【英语听和读】语言与政治

 Doug: Hello, and welcome to People and Places. I want to talk about politicians and the

words they use. This year we have heard from politicians who want to be the
President of the United States. For one of the political parties – the Democrats 1 –
there have been two main candidates 3 – Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
There have been lots of speeches and lots of interviews from both of them - both
of them want to be the most popular candidate 2. Now a candidate wants to say
‘vote for me’, ‘vote for me’, but you’ve got say more than that.
Listen to this bit of an interview from Hillary. She’ll say that she has a proven
track record. This means that people can already see what she can do. And
listen – how many times does she say the word change.
Hillary
I have a proven track record of creating change for people and I think that that’s what the
country needs. It’s not a choice between experience or change. I have the experience we need
to make the changes we want. 
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Doug: Hillary Clinton – and how many times did she say the word change – three times!
But it’s a powerful word – change – it’s a very attractive word – a word that is
very popular with politicians.
In fact Barack Obama has probably used this word the most – it has even been in
his slogan. Every politician has slogans. It’s a sentence or just a few words that
are very, very powerful. One of Obama’s slogans is “Change We Can Believe in”
- “ Change we can believe in”.
But no politician can own a word. Hillary uses the word change as well but she
also uses another popular word for politicians. Listen again to her interview. She
uses the word change but what other word?
Hillary
I have a proven track record of creating change for people and I think that’s what the country
needs. It’s not a choice between experience or change. I have the experience we need to make
the changes we want.
Doug: So in that short bit of the interview we heard the word change 3 times followed by
the word experience – yes experience. She says – I have the experience we need to
make the changes we want. (Hey, that sounds pretty good – perhaps I should be a
politician.) 
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Well let’s hear another slogan from Obama. He doesn’t use the word change this
time. He was speaking to his supporters in February. Can you hear the slogan in
this speech? And how will you know when you have heard the slogan – you will
always hear cheering – Yeah!
Obama
There is one thing on this February night that we do not need the final result to know – our
time has come CHEERING.
Doug: Yes, there was the slogan – our time has come. You heard the cheering after it.
What does that mean? Well, it’s an expression that means…we will now get what
we have waited for. Our time has come!
Obama
Our time has come! CHEERING.
Doug: Politicians – they love to use powerful words – moving words. Words like hope or
challenge or change. The next time you hear a politician, listen for those moving
words. 
People and Places © BBC Learning English 2007
Page 4 of 4
bbclearningenglish.com
Hillary
I have a proven track record of creating change for people and I think that’s what the country
needs. It’s not a choice between experience or change. I have the experience we need to make
the changes we want.
Obama
Our time has come! CHEERING.
Doug: You can download today’s script 5 and find out more about today’s vocabulary
at the People and Places website on BBC Learning English.com. Goodbye.