VOA标准英语2010年-Royal Welcome for Zuma in Britain

South Africa President Jacob Zuma says international sanctions against Zimbabwe should be lifted. In recent weeks the European Union and the United States voted to extend sanctions against South Africa's neighbor.

But President Zuma says Zimbabwe's power-sharing government should be supported so the country can move forward.

Thomas Cargill from the Britain-based research group Chatham House says Zimbabwe will be one of the topics discussed during President Zuma's three-day visit to Britain. But he says Mr. Zuma is also here to raise the profile of the World Cup football (soccer) championship, which kicks off this June in South Africa.

"South Africa is very keen to drum up support and worldwide interest in the World Cup," Cargill said. It wants to allay¹ fears and the U.K. as a major center for interest in football is a good place to do that."

He also says Mr. Zuma wants to attract financial investors² to his country.

"After the financial crisis that South Africa is just beginning to emerge from, the big priority for President Zuma and for the South African government is investment and attracting investment into South Africa," Cargill adds. "And so this visit is really to try and get international and European and British interest in the opportunities in South Africa."

Mr. Zuma arrived in London with his third wife, Thobeka Madiba Zuma. Some British media agencies have been scathing³ in their coverage⁴ of Mr. Zuma's polygamy and the recent news of his 20th child, born out of wedlock⁵.

Cargill says the British media has a tendency to focus on personal matters.

"The British press, I mean if there is anything to do with private lives and sexual issues in private lives then of course the British media are going to be very focused on that, because it is in their nature," Cargill said.

But as Mr. Zuma arrived in Britain, a South African newspaper published an interview in which he accused the British of thinking their own culture is superior to others. Mr. Zuma's party, the African National Congress, released a statement criticizing news reports by the British media, calling attacks against Mr. Zuma as "disrespectful." 

Mr. Zuma is scheduled to meet Thursday with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
 

1 allay   

v.消除，减轻(恐惧、怀疑等)

参考例句：

• The police tried to allay her fears but failed.警察力图减轻她的恐惧，但是没有收到什么效果。
• They are trying to allay public fears about the spread of the disease.他们正竭力减轻公众对这种疾病传播的恐惧。

2 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

3 scathing   

adj.（言词、文章）严厉的，尖刻的；不留情的adv.严厉地，尖刻地v.伤害，损害（尤指使之枯萎）( scathe的现在分词)

参考例句：

• a scathing attack on the new management 针对新的管理层的猛烈抨击
• Her speech was a scathing indictment of the government's record on crime. 她的演讲强烈指责了政府在犯罪问题上的表现。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

5 wedlock   

n.婚姻，已婚状态

参考例句：

• My wife likes our wedlock.我妻子喜欢我们的婚姻生活。
• The Fawleys were not made for wedlock.范立家的人就跟结婚没有缘。