VOA慢速英语:After Big Protests, Russians Vote for President

Russians vote for a new president Sunday, and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is expected to win. There are five candidates on the ballot. The others include Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov and billionaire businessman Sergei Prokhorov.
星期天，俄罗斯将投票选举新总统，总理弗拉基米尔•普京票有望胜出。选票上有五名候选人，其他人包括共产党领导人久加诺夫和亿万富翁商人谢尔盖•普罗霍罗夫。

Mr. Putin was president from two thousand to two thousand eight. By law, Russian presidents cannot serve more than two terms in a row.
普京先生在2000-2008年期间担任总统。根据法律规定，俄罗斯总统不能连任超过两届。

There were reports of widespread cheating in the elections for parliament, the Duma, last year. Those claims led to the largest street demonstrations in the country since the Soviet Union collapsed twenty years ago. Protesters say Mr. Putin controls Russia through a heavily controlled political system and corruption.
去年，俄罗斯杜马选举中出现了大规模作弊的报道，这些指控导致了自20年前苏联解体以来全国最大规模的街头示威。抗议者称，普京先生通过管控严密的政治体系和腐败控制俄罗斯。

Angela Stent is a Russia expert at Georgetown University in Washington. She was not surprised that the Prime Minister has blamed the United States in connection with the unrest.
Angela Stent是华盛顿乔治敦大学的一名俄罗斯问题专家。她对普京指责美国和俄罗斯动荡有关并不感到惊讶。

ANGELA STENT: “He has really resorted to a tactic that, of course, has been used since he became president in two thousand -- and that is to invoke the United States [as the] enemy, to blame the United States for a lot of Russian problems. And as you saw, in the Duma elections, he then blamed Hillary Clinton, Secretary Clinton, for supporting the opposition and for trying to undermine Russian stability.”
ANGELA STENT:：“他只是使出了从他2000年担任总统以来就已经在用的招数，就是将美国引为敌人，将很多俄罗斯的问题归咎于美国。正如你看到的，在杜马选举中，他指责国务卿希拉里•克林顿支持反对派，试图破坏俄罗斯稳定。”

President Obama has made better relations with Russia an important part of his foreign policy. His dealings with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev led to a major arms-control agreement known as New START. It also led to increased cooperation on issues like Afghanistan, Iran and Libya.
奥巴马总统将改善与俄罗斯的关系作为他外交政策的重要组成部分。他与俄罗斯总统德米特里•梅德韦杰夫达成的协议促成了一项被称为新开始的重大军控协议，这也导致了在阿富汗，伊朗和利比亚等问题上加强合作。

But Russia joined with China in vetoing a United Nations Security Council resolution on Syria.
但俄罗斯和中国一起否决了联合国安理会对叙利亚的决议。

Sasha -- a Russian in his twenties who did not want to use his last name -- says he is tired of Mr. Putin. He says he is voting for Mr. Prokhorov, the co-owner of the New Jersey Nets basketball team. Mr. Putin has already shown all that he can do, Sasha says, and he has enough money.
Sasha是一名20多岁不愿意透露姓氏的俄罗斯人，称其已经厌倦了普京先生。他说他将给新泽西网队篮球队共有人普罗霍罗夫先生投票。萨沙说，普京先生已经黔驴技穷，他也有足够的钱。

But Anya -- who did not want to use her last name either -- says she is looking forward to Mr. Putin returning to the presidency. She says he helped bring Russia out of economic collapse in the late nineteen nineties.
但Anya，另一位不愿意透露姓氏的俄罗斯人则说，她期待着普京先生重新担任总统。她说普京帮助俄罗斯从1990年代后期的经济奔溃中走了出来。

Another Russian, Natasha, says she is not even going her to vote because she knows the ruling United Russia party will cheat and Mr. Putin will win. She says she does not think the elections will be clean unless there are cameras in the voting stations, as Mr. Putin has promised.
另一位俄罗斯人，Natasha表示，她甚至不会去投票，因为她知道，执政的统一俄罗斯党将会作弊，普京先生将胜出。她说，她不认为选举将是干净的，除非像普京先生承诺的那样在投票站安装摄像机。

In the December elections, United Russia won the most seats. After criticism of the vote, Prime Minister Putin announced a one-half-billion-dollar program to place two Web cameras at each voting center. Russia has nearly one hundred thousand polling stations.
在去年12月的选举中，统一俄罗斯党赢得了多数席位。在面对选举的批评之后，总理普京宣布了一项耗资5亿美元的计划，在各个投票中心安装两个网络摄像头。俄罗斯有近十万个投票站。

The last public-opinion survey before the election by an independent group suggested that Mr. Putin will win with sixty-two to sixty-six percent. In two thousand four he was re-elected with seventy-one percent of the vote.
一个独立小组在选举前的最后一次民意调查显示，普京先生将赢得62%到66%的选票。在2004年，普京当时以71%的选票再次当选。

Mr. Medvedev is expected to become prime minister in a new government.
梅德韦杰夫先生有望成为新政府总理。

A win on Sunday will make Mr. Putin the longest-serving leader in Moscow since Josef Stalin ruled the Soviet Union.
周日的胜出将让普京先生成为斯大林同志苏联以来，莫斯科任职时间最长的领导人。

Two hundred thousand Russians have volunteered to watch for cheating on Sunday. A group called Citizen Observer has been training volunteers.
俄罗斯有二十万名志愿在周日监视作弊行为。一个名为公民观察员的组织已经开始培训志愿者。