Bush Visits Africa

By Cynthia Kirk
Broadcast: July 12, 2003
This is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English program, In the News.
President Bush was in Africa this week to discuss the AIDS crisis¹, trade, African conflicts and the war on 1)terrorism. He traveled to Senegal, South Africa, 2)Botswana and 3)Uganda, with a final stop in Nigeria.
Secretary of State Colin Powell said Thursday in South Africa that President Bush would decide soon whether to send peacekeeping troops to 4)Liberia to enforce a cease-fire.
Rebels have been fighting forces loyal to Liberian President Charles Taylor in and around the capital, Monrovia. The recent fighting has killed hundreds of civilians² and displaced³ thousands of others. Liberia has had conflict for much of the past fourteen years. The 5)unrest has hurt the economy and left millions of people starving and homeless.
President Bush has said the United States would work with the United Nations and West African countries to help end the fighting. But he said Mister Taylor must leave office first.
Mister Taylor has said he will leave only after American soldiers arrive in the country, to avoid further unrest. The rebels have said that only Mister Taylor's 6)resignation⁴ would end the past four years of conflict.
7)Nigeria has offered Mister Taylor exile⁵. It also promised not to surrender him to face a war crimes trial in Sierra Leone, if he would stay out of Liberian politics. Mister Taylor is accused of supplying weapons to rebels across the border in 8)Sierra Leone in return for diamonds.
9)Negotiators meeting in Ghana Wednesday said West African nations plan to send one-thousand troops to Liberia within two weeks. Mister Powell said Mister Bush's decision whether to send troops would be based on reports from American military advisers⁷ studying conditions there.
Liberia has close economic and cultural ties with the United States. It was settled in the early eighteen-hundreds by freed American slaves. They lived on land bought by a group of white Americans for the purpose of returning freed slaves to Africa.
U-N Secretary General Kofi Anan has repeatedly called on the United States to intervene⁸ in Liberia. He goes to Washington Monday to meet with President Bush to discuss the issue.
The United States has negotiated⁹ agreements for military cooperation with several African governments and provides anti-terrorism aid to others. But much of President Bush's trip centered on his fifteen-thousand-million dollar program to fight the spread of AIDS in Africa and the Caribbean.
Uganda and Botswana are two of the countries to receive aid. Uganda's aggressive prevention and treatment programs have reduced the infection rate to about five-percent of the population. Botswana, however, has one of the highest rates in the world. Almost forty-percent of adults have H-I-V, the virus that causes AIDS.
President Bush praised both countries for taking strong steps to deal with the AIDS crisis.
This VOA Special English program, In the News, was written by Cynthia Kirk. This is Steve Ember.

注释：
1) terrorism [5terErIz(E)m] n.恐怖主义，恐怖统治，恐怖行动
2) Botswana [bCt5swB:nE] n.博茨瓦纳（位于南非共和国内，于1966年独立）
3) Uganda [u:5^AndE] n.（国名）乌干达（东非国家）
4) Liberia [lai5biEriE] n.利比里亚（西非国家）
5) unrest [5Qn5rest] n.不安的状态，动荡的局面
6) resignation [7rezi^5neiFEn] n.辞职，辞职书
7) Nigeria [nai5dViEriE] n.尼日利亚（非洲中西部国家）
8) Sierra Leone [5siErE li5Eun] n.塞拉利昂
9) negotiator⁶ [ni5^EuFieitE] n.谈判代表

1 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。

2 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

3 displaced   

移动( displace的过去式和过去分词 )； 替换； 移走； 撤职

参考例句：

• Gradually factory workers have been displaced by machines. 工厂的工人已逐渐被机器取代。
• He was displaced by another young man. 他已被另一个年轻人顶替。

4 resignation   

n.放弃，辞职，反抗

参考例句：

• He handed in his resignation right after the cabinet meeting.内阁会议一开完，他就提出了辞呈。
• They asked for his resignation with one voice.他们一致要求他辞职。

5 exile   

n.流放，被流放者；vt.流放，放逐，使流亡

参考例句：

• After an exile of eight years her uncle returned to Cairo.她叔叔背井离乡8年后返回开罗。
• Napoleon was sent into exile on an island.拿破仑被流放到一个岛上。

6 negotiator   

n.协商者，谈判者；(票据、支票等)背书人

参考例句：

• They have placed great trust in him as a negotiator. 他们完全信赖他进行谈判。
• The negotiator acted as liaison between labour and management. 谈判者充当劳资双方的联络人。

7 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

8 intervene   

vi.干涉，干预，干扰，阻挠

参考例句：

• When riot broke out,the police were obliged to intervene.发生暴乱时，警察有责任干预。
• You don't intervene between those two drunks.你不要在那两个酒鬼之间进行调解。

9 negotiated   

谈判，协商，议定( negotiate的过去式和过去分词 )； 兑现（支票等）； 通过，越过（险要路段）

参考例句：

• The government negotiated with the opposition party over the new law. 政府就新法与反对党进行了协商。
• By careful strategy she negotiated a substantial pay rise. 她精心策划后，谈妥了大幅增加工资的事。