VOA常速英语2008年-Australia Apologizes to Aborigines

By Phil Mercer
Darwin, Australia
13 February 2008

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has made a historic apology to the country's Aboriginal¹ people for past mistreatment. Mr. Rudd said past policies of assimilation under which indigenous² children were taken from their families were a 'stain on the nation's soul'. From Darwin in Australia's Northern Territory, Phil Mercer reports.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has apologized to the 'Stolen Generations'.

These were Aboriginal children who were taken from their families in an attempt to dilute³ indigenous culture. They were the victims of an assimilation policy that began in 1910 and lasted into the early 1970s.

Mr. Rudd said it was a dark period in the nation's history and issued a formal apology in the nation's parliament in Canberra.

"For the pain, suffering and hurt of these 'Stolen Generations', their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry," he said. "To the mothers and the fathers, the brothers and the sisters, for the breaking up of families and communities, we say sorry; and for the indignity⁴ and degradation⁵ thus inflicted⁶ on a proud people and a proud culture, we say sorry."

The declaration has come 11 years after an official report on Australia's past assimilation policies, which urged the government to issue a formal apology.

The conservative former prime minister, John Howard, refused to take such a step, insisting that current generations of Australians should not apologize for injustices⁷ of the past.

Opinion polls have suggested that many Australians agree with Mr. Howard's stance and believe it was not necessary to say sorry.

Tribal⁸ elders are welcoming Prime Minister Rudd's apology, saying that for the first time they feel embraced and valued by Australian society.

Mr. Rudd says the problems faced by Australia's Aborigines - very high rates of ill-health, unemployment and imprisonment⁹ - are so serious that he plans to assemble a so-called 'war cabinet' to address them.

However, tackling such disadvantage has been beyond governments in the past. Indigenous people, who comprise two percent of the country's population of 21 million, have a life expectancy¹⁰ 17 years shorter than other Australians.

1 aboriginal   

adj.（指动植物）土生的，原产地的，土著的

参考例句：

• They managed to wipe out the entire aboriginal population.他们终于把那些土著人全部消灭了。
• The lndians are the aboriginal Americans.印第安人是美国的土著人。

2 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。

3 dilute   

vt.稀释，冲淡；adj.稀释的，冲淡的

参考例句：

• The water will dilute the wine.水能使酒变淡。
• Zinc displaces the hydrogen of dilute acids.锌置换了稀酸中的氢。

4 indignity   

n.侮辱，伤害尊严，轻蔑

参考例句：

• For more than a year we have suffered the indignity.在一年多的时间里,我们丢尽了丑。
• She was subjected to indignity and humiliation.她受到侮辱和羞辱。

5 degradation   

n.降级；低落；退化；陵削；降解；衰变

参考例句：

• There are serious problems of land degradation in some arid zones.在一些干旱地带存在严重的土地退化问题。
• Gambling is always coupled with degradation.赌博总是与堕落相联系。

6 inflicted   

把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They inflicted a humiliating defeat on the home team. 他们使主队吃了一场很没面子的败仗。
• Zoya heroically bore the torture that the Fascists inflicted upon her. 卓娅英勇地承受法西斯匪徒加在她身上的酷刑。

7 injustices   

不公平( injustice的名词复数 )； 非正义； 待…不公正； 冤枉

参考例句：

• One who committed many injustices is doomed to failure. 多行不义必自毙。
• He felt confident that his injustices would be righted. 他相信他的冤屈会受到昭雪的。

8 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

9 imprisonment   

n.关押，监禁，坐牢

参考例句：

• His sentence was commuted from death to life imprisonment.他的判决由死刑减为无期徒刑。
• He was sentenced to one year's imprisonment for committing bigamy.他因为犯重婚罪被判入狱一年。

10 expectancy   

n.期望，预期，（根据概率统计求得）预期数额

参考例句：

• Japanese people have a very high life expectancy.日本人的平均寿命非常长。
• The atomosphere of tense expectancy sobered everyone.这种期望的紧张气氛使每个人变得严肃起来。