新西兰英语 51 Pacific Islands Forum

　　The Prime Minister, Helen Clark, is attending the 39th Pacific Islands Forum¹. This year, it is being held on Nuie, a small Pacific island with a population of only about 1,500 people.
The annual forum started in 1971 and there are now 16 member countries. They include Australia and New Zealand – two important members because they provide financial aid and they help with peace-keeping when there are problems on these islands. In the last few years, New Zealand has sent soldiers and police to Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Nauru and Tonga. In 2004, New Zealand gave $20 million to help Nuie recover after a hurricane.
Most of these Pacific countries are poor and cannot survive without aid. In the last few years, New Zealand has given short-term visas to workers from countries so that they can help with the harvests in our vineyards and orchards². These workers need the money to send home to help their families. Last week, some workers from Kiribati were sent home early because of a problem with their employer who said they did not work well. They were pruning³ vines in the vineyards in Marlborough, around Blenheim, but the weather was very cold. They are used to hot weather in their home country. They also had very poor living conditions with 22 people living in one 3-bedroom house. Australia has just announced that they will follow New Zealand’s idea of short-term visas for workers from Pacific Islands to pick fruit and vegetables; however, they will be careful to provide good living and working conditions.
Three items that concern members of the forum during this meeting are: global warming, the high cost of food and fuel, and relations with Fiji. Commodore Frank Bainimarama did not arrive at the forum. Members think he boycotted⁴ the forum because last year he promised the members that he would hold democratic elections by March 2009; however, now he says that is too early.
Global warming is a concern because the members are worried about rising sea levels and because of the increase in storms which cause so much damage.

1 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

2 orchards   

（通常指围起来的）果园( orchard的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They turned the hills into orchards and plains into granaries. 他们把山坡变成了果园，把平地变成了粮仓。
• Some of the new planted apple orchards have also begun to bear. 有些新开的苹果园也开始结苹果了。

3 pruning   

n.修枝，剪枝，修剪v.修剪（树木等）( prune的现在分词 )；精简某事物，除去某事物多余的部分

参考例句：

• In writing an essay one must do a lot of pruning. 写文章要下一番剪裁的工夫。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• A sapling needs pruning, a child discipline. 小树要砍，小孩要管。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 boycotted   

抵制，拒绝参加( boycott的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Athletes from several countries boycotted the Olympic Games. 有好几国的运动员抵制奥林匹克运动会。
• The opposition party earlier boycotted the Diet agenda, demanding Miyaji's resignation. 反对党曾杯葛国会议程，要宫路下台。