Imagine asking a presidential candidate to sit down for a sensitivity session on gay and lesbian issues. That’s exactly what we did last week in Austin， Texas. George W. Bush invited us， a dozen gay Republicans， after he’d refused to meet with a gay Republican group that had criticized him. Our meeting set an important precedent： never again will a major-party candidate be able to run for president without addressing gay and lesbian issues.

Bush didn’t like everything we had to say. I was struck by his lack of familiarity with the issues， as well as by his desire to learn. I described how my partner， Rob Morris， and I have been in a 17-year relationship. We both come from healthy， strong， religious families. Rob grew up in a conservative Republican family in Georgia; I come from a longtime Republican family in Wisconsin. I’m now the vice president of my Lutheran church. I wanted Governor Bush to understand that long-term， loving relationships， stable families， strong faith-based traditions and Republican voting histories are all part of the gay and lesbian community.

Our stories had an impact. Bush admitted that， growing up in Texas， he had not been as open to elements of America’s diverse culture. He had a narrow set of friends and a firm set of traditions. But he was surprised and dismayed to hear that people saw him as intolerant. “What have I said that sent that signal?” he asked repeatedly. We confronted him about his reported statement that if you were openly gay or lesbian you would not be considered for a job in his administration. “I never said that，” he insisted， assuring us he would hire gays and lesbians who both were qualified and shared his political views.

Our perspective was clearly eye-opening to him. When one of us talked about his lesbian sister and her partner adopting children， the governor acknowledged his often-stated belief that gays should not adopt. “Now you’re telling me of a very loving， caring relationship，” he said. “I really appreciate hearing that.” We stressed that a Bush administration could not roll back any of the progress made in recent years. We talked about AIDS funding and research. Though Bush was attentive——and does show a willingness to hear all sides——I don’t think we changed his positions. He still opposes gay marriage and classifying crimes against gays as hate crimes. To be honest， Bush still has a long way to go. But I think he’s a lot farther along today than he was last week.

注(1)：本文选自Newsweek，04/24/2000， p43

注(2)：本文习题命题模仿对象2003年真题Text 4

1. What is implied in the first paragraph?

[A]A gay Republican group criticized Bush for his political views.

[B]It is impossible to invite a president for discussing the gay issues.

[C]No president candidate can ignore gay and lesbian issues at the present time.

[D]Gay and lesbian issues are hot issues for the president.

2. The author uses himself as an example to show _________.

[A]what it is like in the gay and lesbian community

[B]what it is like to be a gay.

[C]what kind of a family the gays come from.

[D]what it is like to maintain a gay relationship

3. The author‘s attitude toward Bush’s performance at the meeting is _________.

[A]scornful

[B]satisfactory

[C]supporting

[D]objective

4. In spite of his careful listening， Bush still opposes the following behaviors except _________.

[A]adopting the child

[B]getting married

[C]redefining hate crimes

[D]employing the gays and lesbians

5. The text intends to express the idea that _________.

[A]the gays and lesbians long for the normal life

[B]Bush has partly changed his views about the gay issues

[C]there is still a long way to go to deal with the gay issues properly

[D]the gays has had a successful talk with Bush

答案：CABDC

篇章剖析

本文可以说是一篇记叙文，作者以第一人称的身份讲述了十几个共和党人同总统候选人布什的会面，并就男女同性恋问题进行了探讨和交流。第一段指出这一会面蕴涵的意义;在第二段，作者以自己为例，向布什具体讲述有关同性恋者的家庭、宗教信仰以及他(她)们之间的关系;第三段和第四段指出这一交流对布什产生的影响和作用。

词汇注释

behind the scenes adv.在后台， 在幕后

gay[^eI] n. 同性恋者， 尤指男性同性者

sit down v.坐下， 扎营， 坐下来商讨， 停止， 降落

lesbian n.同性恋的女性

precedent n.先例

major party n.(有竞选力量、可能入主政府或成为主要反对党的)大党;主要政党

intolerant adj.不宽容的， 偏狭的

eye-opening adj.使瞠目吃惊的， 很有启发的

acknowledge vt.承认， 答谢， 报偿

难句突破

Our meeting set an important precedent： never again will a major-party candidate be able to run for president without addressing gay and lesbian issues.

主体句式：Our meeting set an important precedent…

结构分析：“Our meeting set an important precedent”和“never again will a major-party candidate be able to run for president without addressing gay and lesbian issues”是一种并列关系。在这个句子中，需要注意这么一个语法点：如果否定词(never， hardly， seldom， etc)位于句首，谓语动词要倒装。注意掌握词组“run for”，意为“竞选”，“address”意为“处理”。

句子译文：我们的会面开创了一个重要的先河：主要政党的候选人不处理男女同性恋问题就能竞选总统的日子一去不复返了。

　　题目分析

1.答案为C， 属推理判断题。原文对应信息是：“Our meeting set an important precedent： never again will a major-party candidate be able to run for president without addressing gay and lesbian issues. ”这一句话点出了此次会谈的意义。

2.答案为A，属推理判断题。原文对应信息是“I wanted Governor Bush to understand that long-term， loving relationships， stable families， strong faith-based traditions and Republican voting histories are all part of the gay and lesbian community. ”作者以自己为例，是为了向布什更好地解释有关同性恋的问题。

3.答案为B，属情感态度题。原文对应信息是“I was struck by his lack of familiarity with the issues， as well as by his desire to learn.”其中“strike”的含义为“打动;感动;给…印象; 吸引”等等。文章最后两句话“To be honest， Bush still has a long way to go. But I think he’s a lot farther along today than he was last week.”意为“老实说，布什要走的路还很长。但是我认为与上周相比，他今天已走了很远。”表现出对布什的赞赏和肯定。

4.答案为D，属事实细节题。原文对应信息是“He still opposes gay marriage and classifying crimes against gays as hate crimes.”由此我们可以确定选项B和C是正确的;从原文“the governor acknowledged his often-stated belief that gays should not adopt”，我们可以确定选项A是正确的;选项D在文中对应的信息是“he insisted， assuring us he would hire gays and lesbians who both were qualified and shared his political views.”

5.答案为C，属推理判断题。从文中第一段“Our meeting set an important precedent： never again will a major-party candidate be able to run for president without addressing gay and lesbian issues.”我们可看出同性恋问题的严重性。最后一段“To be honest， Bush still has a long way to go.”我们可看出这一问题的长期性和复杂性。由此可作出判断。