News English - 239

Trump Wins Surprise Victory to Become the Next President of the United States

        For the past eight years, Barack Obama has served as the president of the United States of America. However, because of the Twenty-Second Amendment to the US Constitution, he is not able to run for a third term as president, even though he is very popular among many Americans. As a result, the two major American political parties, the Democrats and the Republicans, both have new candidates running for the US presidency in 2016.

        For the Democrats, Hillary Rodham Clinton is the party’s official candidate. In the primary race, however, she faced stiff competition from the Vermont senator Bernie Sanders. Clinton now has Sanders’ full support, and in her campaign, she has been emphasizing her thirty years of experience in government, including stints as a US senator and Secretary of State. She was also the First Lady of the United States in the 1990s when her husband, Bill Clinton, was president for eight years. If elected, Hilary Clinton would become the first female president in US history.

        Donald Trump, the Republican candidate, by contrast, is a self-proclaimed “outsider” who has never been elected to any government office. He often boasts about his experience in business, and he claims that he will “Make America Great Again.” Although many in the Republican Party never thought he would actually win the party’s nomination, Trump has been able to gather support from predominantly older, white, conservative voters.

         As the November 8 election drew near, Clinton and Trump met in a series of three debates. In the first debate, many thought that Trump appeared unprepared, since he often failed to answer the moderator’s questions and interrupted Clinton twenty-five times in the first half hour of the debate. In the second debate, Trump seemed to recover and he went on the offensive, sometimes moving closely behind Clinton when she was speaking. In the third and final debate, however, Trump shocked many by saying he might not accept the results of a “rigged” election. He also called Clinton a “nasty woman.”

        Many people were also shocked when it was revealed that Trump had made extremely rude and offensive comments about women in 2005. Though Trump has apologized and dismissed this as “locker room talk,” his comments may have cost him dearly among female voters. Some experts even say that these comments, along with allegations by other females of sexual harassment by Trump, could cost him the election.

        However, on November 8, none of this seems to have made any difference to many voters in America. In a win that shocked many in the United States and even around the world, Trump won the election and will become the next president of the country. Although Clinton did win the popular vote, Trump won the all-important Electoral College in a clear, overwhelming victory. 

        Will Donald Trump be up for one of the most difficult jobs in the world? Only time will tell. For now, though, one thing is clear: Trump’s surprise election is definitely a historic moment in US history.

Reading Comprehension

(     ) 1. What is the main topic of this passage?

         (A) Why Donald Trump will be a better president than Hillary Clinton.

         (B) The importance of the three debates between Clinton and Trump.

         (C) The surprise Trump victory in the 2016 US presidential race between Clinton and

            Trump.

         (D) A closer look at recent US presidential elections, from 2000 to 2016.

(     ) 2. The phrase “locker room talk” in paragraph five is closest in

         meaning to “________.”

         (A) rude or inappropriate speech                    (B) discussions about sports

            (C) kind and polite language                              (D) conversations in a gym

(     ) 3. According to the passage, how many years of experience in government does Hillary

        Clinton have?

        (A) 3        (B) 13        (C) 30        (D) The article did not say.

(     ) 4. What can be inferred from the passage?

         (A) Trump’s unexpected victory is an important moment in US history.

         (B) It is clear that neither one of the candidates should be the next president of the   

            USA.

         (C) The American people have no power to elect their next leader.

         (D) Very few people around the world actually paid much attention to the 2016 US

            election.

(     ) 5. According to the passage, who supports Donald Trump?

        (A) Young professional females.

        (B) Middle-aged African-Americans.

        (C) Undecided Asian voters.

        (D) Older, white, conservative voters.

Vocabulary and Phrases

1. competition [&kAmp1`tIS1n] n. [U] 競爭

．There is fierce competition between these two basketball teams. The score is very close.

2. senator [`sEn1t2] n. [C] 參議員

．The senator announced that she will donate all her possession to the charity.

3. stint [stInt] n. [C] 工作期限

．After a long stint as an engineer, Linda decided to quit the job and started a different journey.

4. self-proclaimed [&sElfpro`klemd] adj. 自稱的；自許的

．Kevin is a self-proclaimed good father, but no one knows whether it is true or not.

5. outsider [a5t`saId2] n. [C] 局外人；門外漢

．Jane thinks she is an outsider because she can’t understand what her friends talk about.

6. boast [bost] vi. 吹噓；自吹自擂

．No one wants to make friends with Tim because he likes to boast about how wealthy he is.

7. nomination [&nAm1`neS1n] n. [C] 提名

．Our boss has two nominations for the new supervisor. One is Dan; the other is Jenny.

8. predominantly [prI`dAmIn1ntlI] adv. 佔主導地位地；顯著地

．The designers in this company are predominantly young women.

9. conservative [k1n`s3v1tIv] adj. 保守的；守舊的

  ．My father is a very conservative man. He doesn’t accept any new ideas.

10. series [`sIriz] n. [C] 一系列；一連串

  ．There was a series of terrorist attacks in Turkey.

11. unprepared [&^nprI`pErd] adj. 沒有準備的；措手不及的

．No wonder Ryan failed many subjects because he was totally unprepared for the midterm

exam.

12. moderator [`mAd1&ret2] n. [U] (正式討論的)主持人；調解人

．David thinks it is too stressed to be the moderator of the debate competition.

13. offensive [1`fEnsIv] adj. 冒犯的，得罪人的

．Karl’s offensive words hurt his wife’s feelings and made her angry.

14. rigged [rIgd] adj. 以不正當手段操作的；操弄的

．Paul thought the game was rigged by someone else because he was meant to be the winner.

15. nasty [`n8stI] adj. 令人討厭的；糟糕的

．Michelle thinks bugs are nasty. She doesn’t dare to see them.

16. apologize [1`pAl1&dZaIz] vi. 道歉

．Vicky apologized to her mother for breaking the expensive vase.

17. comment [`kAmEnt] n. [C] 意見，評論

．Cater made a few comments about Robin’s painting to explain why he disliked it.

18. dearly [`dIrlI] adv. 付出巨大代價地；非常

．If we break the contract, we will pay dearly for it.

19. allegation [&8l1`geS1n] n. [C] (未經證實的)指責，指控

．Mark denied the allegation of cheating on the exam.

20. harassment [h1`r8sm1nt] n. [U] 騷擾

．Telling dirty jokes can be viewed as a form of sexual harassment.

Words for Recognition

1. amendment [1`mEndm1nt] n. [C] 修正案

2. constitution [&kAnst1`tjuS1n] n. [C] 憲法

3. Democrat [`dEm1&kr8t] n. [C] 民主黨黨員

4. Republican [rI`p^blIk1n] n. [C] 共和黨黨員

5. Hillary Rodham Clinton 希拉蕊‧羅姆德‧柯林頓

 是一名美國律師和政治人物，曾任美國國務卿、紐約州聯邦參議員、美國第一夫人、阿肯

 色州第一夫人。獲得民主黨的總統提名，成為美國第一位主要政黨的女性總統候選人。

6. Vermont [v3`mAnt] n. 佛蒙特州

  其名稱由周圍的山脈稱為「綠山」（Les Verts Monts）而來。佛蒙特州以其美麗的景色、

乳製品、楓糖漿和激進的政治而著稱。

7. US Secretary of State [`ju` Es `sEkr1&tErI `1v `stet] n. 美國國務卿

  United States Secretary of State，是美國國務院的首長，同時為美國內閣成員，主管美國外交

  事務，相當於外交部長。

8. Donald Trump 唐納‧川普

  是美國第45任總統當選人，以及著名企業家和節目主持人。在全世界經營房地產、

  賭場和酒店。

9. locker room talk [`lAk2 `rum `tOlk] phr. 更衣室談話

   指男士在更衣室中談論的黃色笑話。

10. Electoral College [I`lEkt1r1l `kAlIdZ] n. 選舉人團

   為美國總統選舉中的一種選票計算方法，旨在產生美國總統和副總統。根據《美國憲

   法》，美國總統由選民間接選舉的選舉人團產生。

Translation

川普意外地勝利，將成為美國下一任總統

巴拉克‧歐巴馬，已任職美國總統八年。但是因為美國憲法第二十二條修正法案，他沒辦法再參與競選第三任的美國總統，雖然他獲得許多美國人民的愛戴。因此，美國最大的兩個政治黨派，民主黨和共和黨，各自選出了參與競選2016美國總統的候選人。

希拉蕊‧羅德姆‧柯林頓，為民主黨候選人。但是在一開始初選時，希拉蕊面臨和代表佛蒙特州的參議員，伯尼‧桑德斯的一場硬戰。不過她現在得到了桑德斯的全力支持，且在競選的過程當中，她一直強調自己已經有了30年的從政經驗，包括擔任美國參議員和美國國務卿一職。她也曾是90年代美國的第一夫人，當她的丈夫比爾‧柯林頓擔任了8年的美國總統時。如果當選了，希拉蕊‧柯林頓將會成為美國歷史上第一位女總統。

唐納‧川普，為共和黨的候選人，相對於希拉蕊，他自稱為局外人因為他從未競選過任何政黨一職。他時常吹捧自己的商務經驗，而且他宣稱他將會「讓美國再度偉大」。雖然許多共和黨的黨員從未想過他會贏得初選，但川普確實得到了大多數年長者、白人和保守人士的支持。

當11月8號的總統大選將近時，柯林頓跟川普連續舉行了三場的總統辯論。在第一場辯論中，許多人認為川普似乎沒有做好準備，因為他常無法回答主持人所提出的問題，且在一開始的前半小時中打斷了柯林頓25次。在第二次的辯論中，川普似乎復活了並且變得更無理，有時候當柯林頓正在發表言論時，他甚至會走到她的後面。第三場，也就是最後一場的辯論，川普又再次語出驚人，他表示他可能無法接受這場受操弄的選舉。他還甚至稱柯林頓為「卑鄙的女人。」

許多人也很震驚，當川普被揭露自2005年來發表了許多非常下流，並且冒犯女性的言論。雖然川普已經認錯，但他卻輕描淡寫地表示這只不過是「更衣室談話」，對於女性選票，川普的言論可能會付出昂貴的代價。一些專家甚至表示，這些言論和被川普性騷擾的女性的指控，將會讓川普在這次的選舉付出代價。

但是，就在11月8號，這些行為似乎對於許多美國選民沒有造成任何影響。這場勝利震驚了許多美國人，甚至全世界，川普贏得了選戰且將會成為美國下一任總統。雖然柯林頓贏得了普選，但是很清楚地川普贏得了所有重要的選舉人票數，贏得了勝利。

唐納‧川普能適任於全世界最困難的工作之一嗎？只有時間會告訴我們答案。但是現在能確定的只有一件事—「川普的勝利是美國歷史性的一刻。」

閱讀測驗解答：1. C  2. A  3. C  4. A  5. D