新西兰英语 749 John Key in Chile

 　　Prime¹ Minister, John Key, is in the middle of a 10-day visit to Mexico, Colombia, Chile and Brazil. One of the reasons for his trip is to increase trade between New Zealand and these countries. When Mr Key was in Colombia, he invited 150 farmers from Colombia to visit New Zealand in October. President Santos may accompany them.

　　Today John Key was in Chile where he visited a farm which is owned by Fonterra and he had talks with President Pinera about trade. They also talked about the earthquakes that affected² both countries just one year apart.

　　They agreed to increase the number of students in the education programme called ‘Penguins Without Borders”. This programme pays for high school students to come to New Zealand for six months to give them a different cultural experience and to improve their English language. In January this year, 40 students arrived in New Zealand and are now attending high schools in Auckland. The Chilean Economy Minister announced that later this year, they will send 100 students to New Zealand for terms three and four.

　　John Key goes to Brazil tomorrow.

　　Vocabulary

　　?accompany – go with them

　　?affected – influenced in a bad way

　　?programme – plan

　　?term – 10 weeks

　　Note: a 10-day visit, but the visit is for 10 days. When 10-day is used as an adjective⁴ in front of a noun³, it is singular⁵. Also a 6-year old child etc.

1 prime   

adj.首要的，主要的；最好的，第一流的

参考例句：

• The prime minister spoke of the general insecurity in the country.总理谈到了全国普遍存在的不安全。
• He met with the Prime Minister of Japan for an hour.他和日本首相会见了一个小时。

2 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

3 noun   

n.名词

参考例句：

• What kind of noun is this?这是哪类名词？
• This word is a collective noun.这个词是个集体名词。

4 adjective   

n.形容词；adj.形容词的，用作形容词的

参考例句：

• Don't apply that adjective to me.不要用那个字眼来形容我。
• The adjective loose has several senses. 形容词loose有几个义项。

5 singular   

adj.个人的，单数的，独一的，唯一的，非凡的；n.单数

参考例句：

• The young man has a singular ear for music.这个年轻人对音乐有非凡的欣赏力。
• The noun is in the singular.这个名词是单数形式。