英语听力—环球英语 801 Good Governance: The Mo Ibrahim Awards

　　Voice 1
Hello and welcome to Spotlight¹. I'm Marina Santee.
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And I'm Ruby² Jones. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
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Strong will. Purpose. Desire. Belief. These are qualities of many a successful business person. In today's Spotlight we look at the work of one extremely successful business man - Mohammed Ibrahim. We tell how his work is influencing the economy and politics of Africa!
Voice 2
Grace Wachira smiles. She has found another happy customer. Grace manages a small business in her village in central Kenya. She makes warm clothes to sell. She travels several hours to the nearest town to buy the material. She also travels several hours to sell her clothes. In the past she made the long trips and simply hoped the right people would be in town. Sometimes they were there. And sometimes they were not there. Then she had a wasted trip. But this was in the days before her mobile telephone...
Voice 1
Mobile phones, cell phones, hand phones! Whatever you call them - you probably have one! For Grace Wachira, the mobile phone has completely changed her business. Today, she uses her mobile phone to order material and to communicate with buyers. Almost every trader and farmer in her village has a mobile telephone - or one they can borrow! People can use their phones because of a tall red and white tower building. It stands on a hill nearby. The tower is a mobile-phone base station. It enables mobile telephones to work in the area. This technology is changing the economy in a fast and amazing way across Africa.
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Cellular-news is a leading wireless³ telecom news group. In June 2008, the group stated that Africa now has 300 million mobile phone subscribers! However, Sub-Saharan Africa has been slower in receiving mobile telephones. Many phone companies chose not to operate there at first. They believed that the markets were too small or too poor to be worth their investment. However, not all companies believed this to be true. One of these was Celtel. The man behind the company's success is Mohammed Ibrahim.
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Mohammed Ibrahim was born in Sudan. He studied mobile communications in England. Mohammed started his own telephone company in 1989: Mobile Systems International, or MSI. This organisation⁴ provided expert advice to its customers. Later, MSI-Cellular Investments developed from this company. It specialised in developing mobile phone services in African countries. This was something that other companies had been afraid to do. Many major phone operators thought that African markets were too small or poor to be worthwhile. They were not willing to take the risk. However, where others saw risks, Mohammed saw chances. He knew that there was a lack of telephone land lines in Africa. And he knew that this would make mobile phones very important there. He said:
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‘Clearly there is a big divide between what people think and what is real when it comes to Africa. When you ask people what they think of Africa, they think of AIDS, genocide, disasters, starving people. Yes, Africa has its fair share of tragic⁵ events. But Africa has 53 countries. There are really peaceful parts of the continent. There are quite reasonable governments in many countries.'
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In 2004, MSI-Cellular Investments took the name ‘Celtel.' Celtel reached over 15 countries in Africa. It had over 750 million dollars in investments. Celtel became the leading phone operator in Sub-Saharan Africa.
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Mohammed Ibrahim sold Celtel in 2005. The buyer was Middle Eastern telephone company Zain. The price was 3,400,000,000 dollars!
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So what is Mohammed Ibrahim doing with his time (and money) now? He is putting his energy into something that he believes is the key to good business - good governance.
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‘Good governance and democracy are central to Africa's development. Without them, it will be hard for any African countries to reach the Millennium⁶ Development goals by 2015. That is why the aim of the Mo Ibrahim organisation is so important. Thanks to Mo Ibrahim's idea the organisation can add to the growing movement to build honest and forward thinking African leaders.'
Voice 2
These are the words of Nelson Mandela. He is talking about Mohammed Ibrahim's organisation - the Mo Ibrahim Foundation. This organisation centres on good governance. Governance is the method of management. Managers exist at all levels of society - heads of families, community leaders, political leaders, heads of state - presidents! The Mo Ibrahim Foundation seeks to encourage good governance in several ways:
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It encourages debate on good governance across sub-Saharan Africa and the world.
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It provides guidelines⁷ so that citizens can make sure their governments are responsible.
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It recognises achievement in African leadership.
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It is this last activity that has created particular public interest. One of the ways the organisation recognises achievement is in the ‘Mo Ibrahim Awards.'
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The Mo Ibrahim award is for African leaders who have demonstrated good governance. The winner receives 5 million dollars. The winner also receives 200,000 dollars every year for the rest of his or her life!
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A group of judges chooses the winner. In 2008 there were six judges. The leading judge was Kofi Annan - former Secretary-General of the United Nations.
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The judges used the Ibrahim Index of African Governance to choose the winner. This system is based on five requirements:
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One - safety and security.
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Two - rule of law, open, honest dealings.
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Three - involvement in human rights.
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Four - building an economy that will last.
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Five - human development.
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The award winner of 2008 was Festus Mogae, the former president of Botswana. Kofi Annan said they chose him for his excellent leadership. Botswana had a severe HIV/AIDS crisis⁸. It threatened the future of the country and the people. However Festus' good leadership managed to keep the country secure.
Kofi Annan said:
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‘Botswana demonstrates how a country with natural resources can encourage lasting⁹ development with good governance. This is on a continent where too often mineral wealth has become an evil curse.'
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Mo Ibrahim believes that their work shows that honest business and good governance works. He says:
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‘I think we proved the point. People can do honest work in Africa. They can help create jobs, create wealth, build the country and make money.'
 

1 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

2 ruby   

n.红宝石，红宝石色

参考例句：

• She is wearing a small ruby earring.她戴着一枚红宝石小耳环。
• On the handle of his sword sat the biggest ruby in the world.他的剑柄上镶有一颗世上最大的红宝石。

3 wireless   

adj.无线的；n.无线电

参考例句：

• There are a lot of wireless links in a radio.收音机里有许多无线电线路。
• Wireless messages tell us that the ship was sinking.无线电报告知我们那艘船正在下沉。

4 organisation   

n.组织，安排，团体，有机休

参考例句：

• The method of his organisation work is worth commending.他的组织工作的方法值得称道。
• His application for membership of the organisation was rejected.他想要加入该组织的申请遭到了拒绝。

5 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

6 millennium   

n.一千年，千禧年；太平盛世

参考例句：

• The whole world was counting down to the new millennium.全世界都在倒计时迎接新千年的到来。
• We waited as the clock ticked away the last few seconds of the old millennium.我们静候着时钟滴答走过千年的最后几秒钟。

7 guidelines   

n.指导方针，准则

参考例句：

• The government has drawn up guidelines on the treatment of the mentally ill. 政府制订了对待精神病人的指导方针。
• Planners seem a little uncomfortable with the current government guidelines. 规划师似乎不太接受现行的政府指道方针。

8 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。

9 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。