VOA常速英语2007-Reggae Star Lucky Dube to Be Buried Sunday in Pr

By Scott Bobb
Johannesburg
26 October 2007

South African Reggae star Lucky Dube is to be buried Sunday in a private family ceremony. Fans, however, have already paid an emotional tribute to the singer, who was shot to death a week ago in an attempted car jacking. VOA Correspondent Scott Bobb reports from Johannesburg.

The public was not invited to the funeral of the late Reggae star Lucky Dube, but nearly 2,000 friends and fans gathered at a music hall in Soweto Wednesday for a memorial service.

Band members, weeping openly as they performed without their star lead singer, sang, 'nobody can stop reggae.'

Two of Dube's daughters delivered an emotional eulogy¹. Daughter Laura said she would never forget him.

"Thugs have robbed us of our icon," she said. "We are going to miss you always."

Tributes were read by the presidents of Senegal and The Gambia, and from musicians from around the world.

The head of Dube's Gallo Music recording² label, Ivor Haarburger, said the nation was shocked and saddened to hear of Dube's murder.

"It is a senseless disturbing act," he said. "A great spirit has been taken from us. It is a loss felt by millions of people, millions and millions of people around the world."

South Africa has one of the highest rates of violent crime in the world.

Members of the Creative Workers Union staged a march to the offices of the provincial³ government. Union Secretary-General Oupa Lebogo delivered a note protesting attacks against Dube and several other prominent musicians in recent years.

"Some of the cases that are still pending⁴ of artists being killed and maimed by these ruthless killers⁵, what is happening with that issue? We are also saying that we must reach out to the community, because, without the community, we cannot win this war," he said.

Lucky Dube was gunned down September 18 as he dropped two of his children off at a relative's house south of Johannesburg.

Three days later police arrested five suspects. Four of them are to appear in court this week on charges of murder, attempted hijacking⁶ and possession of an unlicensed weapon.

Police say they were part of a carjacking ring, and authorities expect to make more arrests.

Lucky Dube was one of South Africa's best known musicians internationally, and the first South African artist to sign with the Motown record label in the United States.

The 43-year-old singer began his 25-year-long career singing urbanized adaptations of traditional Zulu music. But, he also recorded albums in the Afrikaans language of the white minority.

He made his mark internationally singing Reggae music, often with a social message condemning⁷ injustice⁸ and oppression, and praising peace and love.

1 eulogy   

n.颂词；颂扬

参考例句：

• He needs no eulogy from me or from any other man. 他不需要我或者任何一个人来称颂。
• Mr.Garth gave a long eulogy about their achievements in the research.加思先生对他们的研究成果大大地颂扬了一番。

2 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

3 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

4 pending   

prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的

参考例句：

• The lawsuit is still pending in the state court.这案子仍在州法庭等待定夺。
• He knew my examination was pending.他知道我就要考试了。

5 killers   

凶手( killer的名词复数 )； 消灭…者； 致命物； 极难的事

参考例句：

• He remained steadfast in his determination to bring the killers to justice. 他要将杀人凶手绳之以法的决心一直没有动摇。
• They were professional killers who did in John. 杀死约翰的这些人是职业杀手。

6 hijacking   

n. 劫持, 抢劫 动词hijack的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• I have been told about the hijacking . 我已听说了那次劫机事件。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 口语
• They are taking measures to guarantee against the occurrence of hijacking. 他们正采取措施防止劫机事件的发生。

7 condemning   

v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的现在分词 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地

参考例句：

• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。
• I concur with the speaker in condemning what has been done. 我同意发言者对所做的事加以谴责。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

8 injustice   

n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利

参考例句：

• They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
• All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。