A HistoricElection

Made by Liu Jiani

After a hard-fought campaign, Democratic Senator Barack Obama has won the US presidential election, and will become the 44th President of the United States – the first African-American in the country’s history to do so.

President-elect Obama marked his victory with a speech to a crowd of tens of thousands of people in his hometown of Chicago.

Obama described his election as a "defining moment" in the history of the Unites States, saying that "change has come to America".

The BBC’s correspondent in Washington says that in electing Barack Obama, the American people have expressed their unhappiness with the status quo and rejected their country’s historical racial divisions.

The Australian Prime Minister summed up how many people felt when he congratulated President-elect Obama.

“Forty-five years ago Martin Luther King had a dream of an America where men and women would be judged not on the colour of their skin but on the content of their character. Today what America has done is turn that dream into a reality,” said Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

President-elect Obama will not take office until 20 January next year. However, when he does become president, he will face many serious challenges, including two foreign wars, climate change and what he has described as "the worst financial crisis in a century".

But the mood of the country is optimistic, according to most commentators, and Obama himself appears to relish the challenge.

"The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term, but America - I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there," said the next President of the United States.

New words and phrases

hard-fought adj. achieved after a lot of difficulty or fightin

g 艰苦拼搏的，艰苦斗争的 a hard-fought victory

correspondent

n. 对应物， 相关物 通信者， 记者， 通信员 【商】代理银行； 外地代理店； ( 外地 ) 客户 a war [special] correspondent 随军［特派］记者 a good [bad] correspondent 勤［懒］于写信的人 The New York Times has correspondents in France, Germ

any, and other countries. 《纽约时报》在法国、德国和其他国家都有特派［驻外］记

者

Relish

及物动词 ( relished; relished; relishing ) 喜爱 , 爱好

We did not relish the prospect of staying after school. 一想到放学后还可能留下 , 我们便觉得不是滋味。 A cat relishes cream. 猫爱吃奶油。

津津有味地吃 ( 或喝 ); 欣赏 , 品味 They all relish her poems. 他们都欣赏她的诗歌。

给 ... 加佐料

president-elect尚未就职的新当选总统 president for life 终身总统 prime minister 首相 puppet 受他人操纵的人 ( 或集团 ) ，傀

儡

defining moment 关键性时刻 ; 决定性时刻 ( 揭示一个人或

群体的性格的时刻 ) status quo 现状 We don't want more money from abroad fl

ows into Chinese stock market, we like the status quo. 我们不需要国外的金钱流入中国的股市，我们喜欢维持现状。

Steep 形容词 ( steeper; steepest )

陡峭的 The car labored up the steep hill. 车子吃力地向陡峭的山上开去。

急剧升降的 , 大起大落的 People were discontented with the steep rise in prices. 人们对物价飞涨不满。

【口】 ( 价格等 ) 过高的 , 不合理的 Your prices are pretty steep. 你们的价格相当高。

野心的 , 困难的 That is a steep story. 那是一个令人难以置信的故事。

名词 陡坡 ; 悬崖峭壁

Thanks for your listening