VOA Special English -  【学习笔记】IN THE NEWS - 9/6/2008

SOURCE: IN THE NEWS - US Presidential Campaign Moves to Full Speed for Final Eight Weeks

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Elections in the United States are now less than two months away. The political conventions are over, and campaigning will intensify, especially in "battleground states." These are states where the close race between Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama is too close to predict.

美国大选仅剩不到两个月。此时，两党的全国大会都已落幕，此后的竞选将会更加激烈，尤其是在“决战之州”，共和党约翰·迈凯恩和民主党巴拉克·奥巴马在这些州的竞选将率势均力敌，胜负难料。

The Republican convention closed Thursday in Saint Paul, Minnesota, after John McCain accepted his party's nomination. He sought the nomination once before, in two thousand, but lost to George W. Bush.

共和党全国大会于周四在明尼苏达州首府圣保罗闭幕，此前约翰·迈凯恩正式接受了总统提名。约翰·迈凯恩曾于2000年竞选该提名，但输给了乔治·布什。

JOHN McCAIN: "Let me offer an advance warning to the old, big-spending, do-nothing, me-first, country-second Washington crowd: change is coming."

约翰·迈凯恩：“让我告诫喜欢铺张浪费、不办实事、个人利益至上的华盛顿破旧政府：变革就要来了。”

In his acceptance speech, the Arizona senator said he works for no party or special interest but for the country.

在他接受提名演讲上，亚历桑纳州议员说，他不是为政党利益而工作，而是一心为国家利益考虑。

JOHN McCAIN: "I will reach out my hand to anyone to help me get this country moving again. I have that record and the scars to prove it. Senator Obama does not."

约翰·迈凯恩：“我会把手伸给任何人，帮助我重新推动国家前进。我的经历和身上的伤痕可以证明，奥巴马议员则不能。

John McCain said he would keep taxes low, open new export markets, cut government spending and increase American energy production. He noted that he fought for more troops in Iraq when it was not politically popular. And the former Navy pilot talked about his five and a half years as a prisoner during the war in Vietnam.

约翰·迈凯恩说，他将实行保持低税收，开放新兴出口市场，缩减政府开支并提高能源生产等政策。他指出，在伊拉克问题成为政治焦点之前，他就极力主张向伊拉克增乒。同时，这位前海军飞行员也谈到自己在越战期间长达5年半的囚犯生涯。

JOHN McCAIN: "I fell in love with my country when I was a prisoner in someone else's."

Senator McCain, at seventy-two, would be America's oldest first-term president.

迈凯恩议员以72岁的高龄，将有可能成为美国历史上上任年龄最大的总统。

He said he will fight for the Republican Party to regain the trust of the American people. "We were elected to change Washington, and we let Washington change us," he said. He also had a message for Obama supporters: "Despite our differences, more unites us than divides us."

他说他将为共和党重获美国人民信任而战。他说“我们是被推选来变革华盛顿的，我们要让华盛顿变革美国”。他同时也告诉奥巴马的支持者：“尽管我们政见不同，但仍要更加团结，而不是更加对立。”

Nielsen Media Research estimated that almost thirty-nine million people in the United States watched John McCain's acceptance speech on TV. That broke the convention record set by Barack Obama last week by a half-million viewers. Nielsen says more than thirty-seven million watched John McCain's running mate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, accept her nomination.

尼尔森媒体研究机构估计大概39,000,000位美国人通过电视收看了约翰·迈凯恩接受总统提名演讲。打破了巴拉克·奥巴马上周创下的纪录高出50,000。该机构说，超过37,000,000人观看了约翰·迈凯恩的竞选伙伴——阿拉斯加州长沙拉·佩琳接受副总统提名的演说。

In fact, much of the attention this week went to the surprise choice for vice president. She is only the second woman to be on the presidential ballot of a major party, and the first for the Republicans.

事实上，出乎人们意料的副主统的候选人成为本周焦点。她是美国历史上第二位主要政党的女副总统候选人，是共和党的第一位女副总统候选人。

But on Monday she also set off a media storm in reaction to claims made by liberal bloggers. She released a statement that her seventeen-year-old daughter is pregnant and will marry her boyfriend.

周一，她在澄清公开博客的谣言时，引发了一场不小的风暴。她发出一份声明，表示她的一个十七岁的女儿正在怀孕，将与她的男友婚。

Sarah Palin has been Alaska's governor for less than two years. Earlier, she was mayor of the town of Wasilla for six years.

沙拉·佩琳担任阿拉斯加州州长不到两年。之前六年，她一直担任Wasilla镇长。

SARAH PALIN: "I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities."

沙拉·佩琳：“我想，除实际的职责之外，一个小镇的镇长就类似一个社区的组织者。”
（译注：因为奥巴马竞选班子曾抨击过佩琳原来只是小镇镇长，没有什么从政经验。因此，佩琳回击以“社区组织者”身份开始政治生涯的奥巴马。）

Another speaker, Rudy Giuliani, also joked about community organizers. Barack Obama was an organizer in poor communities in Chicago after college. The Obama campaign said the comments insulted an idea found throughout American history.

In the coming weeks, the two presidential candidates will hold three debates. And Governor Palin will debate Barack Obama's running mate, Senator Joe Biden, on October second. The election is November fourth.

未来几周，两位总统候选人将会举行三场辩论会。佩琳州长将于10月2日对阵奥巴马的竞选伙伴乔·拜登。总统大选定在11月4号。