新西兰英语 762 John Key in China

 　　Prime¹ Minister, John Key, is visiting China this week, along with 4 other ministers and many business leaders from New Zealand. The main purpose of the visit is to increase trade. Business leaders want to set up joint-venture companies in China and increase exports from New Zealand to China. China is our number one country for imports but second for exports. We have had a free trade agreement with China for the last 5 years.

　　John Key wants to increase the number of Chinese tourists to New Zealand and the number of Chinese international students studying in New Zealand. Last year, 200,000 Chinese tourists visited New Zealand and 24,000 students studied here. 66,000 New Zealanders visited China last year. Our second-largest group of migrants are Chinese. There are now daily flights between Auckland² and China.

　　John Key said he wants to strengthen³ the good relationship between the two countries which began in 1972. He met President Xi Jinping at the weekend and yesterday he met the new Premier⁴ Li. There is a photo of John Key shaking hands with Premier Li, on the front page of today’s Chinese Daily English-language newspaper. Now millions of Chinese people will know about New Zealand and our Prime Minister.

　　Listen to April 7th 2008 to hear more about the free trade agreement between New Zealand and China.

　　Vocabulary

　　?set up – start a company

　　?joint-venture – Both China and New Zealand own a company or work together for that company

　　?purpose – reason for the visit

　　?strengthen (v) – to make strong (compare: long (adj), lengthen⁵ (v))

　　Grammar

　　You can introduce a sentence with ‘There is’, or ‘There are’ e.g. There are now daily flights … There is a photo . . .

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 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。

3 strengthen   

vt.加强，变坚固；vi.变强，股票上涨

参考例句：

• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。
• You wish to strengthen our forces in the south?你想要加强我们在南部的势力？

4 premier   

adj.首要的；n.总理，首相

参考例句：

• The Irish Premier is paying an official visit to Britain.爱尔兰总理正在对英国进行正式访问。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。

5 lengthen   

vt.使伸长，延长

参考例句：

• He asked the tailor to lengthen his coat.他请裁缝把他的外衣放长些。
• The teacher told her to lengthen her paper out.老师让她把论文加长。