2007年VOA标准英语-South Africa's ANC Celebrates 95th Anniversary

By Scott Bobb
Johannesburg
15 January 2007

Leaders of South Africa's ruling African National Congress Saturday made a strong display of unity¹ at celebrations marking the party's 95th birthday. President Thabo Mbeki, addressing what is due to be his last anniversary rally as party president, ignored a succession battle raging behind the scenes and told party members to focus on eliminating poverty and underdevelopment. Correspondent Scott Bobb reports from Johannesburg.

 
President Thabo Mbeki adressing his ruling African National Congress party supporters at the party's 95th anniversary in the eastern town of Witbank, 13 Jan 2007
South African President Thabo Mbeki danced on stage with senior leaders of the African National Congress in a show of unity aimed at countering reports of an intensifying² and sometimes bitter fight to succeed him.

Mr. Mbeki did not mention the succession battle that is reported almost daily in the news media. He said only that the task ahead is to strengthen the party's alliance with trade unions and South Africa's Communist Party, which has been marked by many public disputes in recent months.

He said, "We must prove that all of these people who are very fond of making predictions that the alliance is about to collapse³, that they are wrong."

Mr. Mbeki is due to step down as A.N.C. president at its national convention later this year. The person chosen to replace him is widely expected to be the party's candidate in presidential elections in two years.

Former Deputy President Jacob Zuma was touted⁴ to be the next leader, but he was fired two years ago, after being charged with involvement in a corrupt⁵ arms deal. He was acquitted⁶ on a technicality.

 
Minister of Defence Terror Lekota (L), President Thabo Mbeki (C) and African National Congress party Deputy President Jacob Zuma (R) during party's 95th anniversary, 13 Jan 2007
Zuma, a former guerrilla leader who is popular with trade unions and the party's youth wing, remains⁷ deputy-head of the party, however, and a contender for the presidency⁸.

A half dozen other party leaders, including Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and several senior cabinet ministers, are also mentioned frequently along with several former politicians who are now wealthy businessmen. All deny they are competing for the job. Some people are calling for Mr. Mbeki to stand for an unprecedented⁹ third term in order to defuse the situation.

The jockeying to succeed Mr. Mbeki has aggravated¹⁰ what analysts¹¹ say are deepening divisions over the direction of the party.

The president, a moderate, has pursued policies promoting private investment and economic growth.

But he has been accused by trade unions and left-leaning party factions¹² of favoring business and the elite¹³ at the expense of the millions of South Africans living in poverty.

Mr. Mbeki appeared to acknowledge this challenge by saying that the primary goal during the next five years is to provide jobs, education, and opportunity for the masses.

"Our central task during this phase of the national democratic revolution is to liberate¹⁴ our people from the scourge¹⁵ of poverty in all its manifestations¹⁶ and eliminate all of its options," he said.

South African commentators¹⁷ note the African National Congress retains a great deal of cohesion¹⁸, part of the legacy¹⁹ from the decades of fighting apartheid.

But they say that the party is beginning to show some decay after being the dominant²⁰ party for so long. And they conclude that the upcoming leadership transition will be an important test for Africa's oldest liberation movement.

1 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

2 intensifying   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的现在分词 )；增辉

参考例句：

• The allies are intensifying their air campaign. 联军部队正加大他们的空战强度。 来自辞典例句
• The rest of the European powers were in a state of intensifying congestion. 其余的欧洲强国则处于越来越拥挤的状态。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史

3 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

4 touted   

v.兜售( tout的过去式和过去分词 )；招揽；侦查；探听赛马情报

参考例句：

• She's being touted as the next leader of the party. 她被吹捧为该党的下一任领导人。
• People said that he touted for his mother and sister. 据说，他给母亲和姐姐拉生意。 来自辞典例句

5 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

6 acquitted   

宣判…无罪( acquit的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（自己）作出某种表现

参考例句：

• The jury acquitted him of murder. 陪审团裁决他谋杀罪不成立。
• Five months ago she was acquitted on a shoplifting charge. 五个月前她被宣判未犯入店行窃罪。

7 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

8 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

9 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

10 aggravated   

使恶化( aggravate的过去式和过去分词 )； 使更严重； 激怒； 使恼火

参考例句：

• If he aggravated me any more I shall hit him. 假如他再激怒我，我就要揍他。
• Far from relieving my cough, the medicine aggravated it. 这药非但不镇咳，反而使我咳嗽得更厉害。

11 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

12 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别

13 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

14 liberate   

v.解放，使获得自由，释出，放出；vt.解放，使获自由

参考例句：

• They did their best to liberate slaves.他们尽最大能力去解放奴隶。
• This will liberate him from economic worry.这将消除他经济上的忧虑。

15 scourge   

n.灾难，祸害；v.蹂躏

参考例句：

• Smallpox was once the scourge of the world.天花曾是世界的大患。
• The new boss was the scourge of the inefficient.新老板来了以后，不称职的人就遭殃了。

16 manifestations   

n.表示，显示（manifestation的复数形式）

参考例句：

• These were manifestations of the darker side of his character. 这些是他性格阴暗面的表现。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• To be wordly-wise and play safe is one of the manifestations of liberalism. 明哲保身是自由主义的表现之一。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

17 commentators   

n.评论员( commentator的名词复数 )；时事评论员；注释者；实况广播员

参考例句：

• Sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 体育解说员翻来覆去说着同样的词语，真叫人腻烦。
• Television sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 电视体育解说员说来说去就是那么几句话，令人厌烦。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 cohesion   

n.团结，凝结力

参考例句：

• I had to bring some cohesion into the company.我得使整个公司恢复凝聚力。
• The power of culture is deeply rooted in the vitality,creativity and cohesion of a nation. 文化的力量，深深熔铸在民族的生命力、创造力和凝聚力之中。

19 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

20 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。