英语听力精选进阶版 14332

（单词翻译）

Nelson Mandela dies

Summary

6 December 2013

South Africa's first black president and anti-apartheid icon¹ Nelson Mandela has died at the age of 95. Mr Mandela led South Africa's transition from white-minority rule in the 1990s, after 27 years in prison for his political activities. He had been receiving intensive medical care at home for a lung infection after spending three months in hospital.

Reporter:

Mike Wooldridge, Johannesburg

Report

Nelson Mandela's death may, in the short term, unite South Africa in ways that have never been seen before.

The sentiments expressed by well-wishers of all races and backgrounds outside the hospital in Pretoria as he lay critically ill for nearly three months - the wall of deeply personal messages, the paintings, the choirs² who came from across the country to sing for Mr Mandela - were a reminder³ of his unifying⁴ influence. We can clearly expect so much more in the coming days in this country where the emotional charge is so powerful.

This unity⁵ may coalesce⁶ around a determination to push South Africa further down the road of non-racialism, of equality of opportunity and the eradication⁷ of poverty, all of them among Nelson Mandela's most cherished ambitions for the country.

But South Africa is only months away from a general election, 20 years after the historic one of 1994. And Nelson Mandela's ANC has been facing unprecedented⁸ levels of criticism, with new parties surfacing to challenge its hold on power since the days of apartheid.

Will the Mandela legacy⁹ help the ANC fend¹⁰ off the challenges, or will his passing - in the longer if not the shorter term - lead to significant change within the ANC itself. 2014 could point the way towards his political legacy.