2007年VOA标准英语-Tourism Rising in South Africa

By Scott Bobb
Johannesburg
09 February 2007
 
watch South Africa Tourism

The South African government recently announced that tourist arrivals over the past year rose by 15 percent, one of the highest growth rates in the world. In fact, tourism in South Africa has been growing by leaps and bounds for the past five years and is set to surpass gold as one of the country's top foreign exchange earners. VOA's Scott Bobb takes a look at the industry and the reasons behind its explosive growth.

South Africa is known around the world for its nature preserves teeming¹ with lions, leopards², elephants and other animals.

 
South African beaches are one of many attractions for tourists
The country also draws millions of tourists a year to its beaches and to fish in the waters of two oceans.

More than eight million tourists visited South Africa last year, two and-a-half million more than five years ago. And they are not just coming for the traditional attractions.

People around the world followed the struggle by South Africans against apartheid. They remember the popular uprisings and bloody³ incidents that galvanized the nation, such as the police shooting of several dozen school children in Soweto in 1976.

The shooting is commemorated⁴ at a museum named after a 13-year-old boy who was killed that day, Hendreik Peterson.

 
Tour guide Snowy
Tour guide Snowy recalls, "The June '76 riots that emanated⁵ because of the introduction of Afrikaans (in the schools) then catapulted the whole movement. We all went into struggle and we all were awakened⁶."

Snowy says visitors often ask her if the exhibit evoke⁷ painful memories. "It does hurt, the memories do hurt but that is what museums and places of national significance remind us about."

Her guests, Guys and Lieve from Belgium, feel the same emotions. Thecouple said, "It touched the heart. When you speak of the young, of Soweto, of the young boy who dies here. I think, tomorrow, it lives in here,"

Tourists flock to the Soweto home of anti-apartheid icon⁸ and democratic South Africa's first president, Nelson Mandela. They hear personal stories about the struggle for freedom by Mandela and other leaders from this community.

Many tourists travel to Capetown in the south and take the boat ride to Robben Island. This is the former high-security prison where Mandela and other freedom fighters spent much of their adult lives before they were freed to negotiate the transition to democracy in 1994.

Moeketsi Mosola is the head of South Africa Tourism agency. He says tourism began to boom after extensive research revealed some surprising facts about what potential tourists were looking for. "Travelers today want more. They are no longer happy in just being passive in destinations where they decide to travel. They want to engage with the community. They want to know how people live because it is in the process of sharing with their hosts that they learn so much about themselves and about their own country."

The government has also been developing other tourist attractions. History buffs now visit the sites of famous battles between the Zulu, the Boer and the British settlers.

Others visit the Cradle of Humankind, outside Johannesburg. It contains one of the largest collections in the world of bones from the ancestors of humans, called hominids.

Hominid remains⁹ more than three million years old have been found here. Tour guide Gift Sibanda said, "Sterkfontein Caves is a fossil treasure trove¹⁰. About 45 percent of hominid fossils in the world were found around this area and the heart of it is Sterkfontein."

South Africa is expected to draw even more tourists in three years when it hosts the soccer World Cup championship. Moeketsi Mosola promises a world class event. "This is a World Cup that is not going to be like anything that you've ever seen. This World Cup is going to have an African look and feel."

Officials hope that sports fans coming for the World Cup will also visit some of South Africa's many attractions.

1 teeming   

adj.丰富的v.充满( teem的现在分词 )；到处都是；（指水、雨等）暴降；倾注

参考例句：

• The rain was teeming down. 大雨倾盆而下。
• the teeming streets of the city 熙熙攘攘的城市街道

2 leopards   

n.豹( leopard的名词复数 )；本性难移

参考例句：

• Lions, tigers and leopards are all cats. 狮、虎和豹都是猫科动物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• For example, airlines never ship leopards and canaries on the same flight. 例如，飞机上从来不会同时运送豹和金丝雀。 来自英语晨读30分（初三）

3 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

4 commemorated   

v.纪念，庆祝( commemorate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Lincoln commemorated the soldiers killed in the battle in his address. 林肯在演说中表扬阵亡将士。 来自辞典例句
• You'll be commemorated for killing a spy, and be specially discharged. 你们每杀一个间谍将会被记录到特殊档案。 来自电影对白

5 emanated   

v.从…处传出，传出( emanate的过去式和过去分词 )；产生，表现，显示

参考例句：

• Do you know where these rumours emanated from? 你知道谣言出自何处吗？ 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The rumor emanated from Chicago. 谣言来自芝加哥。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

6 awakened   

v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到

参考例句：

• She awakened to the sound of birds singing. 她醒来听到鸟的叫声。
• The public has been awakened to the full horror of the situation. 公众完全意识到了这一状况的可怕程度。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 evoke   

vt.唤起，引起，使人想起

参考例句：

• These images are likely to evoke a strong response in the viewer.这些图像可能会在观众中产生强烈反响。
• Her only resource was the sympathy she could evoke.她以凭借的唯一力量就是她能从人们心底里激起的同情。

8 icon   

n.偶像，崇拜的对象，画像

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• Click on this icon to align or justify text.点击这个图标使文本排齐。

9 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

10 trove   

n.被发现的东西，收藏的东西

参考例句：

• He assembled a rich trove of Chinese porcelain.他收集了一批中国瓷器。
• The gallery is a treasure trove of medieval art.这个画廊是中世纪艺术的宝库。