(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
This week, 15 million registered voters in Uganda will go to the polls to elect a president, parliament and local officials.
Incumbent president Yoweri Museveni faces two opposition candidates: Kizza Besigye and Amama Mbabazi.
Museveni took over Uganda in 1986 by force after a civil war. Before that, the country was controlled by a series of dictators, including Idi Amin. Amin ruled the country in the 1970s.
Museveni won his first election in 1996.
Observers who follow elections around the world say Uganda does not have a free election process. They say the country's elections are manipulated and opposition candidates are not free to campaign.
For example, just three days before the election, Bessigye was detained for a short time. The BBC reports that police said he was disrupting traffic on his way to campaign event.
Freedom House is a pro-Democracy organization that monitors elections around the world. The organization releases a report called "Freedom in the World" each year.
In 2015 Uganda was rated "not free" and was given a score of 6 for political rights. Seven is the worst score.
But a team of recent computer science graduates from Makerere University is hoping their new app, called "E-Poll" will be able to change that.
The developers say the app is supposed to make elections more fair. It compares the number of voters at polling places with official numbers announced by Uganda's Electoral Commission.
Observers are looking for a difference between the number of votes and the number of voters reported by poll. If there is a difference, the election results could be challenged.
Shafiq Kauma is one of the developers.
He says an election-tracking app seemed like a good way to help his country.
The developers say the time it takes to certify the election in Uganda allows those in power to rig the election. They believe their app can help make election results more clear.
Kauma says election results from each polling place pass through a number of stages before they reach the electoral commission.
E-Poll sends election data straight from the polling place to the tally center, Kauma says.
There is another way officials in Uganda hope to make this year's election more transparent. A system that uses biometrics, or a person's physical characteristics, is in place to confirm voters' identities. Those characteristics include fingerprints, faces and the retina of the eye. A scanner can read those characteristics and confirm identities.
I'm Dan Friedell.
词汇解释
1.dictator n. 独裁者;命令者
Finally, they threw down the dictator.
他们最终推翻了独裁者 。
2.manipulate vt. 操纵;操作;巧妙地处理;篡改
The treasurer was arrested for trying to manipulate the company's accounts.
这个会计因企图篡改公司账目而被捕 。
3.rig n. 装备;钻探设备;服装;[船] 帆装 vt. 操纵;装配;装扮;装上索具
She accused her opponents of rigging the vote.
她指责对手幕后操纵了这次选举 。
4.biometrics n. [生物] 生物统计学;[生物] 生物测定学;寿命统计
In fact, the fingerprint identification technology is very common, and even fingerprint biometrics has become almost synonymous.
事实上,指纹识别身份技术已是十分的普遍,甚至于指纹识别几乎成为了生物测定学的同义词 。
5.retina n. [解剖] 视网膜
The periphery of the retina is very sensitive to motion.
视网膜的外围对运动非常敏感 。
内容解析
1.Museveni took over Uganda in 1986 by force after a civil war.
take over 接管;接收
Prime candidate to take over his job is Margaret Ramsay.
接替他工作的首要人选是玛格丽特·拉姆齐 。
Kalan called his assistant, Hashim, to take over while he went out.
考兰叫助理哈希姆在自己外出时代理其职 。
2.A system that uses biometrics, or a person's physical characteristics, is in place to confirm voters' identities.
in place 适当,适当的;在适当的地方,在恰当的位置
The United States plans to tighten the economic sanctions currently in place.
美国计划加大现有经济制裁的力度 。
A strong community cannot be built until the basics are in place.
只有基本原则确立了才能建立起一个强大的团体 。
参考译文
本周,乌干达1500万选民将前往投票站选出一位总统、议会和地方官员
。现任总统约文·穆塞韦尼面对两位在野党候选人:贝西耶和姆巴巴齐
。穆塞韦尼1986年内战后通过武力上台,在此之前,该国被多个独裁者统治着,包括20世纪70年代在位的伊迪·阿敏
。伊迪·阿敏1996年首次赢得选举
。观察世界各地选举的观察家们称乌干达没有一套自由的选举程序,他们称该国的选举被操纵,在野党候选人无法自由参与竞选
。比如,就在选举的三天前,贝西耶被短暂拘留,BBC报道称警方称他在前往选举活动的路上干扰交通
。自由之家是个支持民主的组织,监督世界各地的选举活动,该组织每年都要发布名为《世界自由》的报告
。2015年乌干达被评为“不自由”,政治权利方面的得分为6,7是最低的分数
。但最近马凯雷雷大学一个计算机科学毕业生团队希望这款名为“E投票”的应用能改变这一现状
。开发者们称该应用的目的是让选举更公平,它将投票站的选民人数与乌干达选举委员会宣布的官方数字进行对比
。观察家在研究选票数和投票站报道的选民人数之间的差异,如果存在差异,那么就可以对选举结果进行质疑
。Shafiq Kauma是其中一位开发者
。他说选举追踪应用似乎可以帮助到他的国家
。这些开发者称澄清选举所需时间足以让执政者操纵选举,他们认为这个应用能让选举结果更透明
。Kauma说每个投票站的选举结果在最终抵达选举委员会那里之前要经过很多步骤
。Kauma说“E投票”直接将选举数据从投票站发送到点票站
。乌干达官方还希望用另一个办法来让今年的选举更透明,一个利用个人身体特征的系统已经被投入使用,用以核实选民的身份,这些特征包括指纹、面部和眼睛的视网膜,一个扫描仪可以读取这些特征并核实身份
。我是丹·费里德尔
。