VOA常速英语:Romney Leads Republican Race as Long Battle Looms

in the wake of尾随,紧跟,仿效
例句：Plague came in the wake of earthquake.
地震之后紧跟着就是瘟疫。
lay claim to声称…的权力
例句：If the land really belongs to you, why don't you lay claim to it?
如果这块地真正属于你, 为什么你不据理力争呢?

2. “And so we will go, day by day, step by step, door by door, heart to heart,” said Romney.

step by step一步步地, 逐步地, 逐渐地
例句：He learnt the rules of the game step by step.
他逐步学会了游戏的规则。
heart to heart诚恳地,贴心地
例句：They exchanged their views heart to heart.
他们推心置腹地交谈了意见。

3. That means he is going to continue to slog through, picking up a delegate here, 20 delegates there, until he gets to some winner-take-all states that show up in June.

pick up安排接取; 使搭乘; 搭救
例句：The shipwrecked sailors were picked up by a passing boat.
一艘过路的船只搭救了遭受船难的水手。
show up到场, 出席,如约赶到,出现,露面
例句：He promised to come on Tuesday but he never showed up.
他答应星期二来, 可是一直未露面。

4. Romney’s opponents hope to slow him down enough to force a contested Republican convention in August, said ABC political strategist Matthew Dowd.

slow down (使)缓慢, (使)变得迟钝
例句：The increase of productions has now slowed down.
现在产品的增长速度已经慢了下来。

5. “By throwing a bunch of roadblocks in front, winning a bunch of states, keeping him from that number, and they hope to show how weak he is going into the convention, and basically turning to the convention and saying, 'you cannot nominate this guy,'” said Dowd.

keep from阻止; 免于
例句：Urgent business kept me from attending the meeting.
因有急事我不能去参加会议。
turn to(把注意力等)转向
例句：We are all turning our thoughts to the matter.
我们大家都开始转而考虑这个问题。