VOA常速英语2018--特朗普第一夫人出访非洲 宣传慈善活动

On her second day in Ghana, First Lady Melania Trump¹ visited the Cape² Coast Castle, one of about 40 “slave castles” built on the Gold Coast of West Africa by European traders.

出访加纳的第二天，第一夫人梅拉尼娅 特朗普（Melania Trump）来到了海岸角城堡。多位欧洲领导人在西非黄金海岸上建造了近40个“奴隶堡”，这里就是其中一个。

From Ghana, Mrs. Trump is scheduled to visit Malawi’s capital, Lilongwe, where many people who spoke³ to VOA didn’t know much about the trip.

第一夫人计划从加纳去往马拉维首都利隆圭。我台记者采访了利隆圭的百姓，其中很多人都说不知道美国第一夫人会出访此地。

Oh, no, I don’t know. You don’t know, you haven’t heard of it? Yes. But do you know anything about her? No, I just know that it’s the wife to the president of America. But this auto⁴ rickshaw driver looks forward to her visit. Whatever she can bring, if she can sit down with the leaders and to see what areas can she help. I am asking you all to join me today.

哦不，我不知道啊。您不知道吗？您一点都没听说吗？没错。但您是否对第一夫人有所了解呢？没了解，我只知道他是美国总统的第一夫人。但这位人力车司机很期待她的到来。无论她能带来什么，只要她能跟各位领导人同坐一起，看看自己在什么地方能帮上忙，就够了。我恳请大家加入我们。

Mrs. Trump is in Africa as part of her Be-Best campaign focusing on child wellness. I’m here with one goal, helping⁵ children and our next generation. I think this is an opportunity for the United States to show her more human, softer side. When you look at it, what she’s doing focusing on maternal⁶ and child care, focusing on education. It’s a much softer, softer issues, development issues. It’s essentially⁷ a very conventional, you know, paint-by-the-numbers trip for a first lady that her predecessors⁸ had done similar trips. President Donald Trump has been criticized for his past reported disparaging⁹ comments about African countries.

第一夫人出访非洲是为了助力“成为最好”的活动，该活动主要着力于儿童健康。我来这儿是带着目标的，那就是帮助儿童，帮助我们的下一代。我认为这是个好机会，能让美国展现自己更为人道、更柔软的一面。大家稍加观察就会发现，美国所做的事都是为了关爱母婴健康，关注教育。美国关注的是更加柔软的领域，是发展领域。这是历来第一夫人的惯例，梅拉尼娅的前任第一夫人们也都有过类似的出访经历。总统唐纳德 特朗普（Donald Trump）一直备受苛责，因为此前有报道称梅拉尼娅对非洲国家有过轻蔑言论。

Joshua Meservey from the Heritage Foundation says, Mrs. Trump’s visit should not be expected to counter her husband’s rhetoric¹⁰. People understand that she’s the first lady. She’s not an elected US government official. She’s a representative, of course, but you know she first ladies have this unique position within administrations, and so I think that people will understand that this is a goodwill¹¹ tour, that this is designed just to highlight her personal priorities around this Be-Best campaign. Countries like Malawi depend on American aid programs.

传统基金会的乔舒亚（Joshua Meservey）表示，梅拉尼娅此次出访不应该引发不利于其丈夫的言论。大家都知道她是第一夫人，她并不是选举上来的美国官员。当然，她代表着美国，但大家都知道，凡事第一夫人都在美国政府中扮演着这种独特的角色。所以，我们觉得大家都会把梅拉尼娅的此次出访理解为亲善之行，理解为梅拉尼娅要在“成为最好”活动中凸显自己想要强调的重点。马拉维等国家都要依靠美国的援助项目。

USAID programs in Africa were slated¹² for significant cuts in the Trump administration’s proposed budget, but had been blocked by Congress. Despite 50 years of peaceful independence, Malawi remains¹³ one of the poorest nations in the world, with more than half of 17 million population living below the poverty line. The first lady’s visit is expected to highlight the Trump administration support through its USAID programs before she continues her trip to Kenya and Egypt.

美国国际开发署（USAID）在非洲的多个项目之所以能实行，是因为特朗普政府对预算做了削减，但削减预算的提案受到了国会的阻挠。虽然已经和平独立了50年，马拉维一直都是世界上最穷困的国家，其中有半数以上的民众，即1700万人都生活在贫困县以下。有人预计梅拉尼娅此行会凸显特朗普政府通过美国国际开发署的多个项目所提供的支持，虽然梅拉尼娅的行程还没到肯尼亚和埃及。

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

5 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

6 maternal   

adj.母亲的，母亲般的，母系的，母方的

参考例句：

• He is my maternal uncle.他是我舅舅。
• The sight of the hopeless little boy aroused her maternal instincts.那个绝望的小男孩的模样唤起了她的母性。

7 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

8 predecessors   

n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身

参考例句：

• The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation. 新政府正着手废除其前任所制定的法律。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Will new plan be any more acceptable than its predecessors? 新计划比原先的计划更能令人满意吗？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 disparaging   

adj.轻蔑的，毁谤的v.轻视( disparage的现在分词 )；贬低；批评；非难

参考例句：

• Halliday's comments grew daily more and more sparklingly disagreeable and disparaging. 一天天过去，哈里代的评论越来越肆无忌惮，越来越讨人嫌，越来越阴损了。 来自英汉文学 - 败坏赫德莱堡
• Even with favorable items they would usually add some disparaging comments. 即使对好消息，他们也往往要加上几句诋毁的评语。 来自互联网

10 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

11 goodwill   

n.善意，亲善，信誉，声誉

参考例句：

• His heart is full of goodwill to all men.他心里对所有人都充满着爱心。
• We paid ￡10,000 for the shop,and ￡2000 for its goodwill.我们用一万英镑买下了这家商店，两千英镑买下了它的信誉。

12 slated   

用石板瓦盖( slate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Yuki is working up an in-home phonics program slated for Thursdays, and I'm drilling her on English conversation at dinnertime. Yuki每周四还有一次家庭语音课。我在晚餐时训练她的英语口语。
• Bromfield was slated to become U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. 布罗姆菲尔德被提名为美国农业部长。

13 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。