2018年6月英语四级阅读200篇第128篇：秘鲁的“印第安”总统
The President Of Indian DescentPeruvians elected a rags-to-riches2 economist as their next president in a
vote that highlighted persisting racial divisions in the land where Spanish
conquistadors3 defeated the ancient Inca Empire .
With 87 percent of the vote counted, Alejandro Toledo defeated Alan Garcia,
52 percent to 48 percent. International observers said this runoff election was
Peru's cleanest vote in years.
"Tonight Peruvians celebrate the triumph of democracy, "Toledo told
thousands gathered in front of the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Lima. "I swear,
brothers and sisters, I will never let you down. " Toledo, a shoeshine boy who
rose from poverty to become a World Bank economist before entering politics,
will become Peru's first freely elected president of Indian descent and probably
the first president ever in Latin America who made Indian pride a cornerstone of
his campaign.
Toledo capitalized on his dark, chiseled Indian features and short stature
to mount a campaign replete with imagery of triumphant Inca4 emperors and with
odes to Indian glory.
Such rhetoric came as a shock in a country where Indians face
discrimination in almost every walk of life and where two of the top television
comedy acts are white men frolicking around as silly Indian women in colorful
skirts.
Garcia , a 6 -foot-3 Spanish-looking former president, used flowery
language to overcome memories of his calamitous 1985-90 presidency, marred by
corruption, guerrilla violence , food shortages and hyperinflation.
He returned to Peru in January to seek re-election after nearly nine years
in exile waiting for corruption charges against him to expire. Despite his loss,
he emerges as Peru's strongest opposition voice and a force to be reckoned with
in the future.
Garcia 's campaign stumbled because it failed to reach the Indian and mixed
-race population that makes up 80 percent of Peru's 26 million people. Many of
those voters found a new hope in Toledo.
"He will be a symbol for all of Peru, "said Mariano de la Cruz, 62 , an
Indian migrant from the highlands state of Ayacucho, after voting in a Lima
slum." It's a source of pride that for the first time in my life I'll have
someone of Indian race governing me . "
With partial regional results tallied, it was clear that the heavily Indian
highlands voted largely for Toledo , while Garcia took coastal areas dominated
by descendants of the Spanish conquistadors.
Toledo's campaign clearly targeted people with indigenous roots. Calling
himself" a stubborn Indian with a cause, "he used symbols of the ancient Inca
Empire and dressed in pointy hats and multicolored tunics during campaign
stops.
"This is a very racist society, "Toledo said during his final campaign stop
in the highlands city of Cuzco5 ."The elitist leadership still has trouble
digesting the possibility that
someone like us could come to govern. "
Anthropologist Juan Ossio said Toledo recognized the potential political
force of Peru's Indian population during his first presidential campaign i 1995
when his campaign slogan was" a Peruvian like you"and finally was able to
capitalize on it this year.
"He has learned to play very well with the symbols of Andean culture ,
"Ossio said. "Now President Toledo has the duty to build bridges so the two
cultures can come together.
Toledo acknowledged that responsibility in his victory speech, pledging to
be"a president for all Peruvians".
But, he added:"In me, you'll have the same Alejandro who walks the streets,
the same Alejandro who reaches out his hand to touch yours. "
Toledo campaigned largely on a populist platform. He has pledged to create
2.5 million jobs, raise salaries for public workers and lower taxes. "He knows
the poverty we endure, "said Indian voter Primitiva Huaman, 58 ."He knows all
our suffering. "
练习题：
Ⅰ. Matching:
1. feature A. child
2. descendant B. basis
3. cornerstone C. appear
4. emerge D. end
5. expire E. face
6. indigenous F. native
Ⅱ. Question :
In the past, Peru is called .
答案：
Ⅰ. 1. E 2 . A 3 . B 4 . C 5 . D 6. F
Ⅱ. Inca
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