VOA常速英语2018--特朗普第一夫人出访非洲 宣传慈善活动（在线收听）

On her second day in Ghana, First Lady Melania Trump visited the Cape Coast Castle, one of about 40 “slave castles” built on the Gold Coast of West Africa by European traders.

出访加纳的第二天，第一夫人梅拉尼娅 特朗普（Melania Trump）来到了海岸角城堡。多位欧洲领导人在西非黄金海岸上建造了近40个“奴隶堡”，这里就是其中一个。

From Ghana, Mrs. Trump is scheduled to visit Malawi’s capital, Lilongwe, where many people who spoke to VOA didn’t know much about the trip.

第一夫人计划从加纳去往马拉维首都利隆圭。我台记者采访了利隆圭的百姓，其中很多人都说不知道美国第一夫人会出访此地。

Oh, no, I don’t know. You don’t know, you haven’t heard of it? Yes. But do you know anything about her? No, I just know that it’s the wife to the president of America. But this auto rickshaw driver looks forward to her visit. Whatever she can bring, if she can sit down with the leaders and to see what areas can she help. I am asking you all to join me today.

哦不，我不知道啊。您不知道吗？您一点都没听说吗？没错。但您是否对第一夫人有所了解呢？没了解，我只知道他是美国总统的第一夫人。但这位人力车司机很期待她的到来。无论她能带来什么，只要她能跟各位领导人同坐一起，看看自己在什么地方能帮上忙，就够了。我恳请大家加入我们。

Mrs. Trump is in Africa as part of her Be-Best campaign focusing on child wellness. I’m here with one goal, helping children and our next generation. I think this is an opportunity for the United States to show her more human, softer side. When you look at it, what she’s doing focusing on maternal and child care, focusing on education. It’s a much softer, softer issues, development issues. It’s essentially a very conventional, you know, paint-by-the-numbers trip for a first lady that her predecessors had done similar trips. President Donald Trump has been criticized for his past reported disparaging comments about African countries.

第一夫人出访非洲是为了助力“成为最好”的活动，该活动主要着力于儿童健康。我来这儿是带着目标的，那就是帮助儿童，帮助我们的下一代。我认为这是个好机会，能让美国展现自己更为人道、更柔软的一面。大家稍加观察就会发现，美国所做的事都是为了关爱母婴健康，关注教育。美国关注的是更加柔软的领域，是发展领域。这是历来第一夫人的惯例，梅拉尼娅的前任第一夫人们也都有过类似的出访经历。总统唐纳德 特朗普（Donald Trump）一直备受苛责，因为此前有报道称梅拉尼娅对非洲国家有过轻蔑言论。

Joshua Meservey from the Heritage Foundation says, Mrs. Trump’s visit should not be expected to counter her husband’s rhetoric. People understand that she’s the first lady. She’s not an elected US government official. She’s a representative, of course, but you know she first ladies have this unique position within administrations, and so I think that people will understand that this is a goodwill tour, that this is designed just to highlight her personal priorities around this Be-Best campaign. Countries like Malawi depend on American aid programs.

传统基金会的乔舒亚（Joshua Meservey）表示，梅拉尼娅此次出访不应该引发不利于其丈夫的言论。大家都知道她是第一夫人，她并不是选举上来的美国官员。当然，她代表着美国，但大家都知道，凡事第一夫人都在美国政府中扮演着这种独特的角色。所以，我们觉得大家都会把梅拉尼娅的此次出访理解为亲善之行，理解为梅拉尼娅要在“成为最好”活动中凸显自己想要强调的重点。马拉维等国家都要依靠美国的援助项目。

USAID programs in Africa were slated for significant cuts in the Trump administration’s proposed budget, but had been blocked by Congress. Despite 50 years of peaceful independence, Malawi remains one of the poorest nations in the world, with more than half of 17 million population living below the poverty line. The first lady’s visit is expected to highlight the Trump administration support through its USAID programs before she continues her trip to Kenya and Egypt.

美国国际开发署（USAID）在非洲的多个项目之所以能实行，是因为特朗普政府对预算做了削减，但削减预算的提案受到了国会的阻挠。虽然已经和平独立了50年，马拉维一直都是世界上最穷困的国家，其中有半数以上的民众，即1700万人都生活在贫困县以下。有人预计梅拉尼娅此行会凸显特朗普政府通过美国国际开发署的多个项目所提供的支持，虽然梅拉尼娅的行程还没到肯尼亚和埃及。