新西兰英语 189 Whanganui

　　Today, the Geographic¹ Board decided² that the town of Wanganui should be spelt with an “h”: Whanganui. This will make it the same as the river which flows through the town. The port is on the mouth of the river. The town is on the west coast of the North Island, about 200km north of Wellington.
This decision has annoyed the mayor³, Michael Laws. He says that this is the way the town has spelt the name for the last 170 years so it should stay this way. In a referendum of local people recently, 77% said they wanted the spelling to stay the same.
However, the local Maori say that a mistake was made 170 years ago and it’s time the mistake was corrected. “Wanga” has no meaning in Maori. “Whanga”, however, means bay or harbour and “nui” means “large”.
Now the Minister for Land Information, Maurice Williamson, has to make the final decision. Whatever he decides, will not please everybody.
Listen also to April 22nd 2009 NZ Place Names

1 geographic   

adj.地理学的，地理的

参考例句：

• The city's success owes much to its geographic position. 这座城市的成功很大程度上归功于它的地理位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Environmental problems pay no heed to these geographic lines. 环境问题并不理会这些地理界限。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 mayor   

n.市长

参考例句：

• The new mayor said he would clean the city up.新市长说，他要整顿本市。
• The mayor hurried into his office,brushing off the reporters.市长赶快走进办公室，拒不接见记者。