3 Ghanaians listed as African best footballers

 　　ACCRA, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) -- The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has named three members of Ghana's senior national soccer team, the Black Stars, among 10 players shortlisted to compete for the 2011 African footballer of the year.

　　Olympique Marseille's Andre Ayew, Kevin-Prince Boateng of Italian giants AC Milan and former Sunderland striker Asamoah Gyan were on the list of nominations¹ announced at a press conference here on Wednesday.

　　Other players include Cote d'Ivoire trio, Didier Drogba (Chelsea), Yaya Toure (Manchester City) and Gervinho (Arsenal), and Cameroun's Samuel Eto' Fils (Anzhi Makhatchkala, Russia).

　　The rest were Senegal and Lille's Moussa Sow, Adel Taraabt of Morocco and Queens Park Rangers² (England) as well as Mali's Seydou Keita who also plays for Barcelona.

　　Addressing the media, George Andah, chief operating officer (COO) of Globacom (Glo), sponsors of the awards, said the partnership³ between Globacom and CAF was motivated by Glo's belief in sports as a vehicle for stimulating⁴ the development of the continent.

　　He said one of the company's core corporate⁵ social responsibilities was to kindle⁶ socio-economic development of the youths in all the markets where Globacom operated through sports and sponsorships.

　　Since Globacom took over the sponsorship of the awards in 2005, the profile of the prize had risen in prominence⁷ as the African Footballer of the year was now celebrated⁸ and glamorized across the continent and the rest of the world.

　　"Globacom has also achieved its promise of raising the profile of African football players by transforming the Glo/CAF awards into a high profile and exclusive ceremony rich in content and entertainment, thereby⁹ successfully projecting the African continent positively¹⁰ to the world," he added.

　　The objective of the CAF awards is to honor African men and women who have excelled and also contributed to the development of the game of football in and outside the African continent.

　　The award is bestowed¹¹ purely¹² on merit for exemplary contributions toward the development and promotion¹³ of football, on and off the pitch.

　　The annual event also aspires¹⁴ to encourage and enhance the performances of the sporting men and women to maintain the high standard and quality of football administration and management in Africa.

　　The shortlist will be trimmed to five from which the final three nominees¹⁵ would be revealed for the award.

　　The winner will be announced at the awards ceremony to be held at the Banquet Hall of the State House here on December 22.

　　Samuel Eto'o won last year's African Player of the Year awards in Egypt for a record fourth time.

1 nominations   

n.提名，任命( nomination的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Nominations are invited for the post of party chairman. 为党主席职位征集候选人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Much coverage surrounded his abortive bids for the 1960,1964, and 1968 Republican Presidential nominations. 许多消息报道都围绕着1960年、1964年和1968年他为争取提名为共和党总统候选人所做努力的失败。 来自辞典例句

2 rangers   

护林者( ranger的名词复数 )； 突击队员

参考例句：

• Do you know where the Rangers Stadium is? 你知道Rangers体育场在哪吗？ 来自超越目标英语 第3册
• Now I'm a Rangers' fan, so I like to be near the stadium. 现在我是Rangers的爱好者，所以我想离体育场近一点。 来自超越目标英语 第3册

3 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

4 stimulating   

adj.有启发性的，能激发人思考的

参考例句：

• shower gel containing plant extracts that have a stimulating effect on the skin 含有对皮肤有益的植物精华的沐浴凝胶
• This is a drug for stimulating nerves. 这是一种兴奋剂。

5 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

6 kindle   

v.点燃，着火

参考例句：

• This wood is too wet to kindle.这木柴太湿点不着。
• A small spark was enough to kindle Lily's imagination.一星光花足以点燃莉丽的全部想象力。

7 prominence   

n.突出；显著；杰出；重要

参考例句：

• He came to prominence during the World Cup in Italy.他在意大利的世界杯赛中声名鹊起。
• This young fashion designer is rising to prominence.这位年轻的时装设计师的声望越来越高。

8 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

9 thereby   

adv.因此，从而

参考例句：

• I have never been to that city,,ereby I don't know much about it.我从未去过那座城市，因此对它不怎么熟悉。
• He became a British citizen,thereby gaining the right to vote.他成了英国公民，因而得到了投票权。

10 positively   

adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实

参考例句：

• She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。
• The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。

11 bestowed   

赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• It was a title bestowed upon him by the king. 那是国王赐给他的头衔。
• He considered himself unworthy of the honour they had bestowed on him. 他认为自己不配得到大家赋予他的荣誉。

12 purely   

adv.纯粹地，完全地

参考例句：

• I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
• This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。

13 promotion   

n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传

参考例句：

• The teacher conferred with the principal about Dick's promotion.教师与校长商谈了迪克的升级问题。
• The clerk was given a promotion and an increase in salary.那个职员升了级，加了薪。

14 aspires   

v.渴望，追求( aspire的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The fame to which he aspires was beyond his reach. 他追求的名誉乃是他所不能及的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• An old steed in the stable still aspires to gallop a thousand li. 老骥伏枥，志在千里。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 nominees   

n.被提名者，被任命者( nominee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She's one of the nominees. 她是被提名者之一。 来自超越目标英语 第2册
• A startling number of his nominees for senior positions have imploded. 他所提名的高级官员被否决的数目令人震惊。 来自互联网