新闻万花筒：VOA视角之奥巴马面临着更强大的新国会压力

Spiiker新闻万花筒，VOA新闻，带您看世界，听世界，

感受世界的点点滴滴。

练听力，提能力，小编与您共努力！

Obama Faces Stronger Opposition From New Congress

As U.S. lawmakers return to Washington for the brand new 114th Congress, Republicans likely will exert greater influence after winning control of the Senate and boosting their majority in the House of Representatives.

After a Christmas vacation with his family in Hawaii, President Obama returned to Washington to face a stark new political reality.

Incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told CNN’s "State of the Union" that the Senate will vote on a lot of things the president is not going to like, such as a proposed oil pipeline and energy deregulation. McConnell said the balance of power has shifted.

“Now he needs to talk to us. And that’s good, because when the American people elect a divided government, they’re not saying they don’t want anything done," he said. "What they are saying is, they want things done in the political center."

One of the new Republican members of Congress, Mia Love, says lawmakers need to pay more attention to voters.

“”You know, we have faced dysfunction because people on both sides of the aisle have said, you know, we want Americans to trust us again," she said. "And we have got that backwards. We have to trust the American people again.”

On the Democratic side of the aisle, Senator Elizabeth Warren strongly disagrees with the Republican agenda, saying Congress needs to focus on the nation’s disadvantaged.

"Washington already works really well for the billionaires and the big corporations and the lawyers and the lobbyists," she said. "But what about the families who lost their homes or their jobs or their retirement savings the last time Citigroup bet big on derivatives and lost? ...We were sent here to fight for those families. It is time, it is past time, for Washington to start working for them!"

Analyst Stuart Rothenberg says Warren represents a growing populist wing within the Democratic Party.

“The populist, anti-establishment, Democratic progressive Left is developing," he said. "Supporters of Senator Elizabeth Warren, Mayor DeBlasio from New York, the movement that wants to talk more about equality and fairness, $15-$20 minimum wage, that is a growing force within the Democratic Party.”

But on issues such as immigration, Rothenberg says Republicans are more divided than Democrats.

“So in that regard, Republicans are more divided," he said. "The Republicans are more intimidated at the moment by their most ideological wing, the Tea Party folks, and so they probably have somewhat more blame for the paralysis.”

As expert crews work on restoring the beautiful dome on the outside of the U.S. Capitol, some analysts say lawmakers on the inside also have plenty of work to do to restore trust and find common ground.

词汇解析

display

难度：4星核心词汇，属常用3000词

英汉解释

n.显示；陈列；炫耀

vt.显示；表现；夸示

参考例句

用作名词 (n.)

There will be a display of bronze statuary in this museum next week.

下星期这个博物馆将举办一个青铜雕塑作品展览。

用作及物动词 (vt.)

He had an opportunity to fully display his talents.

他有了大显身手的机会。

************************

component

难度：3星常用词汇，属常用6000词

英汉解释

n.零部件；元件；组成部分；成分

adj.组成的；构成的

参考例句

用作名词 (n.)

A chemist can seperate a medicine into its components.

化学家能把一种药物的各种成分分解出来。

用作形容词 (adj.)

The processing and assembling business is a component part of our foreign trade.

加工装配贸易是我们对外贸易的一个组成部分。

************************

terror

难度：2星扩展词汇，属常用10000词

英汉解释

n.恐怖；惊骇；<口>令人惧怕或讨厌的人或事物

参考例句

用作名词 (n.)

Her face worked as she stared at him in terror.

她惊恐地注视着他，脸也吓得抽动起来。

His terror is so great that he can do nothing.

他惊骇万分以致什么事都不能做。

************************

discrimination

难度：2星扩展词汇，属常用10000词

英汉解释

n.歧视；鉴赏力；辨别

参考例句

用作名词 (n.)

He is passionately opposed to racial discrimination.

他极端反对种族歧视。

The furnishings in their house showed taste and discrimination.

他们家的室内陈设显示了主人的审美力和鉴赏力。

************************

bunch

难度：4星核心词汇，属常用3000词

英汉解释

n.串；束；一群；捆

n.突出物；凸起

vt.使成一束(或一群等)

vi.隆起；成束成群

参考例句

用作名词 (n.)

Can you make these flowers a bunch?

请你把这些花系成捆行吗?

用作及物动词 (vt.)

Don't bunch up all the candlesticks in one corner of the shelf.

不要把蜡烛台全部捆在一起放在架子的一个角上。

用作不及物动词 (vi.)

Spread out more. Don't bunch up on the centre.

再散开一点，不要都挤在中间。

************************

electrical

难度：3星常用词汇，属常用6000词

英汉解释

adj.电的；与电有关的

参考例句

用作形容词 (adj.)

Now electrical appliances have entered into ordinary families.

现在家用电器已经步入普通家庭。

The cooker isn't working because of an electrical fault.

这个炊具不能用了，因为出了电气方面的故障。

************************

stuff

难度：4星核心词汇，属常用3000词

英汉解释

n.东西；原料；材料

n.素质；本质；废物；无用的想法；废话，蠢话

vt.塞满；填满

参考例句

用作名词 (n.)

Get rid of that stuff in the garage.

把车库里那些没有用的东西处理掉。

用作及物动词 (vt.)

He stuffed the suitcase with his clothes.

他把衣服塞满手提箱。

See more information, you can visit us

英语口语测试  http://www.spiiker.com/daily/
 
在线学英语口语 http://www.spiiker.com/english-plaza.jsp