From VOA Learning English, this is IN THE NEWS in Special English.
这里是美国之音慢速英语时事新闻节目。
This week, the two main candidates for president of the United States held their final debate before the November sixth election. After the debate, opinion surveys showed a close race between President Obama and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney.
本周，美国两位总统候选人在11月6日大选前举行了最后一轮辩论。辩论后的民意调查显示，美国总统奥巴马和前马萨诸塞州州长米特·罗姆尼之间的竞争旗鼓相当。
Recently, the two men have been visiting states that could help decide the election. Each state has a set number of electoral votes based on its population. In all states but two, the candidate who wins the popular vote wins all of that state's electoral votes. The candidate receiving at least two hundred seventy electoral votes becomes president.
近日，这两人都访问了有助于决定大选的州。每个州根据其人口都有固定数额的“选举人票”。除了两个州之外，其它州赢得民众投票的候选人将赢得该州所有的选举人票。获得至少270张选举人票的候选人当选总统。
51VOA注：美国大选中民众并非直接选举总统，而是在两个总统候选人之间作出选择(在同一张选票上选出各州的总统“选举人”)。具体办法请查看百度百科之美国大选。http://baike.baidu.com/view/1945051.htm
On Wednesday, Mr. Obama declared he would pull "an all-nighter," going from California to Florida, to Virginia and then Ohio. This week, he also made campaign appearances in Nevada, Iowa, Colorado and Illinois. Mr. Romney targeted Nevada, Iowa and Ohio. Historically, no Republican Party candidate has won the presidency without first winning Ohio's electoral votes.
周三，奥巴马先生宣布他将熬通宵从加州赶去佛罗里达州、弗吉尼亚州和俄亥俄州。本周，他还现身内华达州、科罗拉多州和伊利诺伊州进行竞选。罗姆尼也以内华达州、科罗拉多州和伊利诺伊州为目标。从历史上看，还没有共和党候选人在未能首先赢得俄亥俄州选举人票的前提下赢得总统选举。
At some campaign stops, Mr. Obama used the word "Romnesia" -- combining his opponent's name with the word that describes someone who forgets things.
在一些竞选活动中，奥巴马用到了“罗姆尼失忆症”(Romnesia）这个词，这是将对手的名字和失忆症这个单词结合起来。
"If you can't remember what you said just a week ago, if you can't remember the plans on your own web site, and you're worried you might be coming down with a case of Romnesia, I want you to know Obamacare covers pre-existing conditions. "
“如果你想不起自己一周前刚刚说过的话，如果你想不起你自己网站上的方案，你担心你可能患上了‘罗姆尼失忆症’，我希望你知道，‘奥巴马医保’可以覆盖既往病史。”
In Illinois, Mr. Obama became the first president to mark his ballot before the presidential election. A short time later, he spoke of the ease of voting early, saying the process takes the worry out of having to make sure you vote on a single day.
在伊利诺伊州，奥巴马成为总统大选前首位投出自己选票的总统。很短时间后，他谈到了提前投票的省事，他说，提前投票解除了你必须在特定一天去投票的后顾之忧。
On Friday, Mr. Romney urged his supporters in Ohio to vote early. More than thirty states offer some form of early voting.
周五，罗姆尼督促自己在俄亥俄州的支持者提前去投票。三十多个州提供某种形式的提前投票服务。
Earlier in the week, Mr. Romney promised to improve education and get the economy going. He also said that Mr. Obama's campaign is beginning to weaken.
本周早些时候罗姆尼承诺改善教育并使经济持续增长。他还表示，奥巴马的竞选活动已经开始减弱。
"His campaign gets smaller and smaller and focused on smaller and smaller things. Our campaign in about big things. Because we happen to believe that America faces big challenges, we recognize that this a year with big choice and that Americans want to see big changes, and I am going to bring it this country."
“他的竞选活动规模越来越小，越来越集中于琐碎事情。我们的竞选活动都是有关大事。因为我们恰恰认为，美国面临着巨大挑战。我们认识到，这是做出巨大选择的一年，美国人希望看到巨大变化，而我将把这带给这个国家。”
The former governor has also used his campaign events to criticize the way President Obama has directed the economy. In one speech, he asked supporters if they could deal with four more years of twenty-three million Americans looking for a good job.
罗姆尼还在竞选活动中批评了奥巴马发展经济的途径。在一次演讲中，他询问支持者是否可以容忍2300万美国人再用四年去寻找一份好工作。
As the election nears, many observers are still not sure who will win. Phil Wallach works at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC.
随着选举临近，许多观察家仍然不知道谁能获胜。菲尔·瓦拉赫（Phil Wallach）就职于华盛顿特区的布鲁金斯学会（Brookings Institution）。
"I think the race has stabilized at a dead heat and I think it's likely that we will go into Election Day not knowing who's going to come out the winner."
“我认为竞争已经维持白热化，我认为有可能在大选日之前无法知道谁将成为胜利者。”
Mr. Wallach believes that, in the end, the president will be re-elected.
瓦拉赫先生认为，最终奥巴马会重新当选。
But another observer, Scot Faulkner, believes Mr. Romney is now leading in the final days of the campaign. He adds that as the end of campaign nears, both candidates are urging voters to get out and vote early.
但另一位观察家斯科特·福克纳（Scot Faulkner）认为，在竞选的最后几天中，姆尼目前处于领先。他补充说，随着选举活动临近结束，两位候选人都呼吁选民提前投票。
"It's going to be energizing their base. They already know who their base votes are and making sure they get out and vote. And at the moment Romney has the fervor [excitement] factor over Obama, but Obama has the ground game over Romney so that makes for a very interesting final phase."
“这将激励他们的根基。他们都知道谁是他们的基础选民，并确保他们去投票。而在此刻，罗姆尼在兴奋因素上超过奥巴马，但奥巴马在基础上胜过罗姆尼，这使得最后阶段非常有趣。”(51VOA.COM对本文翻译保留全部权利，未经授权请勿转载，违者必究！)