(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION – American history in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember. This week in our series, we look at the presidential election of two thousand. It was an election that few Americans would soon forget. "The Presidential race looks jar-lid-tight. We could be in for a long night, as voters decide whether Vice President Al Gore or Texas Governor George Bush will be the next President of the United States. It is that close." In two thousand, Americans were preparing to elect a new president in November. The United States Constitution limits presidents to two terms. Bill Clinton would be leaving office. So his Democratic Party needed to choose a new candidate. The Democrats nominated Clinton's vice president, Al Gore. Gore chose Senator Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut as his running mate. Lieberman became the first Jewish candidate ever nominated by a major party to such a high office. He was first elected to the Senate in nineteen eighty-eight.
Al Gore was born in Washington in nineteen forty-eight. He was named after his father, a United States senator from Tennessee. The future vice president grew up in Washington and in Carthage, Tennessee, where his family had a farm. He government at Harvard in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and graduated in nineteen sixty-nine. That was during the Vietnam War. His father opposed American involvement in that war. But the young Al Gore joined the Army and spent about six months of his service as a military journalist in Vietnam. Back in civilian life, Gore again worked as a reporter. Later he studied religion and then law at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. But he dropped out of law school to enter politics. He was elected to the United States House of Representatives in nineteen seventy-six. He became known for supporting nuclear arms control and protecting the environment. Al Gore was elected to the Senate in nineteen eighty-four. He was re-elected six years later. That was after he had tried to become the Democratic candidate for president in nineteen eighty-eight. Then, in nineteen ninety-two, Bill Clinton won the party's nomination and asked Al Gore to be his vice president.
As vice president, Gore became known for his work on issues involving the environment, technology and foreign relations. In March nineteen ninety-nine he gave an interview on CNN. During that interview he talked about his plans to enter the race for the presidential nomination the following year. He made the statement that during his service in Congress, "I took the initiative in creating the internet." He went on to say that he "took the initiative in moving forward" other efforts important to the economy, environmental protection and educational improvements. But his comment about the Internet led to jokes and criticism that he was claiming to have actually invented it. The Republicans nominated Texas Governor George W. Bush as their presidential candidate. For his running mate, he chose Dick Cheney, a former secretary of defense. George Walker Bush was born in Texas in nineteen forty-six, the oldest child of former President George Herbert Walker Bush. He grew up in the Texas cities of Midland and Houston. He graduated from Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, and earned a master's in business administration at Harvard University. During the Vietnam War years, he was a pilot in the Texas Air National Guard. Later he worked in the state's oil and gas industry. In nineteen eighty-eight, Bush worked on his father's winning campaign for president. Later, he became one of the owners of the Texas Rangers, a Major League baseball team.
In nineteen ninety-four George W. Bush was elected governor of Texas. He was re-elected four years later. Several other candidates also ran for president in the November two thousand election. These minor or so-called third party candidates included activist Ralph Nader. He represented the Green Party. He criticized large corporations for having too much influence in America. Pat Buchanan, a conservative, ran as the Reform Party candidate. Public opinion surveys showed that the race between George Bush and Al Gore would be extremely close. The election took place on November seventh. More than one hundred million people voted for them. Al Gore received about five hundred forty thousand more of those votes than George Bush did. But winning popular vote does not make someone president. Americans do not directly elect their president. When they vote for a candidate, what they are really doing is voting for electors. The number of electors for each state is based on the size of its congressional delegation, which is based on population. These electors then vote in December in a system known as the Electoral College. The Electoral College officially elects the president. In the two thousand election, there were five hundred thirty-eight electors in the Electoral College. To become president, the winner needed a simple majority of two hundred seventy.
Al Gore won the popular vote, but neither he nor George Bush won a majority of the electoral votes. Not that any of this was clear on Election Night. "Bulletin: Florida pulled back into the undecided column. This thing is so wild, wacky, and woolly, nobody knows how it's going to come out." "...as CNN right now is moving Florida to the too-close-to-call column... " "...too close to call..." "Florida is now too close to call. I want to say that again, it's a confusing situation. Now, if you're disgusted with us, frankly I don't blame you." Florida is a big southern state. It had enough electoral votes to make either candidate the winner. Election officials counted almost six million votes on Election Night. George Bush had slightly more votes than Al Gore but not enough to avoid a recount. Florida state law calls for a recount when the difference between two candidates is less than one-half of one percent of the votes. State recounts normally involve the governor. But the governor of Florida said he would not get involved. That was because the governor was Jeb Bush, George Bush's brother.
And there were other issues with the election. Some black voters said election workers had unjustly prevented them from voting. There were also problems with voting machines and ballots. In one area, some Gore supporters believed they had voted for Pat Buchanan by mistake. The names were next to one another on the ballot. Democrats said the ballot design was illegal. Republicans said Democratic Party officials had never objected to it. The disputed election results in Florida introduced a new term into popular speech. Americans began talking about "chads." Whether it was "hanging chads," "pregnant chads" or "dimpled chads," it amounted to the same problem. It meant that a voting machine had not cleanly punched out a bit of paper, called a chad, when the voter made a choice. As a result, the ballot would confuse a vote-counting machine and make the choice unreadable. That, in turn, meant election workers had to look at each questionable ballot and try to decide the voter's choice. All this took place with the nation -- and the world -- watching and wondering who would become America's next president. Something else only added to anger and debate over the situation in Florida. Florida's secretary of state, its chief election officer, Katherine Harris, also happened to be a leader of the Bush campaign there. "Governor George W. Bush – two million, nine hundred twelve thousand seven hundred ninety."
Almost three weeks after the election, Florida officials declared George Bush the winner of the state's twenty-five electoral votes. That gave him a total of two hundred seventy-one. Out of six million ballots, state officials said he had defeated Al Gore by five hundred thirty-seven votes. But the election was still not over. Gore and his supporters in Florida asked the courts to reject the results because of what they said were the many voting problems. The Florida Supreme Court ordered another count of the disputed ballots. Bush campaign officials quickly appealed to the United States Supreme Court. The court said Florida law did not explain how officials should judge the ballots. The court found the situation in Florida unconstitutional because there were different standards around the state. The justices also said not enough time remained to settle the issue before the Electoral College had to meet. On December twelfth, the court voted seven to two to end the recount, and five to four against ordering a new one. Six days later, on December eighteenth, members of the Electoral College met in each state capital and the District of Columbia. They made the election official. George W. Bush would become the forty-third president of the United States.
"I, George Walker Bush, do solemnly swear..." "That I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States..." "That I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States..." He took office on January twentieth, two thousand one. The election dispute had divided Americans. But less than a year later, the nation was brought together by events that would set the direction for the presidency of George W. Bush. "A plane has just crashed into the World Trade Center here in New York City. It happened just a few moments ago..." The United States suffered the worst terrorist attacks in its history on September eleventh, two thousand one -- a day that would be remembered as 9-11. That will be our story next week.
重点解析
1.look at 看；考虑
We have set up a task force to look at the question of women returning to work.
我们已经成立了一个工作组去调查妇女复工的问题。
2.drop out 退学；辍学
You'll never go to college if you drop out of high school.
如果高中辍学，你就永远不能上大学了。
3.grow up 成长；长大成人
She grew up in Tokyo.
她在东京长大。
4.get involved 参与；介入
Keep your nose clean, and don't get involved.
你要安分守己，不要卷到那里头去。
参考译文
欢迎收听VOA慢速英语之建国史话节目，我是史蒂夫·恩伯。在本周的系列节目中，我们要看一下2000年的总统大选，很少有美国人很快能忘记这次选举。“总统竞选看起来很紧张，我们可能会在这里待上一个漫长的夜晚，因为选民们会决定是否让副总统阿尔·戈尔，还是得克萨斯州州长乔治·布什出任美国的下一任总统。双方非常接近。”2000年，美国准备在11月选举新总统。美国宪法规定总统只能连任两届，比尔·克林顿将卸任。所以，其民主党需要选出一位新候选人。民主党人提名克林顿的副总统阿尔·戈尔。戈尔选择康涅狄格州参议员约瑟夫·利伯曼作为竞选伙伴。利伯曼成为有史以来第一位，经由主要政党提名担任如此高职位的犹太候选人。 他于1988年首次当选成为参议院议员。
戈尔1948年出生于华盛顿，以其父亲的名字命名。他的父亲是田纳西州的一名美国参议员。这位未来的副总统在华盛顿和田纳西州的迦太基长大，他家有一个农场。他在马萨诸塞州剑桥的哈佛大学学习政府学，于1969年毕业。当时正值越南战争期间，他的父亲反对美国卷入越战。但年轻的阿尔·戈尔参了军，在越南担任大约六个月的军事记者。返回平民生活后，戈尔又做了一名记者。后来，他在田纳西州纳什维尔的范德比尔特大学学习宗教和法律。但他从法学院退学，进入了政界。他于1976年当选为美国众议院议员，他以支持核武器控制和保护环境而闻名。戈尔于1984年当选为参议院议员，六年后再次当选。这发生在1988年他试图成为民主党总统候选人之后。随后，在1992年，比尔·克林顿赢得该党的提名，并请戈尔担任其副总统。
作为副总统，戈尔因其在环境、技术和外交关系等问题上的工作而闻名。1999年3月，他接受CNN的采访。在那次采访中，他谈到次年参加总统候选人竞选的计划。他发表声明说，在他任职于国会期间，“我主动创建了互联网。” 他接着说，他“主动推进”对经济、环境保护和教育改善很重要的其他努力。但是，他对互联网的评论引发了笑话和批评，他声称自己实际上发明了互联网。共和党提名德克萨斯州州长乔治·布什作为他们的总统候选人，他选择前国防部长迪克·切尼作为竞选伙伴。乔治·沃克·布什1946年出生在德克萨斯州，是前总统乔治·赫伯特·沃克·布什的长子，他在德克萨斯州的米德兰和休斯顿长大。他毕业于康涅狄格州纽黑文的耶鲁大学，并在哈佛大学获得工商管理硕士学位。越战期间，他是德克萨斯州空军国民警卫队的飞行员。后来，他在该州的石油和天然气行业工作。在1988年，布什致力于让其父亲赢得总统竞选。后来，他成了美国职业棒球大联盟德州游骑兵队的老板之一。
1994年，乔治·W·布什当选为德克萨斯州州长。四年后，他再次当选。另外几位候选人也参加了2000年11月的总统选举，这些不太重要或所谓的第三方候选人包括活动家拉尔夫·纳德，他代表绿党。他批评大型公司在美国影响过大。保守派人士帕特·布坎南作为改革党候选人参加竞选。民意调查显示，乔治·布什和阿尔·戈尔之间的竞争将非常激烈。选举于11月7日举行，超过一亿人进行投票。阿尔·戈尔获得的选票比乔治·布什多了大约54万张。但是，赢得普选并不能使某人成为总统。美国人不直接选举总统，他们投票给一位候选人，他们真正做的是投票给选民。每个州的选举人人数根据其国会代表团的规模来决定，而国会代表团以人口数量为基础。然后，这些选民在12月通过一个被称为选举团的系统投票，选举团正式选举总统。在2000年的选举中，选举团有538名选民。要成为总统，胜出者需要270人的过半数选票。
戈尔赢得了普选，但他和乔治·布什都没有赢得大多数选举人的选票。在选举之夜，这些都尚不明朗。公报：佛罗里达州又返回犹豫不决的纵队，这情况太狂野，太古怪，有点混乱，没人知道它将怎样出来。”“因为CNN现在正把佛罗里达州移到势均力敌的纵队……”“太接近了，无法决定……”“佛罗里达州现在太接近了，无法决定。我想再说一遍，这个局面令人困惑。如果你讨厌我们，坦白说，我不责怪你。”佛罗里达州是南部的一个大州，拥有足够的选举人票数，能让任何一位候选人都成为胜利者。选举官员在选举当晚统计出将近600万张选票。乔治·布什的选票数量略多于戈尔，但还不足以避免重新计票。佛罗里达州的法律规定，两名候选人之间的差异少于选票百分之一的二分之一时要重新计票。州范围的重新计票通常涉及州长，但是佛罗里达州州长表示，他不会介入此事。那是因为州长是乔治·布什的兄弟，杰布·布什。
选举还存在其他问题，一些黑人选民说，选举工作人员不公正地阻止他们投票。投票机和选票也有问题。在一个地区，一些戈尔的支持者认为，他们错把票投给了帕特·布坎南。选票上的名字，彼此相邻。民主党人说选票设计是非法的，共和党则表示，民主党官员从未对此表示反对。佛罗里达州有争议的选举结果，为流行口语引入了新名词。美国人开始谈论“乍得”，无论是“悬吊的乍得”，“怀孕的乍得”，还是“带酒窝的乍得”，都是相同的问题。这意味着当选民做出选择时，投票机并没有干净地打出一张称为乍得的纸。结果，投票会使选票机混乱，造成无法读取选票。这反过来意味着，选举工作人员必须查看每一张有问题的选票，并试图决定选民的选择。所有这些发生时，美国和全世界都在关注并猜测，谁将成为美国下一任总统。其他一些事情只会加剧人们对佛罗里达州局势的愤怒和争论，佛罗里达州的州务卿、首席选举官凯瑟琳·哈里斯也碰巧是布什竞选班子的领导人。“乔治·W·布什州长获得2912790张选票。
大选结束近三周后，佛罗里达州官员宣布，乔治·布什赢得了该州25张选举人票，共计271。在600万张选票中，州政府官员表示，他以537票的优势击败了戈尔。但选举仍未结束，戈尔和他在佛罗里达州的支持者要求法院驳回选举结果，因为他们认为选举存在许多问题。佛罗里达州最高法院下令再次计算有争议的选票。布什竞选团队的官员迅速向美国最高法院提出上诉。法院表示，佛罗里达州的法律没有解释官员应该如何判断选票。法院认为佛罗里达州的情况违反宪法，因为该州各地存在不同的标准。法官们还表示，在选举团必须开会协商之前，没有足够的时间来解决该问题。12月12日，法院以7票对2票通过重新计票，5票对4票反对重新进行投票。
六天后，即12月18日，选举学院的成员在各州首府和哥伦比亚特区举行会议。他们使选举正式化，乔治·W·布什将成为美国第43位总统。“我，乔治·沃克·布什，郑重宣誓……”“我将忠实履行美国总统的职责……”“我将忠实履行美国总统的职责…”他于2001年1月20日就职。选举争端在美国人中产生分歧。但不到一年后，美国人因一些事件聚集起立，这些事件将为乔治·沃克·布什的总统任期指明方向。“一架飞机刚刚撞上纽约世贸中心，就发生在几分钟前……”2001年的9月11日，美国遭受了历史上最严重的恐怖袭击，人们将这一天记为9-11。这将是我们下期节目要讲述的故事。
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