新西兰英语 236 Prince William’s Visit

　　Prince William arrived in New Zealand yesterday. He is representing¹ the Queen. This morning he opened the new Supreme² Court building which is in Wellington. This is the highest court in New Zealand. The Queen is now in her 80s and a long trip to New Zealand would be very tiring for her.
Prince William sailed on an America’s Cup yacht³ yesterday and visited Eden Park in Auckland⁴ where the final game of the Rugby World Cup will be held. He is a keen⁵ rugby player and will attend the World Cup in 2011. Last night, he attended a hangi at Government House, the home of the Governor⁶ General. A hangi is a traditional Maori way of cooking food in the ground, with hot stones. Tomorrow, Prince William will go to Australia.
Prince William will be king one day. His father is Prince Charles who is the oldest son of Queen Elizabeth. She is the Queen of Britain and the Commonwealth⁷ countries which include New Zealand. Some people want New Zealand to become a republic and have a president instead of a queen but both the Queen and Prince William are very popular.
Prince William graduated from St Andrews University with an MA in Geography. Then he trained as a soldier and served in Afghanistan. Now is in the Air Force, training to be a Search and Rescue pilot. He is now 27 years old. He is tall, good-looking like his mother Princess Diana, and relaxed when talking to people. He has had the same girlfriend, Kate Middleton, for five years.
Questions to think about
The Queen has mostly a ceremonial role. Do you think we still need a monarch⁸?
When Diana first became a member of the royal family, she found life difficult. What do you think would be hard about being a member of the royal family?
What would be enjoyable?

1 representing   

v.表现( represent的现在分词 )；代表；体现；作为…的代表

参考例句：

• a diagram representing a cross section of the human eye 表现人眼的剖面图
• The competition attracted over 500 contestants representing 8 different countries. 这次比赛吸引了代表8个不同国家的500多名参赛者。

2 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

3 yacht   

n.游艇，快艇

参考例句：

• He was responsible for the location of the missing yacht.他负责查明失踪游艇的下落。
• He planned to cross the Pacific by yacht.他曾打算乘快艇横渡太平洋。

4 Auckland   

n.奥克兰(新西兰港市)

参考例句：

• Auckland is the largest city in New Zealand.奥克兰是新西兰最大的城市。
• Return to auckland by bus in afternoon.下午乘车返回奥克兰。

5 keen   

adj.热心的；敏锐的；激烈的；锋利的

参考例句：

• There is keen competition between the two motorcar firms.两家汽车公司之间存在着激烈的竞争。
• The children are mad keen to go to the zoo.孩子们非常想去动物园。

6 governor   

n.统治者，地方长官(如省长，州长，总督等)

参考例句：

• The governor was an expert at fencing with reporters.这位州长是搪塞新闻记者的能手。
• He was elected governor of the state of California.他当选为加州州长。

7 commonwealth   

n.共和国，联邦，共同体

参考例句：

• He is the chairman of the commonwealth of artists.他是艺术家协会的主席。
• Most of the members of the Commonwealth are nonwhite.英联邦的许多成员国不是白人国家。

8 monarch   

n.帝王，君主，最高统治者

参考例句：

• The monarch's role is purely ceremonial.君主纯粹是个礼仪职位。
• I think myself happier now than the greatest monarch upon earth.我觉得这个时候比世界上什么帝王都快乐。