新西兰英语 662 New Zealand and US navy will work together

 　　Twenty-five years ago, in 1987, New Zealand became nuclear-free. The Nuclear-Free Act was passed by the Labour government when David Lange was the Prime¹ Minister. The Act would not allow any ships which were nuclear powered or had nuclear weapons to enter our ports. As a result of that, the US could not bring any of its military ships into New Zealand. Before that, our country had been on friendly terms with the US who sometimes wanted to bring ships here for their crew to have a break from being at sea. The US therefore refused to allow New Zealand navy² ships to visit any US military facilities around the world.

　　Last Friday, this policy changed. The US Defence Secretary, Leon Panetta, visited New Zealand and said the US would be happy to work with the New Zealand navy and would allow our ships to visit US military ports.

　　The background to the nuclear-free policy was partly because of the French nuclear tests in the Pacific in the 1970s and 80s. New Zealanders were strongly opposed to these tests. Listen to July 9th 2010 to hear about the nuclear tests and the bombing of the Greenpeace ship, The Rainbow Warrior³.

　　Now, however, the US is more interested in the Asia-Pacific region⁴. Leon Panetta has just visited China and Japan. New Zealand also is more interested in working with the US. We have sent 180 soldiers to Afghanistan since 2009. Ten of these have been killed, five in last month including the first New Zealand woman soldier. We now share some of the pain with the US.

　　Grammar

　　?Past perfect tense – ‘Before that, our country had been on friendly terms with the US’. We use past perfect to show one action happened in the past before another action in the past. However, it is not a common tense and in speaking we often use simple past, especially if there is a time expression like ‘before that’.

　　?Present perfect tense – ‘We have sent 180 soldiers … since 2009.’ This started in 2009 and continues today.

　　Vocabulary

　　?An Act is a law passed by Parliament⁵

　　?facilities – ports and buildings

　　?policy – government beliefs and action

　　?oppose (to) – against

　　Questions

　　1.Why is the US more interested in the Asia Pacific region today?

　　2.Why is New Zealand interested in a friendship with the US?

1 prime   

adj.首要的，主要的；最好的，第一流的

参考例句：

• The prime minister spoke of the general insecurity in the country.总理谈到了全国普遍存在的不安全。
• He met with the Prime Minister of Japan for an hour.他和日本首相会见了一个小时。

2 navy   

n.海军，海军人员，海军军力，藏青色

参考例句：

• My brother is in the navy.我兄弟在海军服役。
• He has transferred from the army to the navy.他从陆军转到海军。

3 warrior   

n.勇士，武士，斗士

参考例句：

• The young man is a bold warrior.这个年轻人是个很英勇的武士。
• A true warrior values glory and honor above life.一个真正的勇士珍视荣誉胜过生命。

4 region   

n.地区，地带，区域；范围，幅度

参考例句：

• The students went to study the geology of that region.学生们去研究那个地区的地质情况。
• It is unusual to see snow in this region.这个地区难得见到雪。

5 Parliament   

n.议会，国会

参考例句：

• She won a seat in Parliament at the election.她在选举中赢得了议会中的席位。
• The drug was banned by an act of parliament.议会的法案明令禁止该药品。