Mironov did not join the tens of thousands of Russians who protested against corruption in a mass rally in Moscow on February 4.
In the world of TV ads, the missing face belongs to the fifth candidate, Vladimir Putin.
At Moscow’s State Historical Library, Elena Strukova curates a show of Russian political advertisements created for elections in the 20 years since the Soviet⁶ Union collapsed⁷. Once Mr. Putin became the official candidate, she says advertising⁸ in support of him became unnecessary.
Mr. Putin’s everyday activities dominate Russia’s daily news programs, so advertising might be seen as overkill.
In Russia, the candidate who is not advertising may be the candidate who wins the race.

1 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

2 exasperation   

n.愤慨

参考例句：

• He snorted with exasperation.他愤怒地哼了一声。
• She rolled her eyes in sheer exasperation.她气急败坏地转动着眼珠。

3 consecutive   

adj.连续的，联贯的，始终一贯的

参考例句：

• It has rained for four consecutive days.已连续下了四天雨。
• The policy of our Party is consecutive.我党的政策始终如一。

4 deferred   

adj.延期的，缓召的v.拖延，延缓，推迟( defer的过去式和过去分词 )；服从某人的意愿，遵从

参考例句：

• The department deferred the decision for six months. 这个部门推迟了六个月才作决定。
• a tax-deferred savings plan 延税储蓄计划

5 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

6 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

7 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

8 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。