Y: 各位聽眾好,歡迎到美語咖啡屋,我是楊晨。
J: Hello. Welcome to American Cafe. I'm Jody. So, Yang Chen, this is a big political year in the United States. The race for the White House is not going to be an easy one.
Y: 你說的沒錯。今年的競爭非常激烈?,F在你只要一打開電視,就能看到競選廣告里民主黨和共和黨在相互攻擊。
J: But Yang Chen, don't forget; it's not only the White House. There are also Congressional races going on in the States that are very important. In fact, our guest today is Richard Martin, the campaign manager for Christopher Turman's congressional challenge in West Virginia.
實錄1 Richard Martin: My name is Richard Martin. I'm managing Christopher Turman's Congressional challenge in West Virginia 2.
Y: Oh, Richard是一個競選活動負責人。他剛才說的West Virginia 2是什么意思?
J: West Virginia 2 means the Second Congressional District in West Virginia. All States are divided into districts and those districts each has their own congressional representation.
Y: 這種選區(qū)的劃分還挺復雜的。
J: So complicated! That's why I'm not in politics. So, I asked Richard why he is drawn to politics. Here's what he had to say.
Y: 我看我們還是聽聽Richard來解釋他為什么熱衷于政治吧。
實錄2 Richard Martin: I've been a political professional for about 5 years. I'm drawn to it mostly because I...I...I believe that all too often the government's used as a tool for certain people to get what they want done and it sort of ignores what would be better for most people.
Y: Richard投身政治是要促使政府為大眾,而不是為少數人服務。嗯,我覺得他這個理念很崇高啊。
J: Oh, absolutely. Many people believe that government is a tool that is used by huge companies and big business and not everyday people, you know, 老百姓。
Y: 對,我們選國會議員就是要讓他們?yōu)槔习傩辗铡?/p>
J: Exactly. And Richard believes that the better representatives we elect, the better everyone's lives will be. Now, let's hear from Richard.
實錄3 Richard Martin: I think the better representatives we elect the better everyone's lives are gonna be. And we need our government to work for the people and not the huge companies.
Y: 他說得沒錯。政府就是應該代表人民的利益,所以大家都應該參與政治。那候選Turman先生有沒有在集會上講話呢?
J: Of course, here's the candidate, Christopher Turman, explaining why he is running for office in West Virginia. He also slams, oh, “slams”... Yang Chen, 用漢語怎么講?
Y:就是猛烈抨擊的意思。
J: He slams his opponent, a Republican woman named Shelly Moore Capito by saying that she was only elected on the coattails of President Bush.
Y: 你剛才用coattail這個詞,就是上衣或燕尾服的下擺。這讓我想起中文里的“裙帶關系”,是不是這個意思呢?
J: 就是了!Exactly! Let's first hear Turman use the phrase "to ride on someone's coattails."
實錄4 Turman: And this event is my first event and this is the first time I'm going to say publicly why I am running. In 2000 George Bush won the White House by winning West Virginia. And in 2004 he is going to lose the White House by losing West Virginia. And Shelly Moore Capito who came in on his coattails is going to go home with him.
J: Riding someone's coattails to the top is common in politics. Coattail is spelled C-O-A-T-T-A-I-L.
Y: 你是在什么地方采訪了Richard?周圍好象很吵。
J: Oh, we spoke at a fundraiser for the candidate.
Y: 其實關于競選籌款也有很多法律條文,不過那些法律條文實在太枯燥,今天我們就不談了。
J: Well, we won't talk about it today. But, Yang Chen, if you want to pursue your dream of running for office someday, you'll have to know about fundraising. You could run to be the mayor of ... Happyville!
Y: 如果我成為Happyville的市長,我會讓所有的街道都干凈整潔,Happyville永遠鳥語花香,坐taxi不用花錢,買東西不用排隊......
J: Yang Chen! Yang Chen, wake up and smell the coffee. You're not running for mayor of Happyville. You're the host of American Cafe. Now, will you say goodbye to everyone.
Y: 噢,對不起,我們下次再見。
J: Vote for Yang Chen!