新西兰英语 213 Hone Harawira in trouble

　　Hone Harawira will stay away from Parliament¹ for the next two weeks and think about his future. The Maori Party met on Thursday and the leader, Whatarangi Winiata, suggested that Hone leave the Party. He should resign² from Parliament or resign from the Party and become an independent MP. The two co-leaders of the Parliamentary Maori Party, Tariana Turia and Pita Sharples, agreed that it would be best for the Party if Hone left it.
There are two reasons that Hone is in trouble this time. One is his trip to Paris (listen to Nov 9th 2009). The other reason is an email he sent which used angry swear words about relationships between Maori and Pakeha.
Hone has been in trouble before. He has very strong opinions and sometimes does not agree with other members of the Maori Party. The leaders think that he is difficult to control. “I don’t think Hone is likely to change,” Tariana Turia said. The Maori Party is trying very hard to work with the National Party so it is a problem if one member is not part of the team.
His electorate³ is Te Tai Tokerau in the Far North. It is an area with high unemployment⁴, bad housing⁵ and many poor people. Hone is very popular with his electorate. He does not want to become an independent MP because he needs the support of the Maori Party to help the people in his electorate.

1 Parliament   

n.议会，国会

参考例句：

• She won a seat in Parliament at the election.她在选举中赢得了议会中的席位。
• The drug was banned by an act of parliament.议会的法案明令禁止该药品。

2 resign   

vt.放弃，辞去；把…交托给；使顺从；vi.辞职

参考例句：

• I've heard a whisper that he's going to resign.我听到了一个传闻说他准备辞职。
• You must resign yourselves to waiting a bit longer.你们要耐心多等一会儿。

3 electorate   

n.全体选民；选区

参考例句：

• The government was responsible to the electorate.政府对全体选民负责。
• He has the backing of almost a quarter of the electorate.他得到了几乎1/4选民的支持。

4 unemployment   

n.失业，失业状态

参考例句：

• The government will look into how to reduce unemployment.政府将研究如何降低失业率。
• He gave a talk on the theme of teenage unemployment.他就青少年失业的主题作了一次报告。

5 housing   

n.房屋，住宅；住房建筑；外壳，外罩

参考例句：

• Do you think our housing sales will turn around during this year?你认为今年我们的住宅销路会好转吗？
• The housing sales have been turning down since the summer.入夏以来，房屋的销售量日趋减少。