美国11月大选一步之遥,支持率愈加成为媒体的热点词语。依据最新民意调查,在伊拉克战争、道德规范和领导能力等方面,民主党的支持率均超越布什总统所在的共和党。同时,布什和由共和党控制的国会的支持率跌跌不休。
请看外电有关报道：President George W. Bush and Republicans are sinking under the weight of the Iraq war and the Capitol Hill sex scandal, according to a flurry of polls, endangering their control of Congress in the November 7 elections.

The latest polls give Democratic candidates a growing edge of between 13 and 23 percentage points over Republicans on the November ballot1, with Bush's approval ratings dropping back into the 30s.

支持率相应的英文表达是approval ratings,rating在这里指评估、评价,和approval 连用时常做复数,如：The Gallup poll gave the Senator an 83 per cent approval ratings.（盖洛普民意测验结果表明这位参议院拥有83%的支持率。）

除此之外,rating可作等级级别（尤指军阶）、收视率,如：a ship with a rating of 200000 tons（20万吨级的船舶）；good ratings（收视率非常不错）。