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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.
This week, Americans said goodbye to the last son of one of the nation's most politically influential1 families. Senator Edward Kennedy died Tuesday of brain cancer. He was seventy-seven.
A visitor writes in a memorial book at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston
Senator Kennedy -- often known as Ted2 or Teddy -- was the youngest of four sons born to Rose and Joseph Kennedy. Their son Joe was killed in World War Two. Senator Kennedy followed his brothers John and Robert into politics. John became president. Robert became his attorney general, and later a senator. Both were assassinated3 in the nineteen sixties.
Edward first won his Senate seat from Massachusetts in nineteen sixty-two. Six years later, he showed his gifts as a speaker after a gunman shot Robert.
EDWARD KENNEDY: "My brother need not be idealized or enlarged in death beyond what he was in life; to be remembered simply as a good and decent man who saw wrong and tried to right it."
Robert wanted to become president. So did Edward. But his political career nearly ended in nineteen sixty-nine.
Mourners in Boston wait to pass the senator's flag-draped coffin4 to pay their final respects
He drove a car off a low bridge on Chappaquiddick Island in Massachusetts. His passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne, died. The senator left and waited hours to go to the police. He pleaded guilty to leaving the scene and received a suspended sentence.
Still, he went on to become the third longest serving senator ever. He ran for president in nineteen eighty. The Democrats5 nominated Jimmy Carter for a second term.
Other Kennedys today are active in politics and public service. Edward's son Patrick is in Congress. But for now no one holds national attention the way the senator did. It was not always good attention.
As the New York Times put it, he "struggled for much of his life with his weight, with alcohol and with persistent6 tales of womanizing." But President Obama remembered him as "not only one of the greatest senators of our time, but one of the most accomplished7 Americans ever to serve our democracy."
Edward Kennedy was known as "the liberal lion of the Senate." He said his "best vote" was his vote against the Iraq war. But he was also willing to compromise with Republicans.
He fought for civil rights for the disabled and for workers' rights. He helped negotiate the Northern Ireland peace agreement in nineteen ninety-eight.
And ten years later, in two thousand eight, he was one of the first top Democrats to support a young senator seeking the party's nomination8 for president.
EDWARD KENNEDY: "My friends, I ask you to join in this historic journey to have the courage to choose change. It is time again for a new generation of leadership. It is time now for Barack Obama!"
Social issues were at the heart of Edward Kennedy's work. But he never got to reach one of his goals: health coverage9 for all Americans. His weakening health kept him away from the Senate in his final months. But he continued to work from home to help support President Obama's top legislative10 aim, a health reform plan.
Edward Moore Kennedy will be buried Saturday near his brothers John and Robert at Arlington National Cemetery11 in Virginia. They also had five sisters. Eunice died on August eleventh. The last survivor12 now is Jean Kennedy Smith.
And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English, written by Brianna Blake. I'm Steve Ember.
1 influential | |
adj.有影响的,有权势的 | |
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2 ted | |
vt.翻晒,撒,撒开 | |
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3 assassinated | |
v.暗杀( assassinate的过去式和过去分词 );中伤;诋毁;破坏 | |
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4 coffin | |
n.棺材,灵柩 | |
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5 democrats | |
n.民主主义者,民主人士( democrat的名词复数 ) | |
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6 persistent | |
adj.坚持不懈的,执意的;持续的 | |
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7 accomplished | |
adj.有才艺的;有造诣的;达到了的 | |
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8 nomination | |
n.提名,任命,提名权 | |
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9 coverage | |
n.报导,保险范围,保险额,范围,覆盖 | |
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10 legislative | |
n.立法机构,立法权;adj.立法的,有立法权的 | |
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11 cemetery | |
n.坟墓,墓地,坟场 | |
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12 survivor | |
n.生存者,残存者,幸存者 | |
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