Swaziland   斯威士兰
Lesotho  莱索托

Every few days, Reuben Dubene leaves his home in Free State, South Africa. He hauls loads throughout South Africa, Swaziland, Lesotho and Zimbabwe. He's been doing this job, sleeping in his truck, for more than 20 years. He's survived that and even a hijacking and a shooting. But he fears the high price of fuel could drive him out of business. His salary has not kept up.
每隔几天，鲁本•杜宾尼就要离开他位于南非佛利州的家。他穿行于南非、斯威士兰、莱索托和津巴布韦等地托运货物。他从事这项工作已经20多年，其间他经常要睡在他的卡车里。他忍受了艰苦的条件，甚至从一次抢劫和一次枪击中生还。但他担心燃料价格高涨会让他失业。因为他的工资并没有随燃料费的增长而持续增长。

"Just an increase once in 3 years,you see, so now we've kept things going up and up and up and up." Dubene says soaring fuel costs are making it impossible for him to save.
“三年里只涨了一次工资，你看。现在因为燃料价格上涨，我们托运的物品价格也涨啊涨啊涨啊涨。”杜宾尼说，飞涨的燃油费让他连攒点钱都难。

Reuben Dubene is not alone. People worldwide are dealing with the rising cost of fuel and, because it has to be transported, food too. Deliveries of items like fertilizer make it more expensive for farmers to grow their crops. And that extra cost is passed on to the consumer.
鲁本•杜宾尼的情况并非个别现象。全世界的人们都忙着应对不断上涨的燃料价格，很多东西都需要运输，食物也不例外。肥料一类物资的运输让农民种植庄稼的成本更高了。于是这额外的费用就被转嫁到了消费者身上。

Farmers, truckers and other people around the world have taken to the streets in recent months to protest high fuel costs - in France, India and Nepal, to mention a few.
农民、卡车司机和世界上从事各行各业的人们在最近几个月纷纷涌上了街头抗议高燃料费。诸如，法国，印度和尼泊尔等。
 
Bettina Luescher is with the U.N. World Food Program. She says the spike in food prices has led to concerns about political stability.
贝蒂娜•路雪参与了联合国世界粮食计划。她说，粮食价格的暴涨已引起了人们对政局稳定的担忧。

And that is likely to stay that way because this is an election that is, in effect, about whether Obama can get over the threshold of acceptability at a time when people want change. And McCain is not the incumbent, but he is much more closely identified as the status quo." 　
“那种状况很有可能会持续下去。 因为本次选举实际关键在于，民众都期待国家转变的关键时刻，奥巴马否能越过这道槛从而为大众所接受（即奥巴马是否有能力为美国带来希望）。另一方面，麦凯恩不是现任者, 但人们相信他对现状有更为清晰的认识。”
Both contenders are expected to announce vice presidential running mates before the conventions begin. Neither candidate has given any strong indications as to who his running mate will be. 　
两位竞选人有望在党代会前宣布副总统竞选搭档。但目前两位候选人都没有明确透露竞选搭档的人选,。
The four-day political conventions will give both Obama and McCain a chance to re-introduce themselves to the voting public, and to cast their opponent in negative terms. 　
为期四天的党代会将给奥巴马和麦凯恩双方重新向投票大众介绍自己的机会，并借此打击对手。
Peter Brown does polling on the presidential race for Quinnipiac University in Connecticut. "There is a truism in American politics, which is the candidate who is able to define himself and define his opponent first wins the election."
负责康涅狄格州琴尼派克大学总统竞选民调工作的彼得·布朗说，“这在美国政界是不言而喻的。候选人中谁能做到知己知彼，谁就抢占了赢得竞选的先机。”
"This is an election which as I said is about Senator Obama, and the question is who will be able to define Senator Obama for these voters we are talking about first and better, Senator Obama or Senator McCain."
“就像我说的, 这是一场是关于奥巴马的竞选。问题是，谁能够为我们谈论的这些选民首先或者更好地定义奥巴马呢?参议员奥巴马还是参议员麦凯恩呢?”
 
threshold 门槛, 开端, 入口
incumbent 现任者, 在职者
the status quo  现状
Connecticut  康涅狄格州
Quinnipiac University  琴尼派克大学
truism 不言而喻的

http://image.hjbbs.com/file/200808/200808209522192642.wmv

Tropical storm Fay has already brushed through Florida’s Keys and veered across the state. Forecasters suspect it to move out over the open Atlantic, possibly become a hurricane and then veer back and to hit Florida a 3rd time.

A senior adviser to Barack Obama says the Democrat would appear with his pick for Vice President in front of the Illinois state capital Saturday. Meanwhile, Senator Joe Biden, who’s thought to be on Obama’s shortlist for V.P., coyly told reporters in Delaware he’s not the guy.

Authorities in New York are looking for a man who was caught on video attacking an elderly woman in an elevator and then stealing her cane and 900 dollars. The attack happened in a Brooklyn apartment building. Police says the suspect is connected to a string of similar assaults.

LeRoi Moore, the saxophonist for the Dave Matthews Band is died from complications after he was injured in an ATV accident in June. That’s according to the band’s publicist, who says Moore died Tuesday at a hospital in Los Angeles. He was 46.

-Tips-
1 veer
vi. 转向
vt. 使转向,放出(锚)
n. 转向,方向的转变
2 shortlist
n. <英>供最后挑选(或考虑)用的候选人名单
3 coyly
ad. 怕羞地;羞怯地;隐蔽地
4 cane
n. 手杖,细长的茎,藤条
vt. 以杖击,以藤编制的
5 saxophonist
n. 萨克斯管吹奏者
6 publicist
n. 国际法学家,政治评论家,政治记者,广告员

Hastings  黑斯廷斯市
low-phytate feed低植酸盐饲料

1934
Voters In Germany, overwhelmingly ratify Adolf Hitler`s powers as their Fuhrer or absolute ruler.
A plebiscite caps the Nazi leader`s rise to power, a path that leads to World War II and the Holocaust.

1960
During the cold war, a Soviet tribunal convicts American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers of espionage. Powers is sentenced 10 years in prison. He is exchanged to a Soviet spy nearly 2 years later.

1906
Philo T. Farnsworth, one of the pioneering inventors of television, is born in Beaver County, Utah.

1977
“One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas, how he got into my pajamas? I don`t know.” Comedian Groucho Marx, star of silver screen, radio and TV, dies in Los Angeles at age 86.

Today In History, August 19th, Camille Bohannon, the Associate Press.

-内容摘要-
1991年苏联“八.一九”政变阴谋粉碎
1934年德平民制定法对抗纳粹绝对统治
1960年冷战期间苏联审判美间谍飞行员
1906年电视发明者范思沃斯生于尤它州
1977年86岁喜剧演员玛可斯死于洛杉矶

-词汇-
hardliner强硬路线者
espionage间谍组织,间谍活动
plebiscite平民制定法