VOA标准英语2014--赞比亚总统去世之际,国家正在考虑新宪法

 

Death of Zambian President Comes as Country Considers New Constitution 赞比亚总统去世之际,国家正在考虑新宪法

LUSAKA— 

Zambian president Michael Sata died Wednesday in London, where he had been undergoing treatment for an undisclosed illness.  His death comes as the Zambian government prepares to release its final draft of a new constitution - and as Zambians reflect on 50 years of freedom from colonial rule.  The southern African nation has been fairly stable for most of its life, with an economy recently classified by the World Bank as a lower-middle-income nation.  

Plans to overhaul¹ the constitution were announced shortly after Michael Sata was elected president in 2011, as part of a series of steps in his top-to-bottom review of the country's policies.  But critics accuse the government of stalling the process in the interests of those in power.  

Others say  the constitutional reform process has been slow to gather momentum² because of a lack of consensus³ building from the various stakeholders.

Andrew Ntewewe is president of the Young African Leaders Initiative:

“We can do this process without political expedience⁴.  We can do this process by seeking stakeholder involvement and consensus building. We can do this process to ensure that we can have a referendum alongside the 2016 general election," said Ntewewe.

In recent years Zambia has enjoyed political stability and has annual economic growth rates of 7 percent.

But Africa's second-largest copper⁵ producer, home to 14.5 million people, is still struggling with poverty, and high unemployment.  Zila Milupi, a social entrepreneur and co-founder of a nonprofit organization called “Winners Circle” says young Zambians have a role to play in solving the unemployment problem.

“I think that if young people take the bull by the horns and start to believe actually in the potential that they have, if we start to be more open-minded and if we start to foster creativity and risk taking, I think if we make deliberate efforts to do those things and to really cultivate an entrepreneurship culture, I think that there really could be a significant growth sector⁶ for Zambia," said Milupi.

To get a sense of what Zambians think about their 50th independence anniversary, VOA spoke⁷ to a couple of residents on the streets of the capital, Lusaka.

"After our independence, we have had a lot of rural-urban migration⁸ so the towns now are full of people; unemployed⁹ and employed. The economy has changed, we have developed to a certain extent, but we have not reached where we are supposed to be in 50 years," said one.

"We have enjoyed peace; we have enjoyed harmony, and a lot of good things. A long time ago, people never used to travel safely. There were limitations and now we have seen to say that people have evolved," said another.

Meanwhile, Zambia’s sometimes-rocky relationship with China is now steadily¹⁰ growing.  A drive through Lusaka and other cities shows a country on the move, with huge Chinese infrastructure¹¹ projects spurring development.  

1 overhaul   

v./n.大修，仔细检查

参考例句：

• Master Worker Wang is responsible for the overhaul of this grinder.王师傅主修这台磨床。
• It is generally appreciated that the rail network needs a complete overhaul.众所周知，铁路系统需要大检修。

2 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

3 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

4 expedience   

n.方便，私利，权宜

参考例句：

• This system has universality, expedience to use, and expansibility in practice. 该系统在使用中具有广泛性、高效性、使用方便性和可扩展性。 来自互联网
• Moral convictions must out-weigh expedience and buck passing. 道德的信念必须重于权宜之计和逃避责任。 来自互联网

5 copper   

n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的

参考例句：

• The students are asked to prove the purity of copper.要求学生们检验铜的纯度。
• Copper is a good medium for the conduction of heat and electricity.铜是热和电的良导体。

6 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

7 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。

8 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

9 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

10 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

11 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。