VOA常速英语2007-Memorial to Late Apartheid Fighter Oliver Tambo

By Tendai Maphosa
London
17 October 2007

A memorial to the late South African fighter against apartheid, Oliver Tambo, has been unveiled in London. Tendai Maphosa attended the event for VOA in the neighborhood in which Tambo and his family lived during their long years in exile.

The late president of the African National Congress, Oliver Tambo, was honored in a ceremony in the London borough¹ of Haringey. Tambo and his family lived in the area for 30 years while he led the fight against apartheid.

The centerpiece of the memorial in the Albert Road Recreational Ground is a bust² of Tambo by the now deceased Ian Walters, whose statue of Nelson Mandela was unveiled recently in Parliament Square. A plaque³ was also unveiled at the house where the Tambos lived.

British Secretary of State for Justice Jack⁴ Straw spoke⁵ on behalf of Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Straw said although Tambo died a year before the first democratic elections in South Africa, his legacy⁶ will endure not only in South Africa.

"When Oliver Tambo was standing⁷ up for the rights of his countrymen and women, he was standing up for the rights of us all. When he refused to accept that all South Africans could not be free and full citizens, he refused to accept that every man could not live freely," he said.

Peter Hain is the British Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. During his youth, he was a noted⁸ anti-apartheid activist⁹. He said although Tambo may be less famous than Mr. Mandela, he kept the struggle going when Mr. Mandela and other African National Congress leaders were in prison.

"Those of us involved in the anti-apartheid movement know he directed the struggle for freedom from here in this London suburb for over 30-years, because when the dark days of repression¹⁰ descended¹¹ on South Africa in the early 1960s, he decided¹² with the agreement of Nelson Mandela and the ANC leadership in South Africa to come abroad. Tambo was the leader while the rest of the leadership was in jail," he said.

 

Tambo's three children were at the ceremony. His son Dali was only a year old when his parents took him to London. He paid tribute to the British public and the people of Haringey.

"We longed for this day when we would return to Haringey. Having been home, return as free men and women, children of struggle for so long, but today citizens of a free non-racial democratic South Africa. And again we return, not just to unveil the bust, but to thank you as the citizens of Great Britain for your succor," he said.

According to the Haringey Borough Council, the bust is the first stage of the memorial. Plans for the future include more landscaping and the laying of a stone each year on South Africa Freedom Day.

1 borough   

n.享有自治权的市镇；(英)自治市镇

参考例句：

• He was slated for borough president.他被提名做自治区主席。
• That's what happened to Harry Barritt of London's Bromley borough.住在伦敦的布罗姆利自治市的哈里.巴里特就经历了此事。

2 bust   

vt.打破；vi.爆裂；n.半身像；胸部

参考例句：

• I dropped my camera on the pavement and bust it. 我把照相机掉在人行道上摔坏了。
• She has worked up a lump of clay into a bust.她把一块黏土精心制作成一个半身像。

3 plaque   

n.饰板，匾，(医)血小板

参考例句：

• There is a commemorative plaque to the artist in the village hall.村公所里有一块纪念该艺术家的牌匾。
• Some Latin words were engraved on the plaque. 牌匾上刻着些拉丁文。

4 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

7 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

8 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

9 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

10 repression   

n.镇压，抑制，抑压

参考例句：

• The repression of your true feelings is harmful to your health.压抑你的真实感情有害健康。
• This touched off a new storm against violent repression.这引起了反对暴力镇压的新风暴。

11 descended   

a.为...后裔的，出身于...的

参考例句：

• A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
• The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。

12 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。