VOA常速英语2007-S. African Reggae Star Lucky Dube Killed in Atte

By Scott Bobb
Johannesburg
19 October 2007

South African Reggae star Lucky Dube has been killed in an apparent car-jacking attempt. The 43-year-old musician was shot Thursday night in a suburb south of Johannesburg. Correspondent Scott Bobb reports from our bureau there.

South African police say the renowned¹ Reggae musician was shot by three gunmen as he dropped off his son in the Rosettenville suburb of Johannesburg.

Police spokesperson Lorraine Van Emmerick told national radio that Lucky Dube's daughter also witnessed the shooting.

"He was hijacked². He was able to flee from the scene," said Van Emmerick. "His children were out of the vehicle at the time Mr. Dube was shot. He was declared dead at the scene by the paramedics."

Lucky Dube achieved world fame through music with a social message such as this 2003 song about the ravages³ of AIDS, called "Number in the Book."

He received some 20 awards during his 25-year career and was the first South African musician to be signed by the Motown recording⁴ label in the United States.

Born in 1964 to an impoverished⁵ family in northeastern Mpumalanga Province, Lucky Dube released his first album at the age of 18 years. He began his career performing the urbanized Zulu music called Mbaqanga. But he also recorded albums in Afrikaans, the language of the white minority.

Dube made his mark on the international scene with Reggae music and became one of the best-known African vocalists of the genre⁶.

His first Reggae album, Rastas Never Die, was banned by the apartheid government in the mid-1980s.

The spokesman for Dube's Gallo music label, Arnold Mabunda says Dube was one of the country's most successful musicians.

"He was one of the biggest contributors in the South African music industry. Yeah. And now we are saddened," said Mabunda.

South Africa has one of the highest murder rates in the world, with nearly 20,000 homicides last year.

Many of the killings⁷ occur during robberies and hijackings. These are common in a country where one-half of the population lives on less than $2 per day.

1 renowned   

adj.著名的，有名望的，声誉鹊起的

参考例句：

• He is one of the world's renowned writers.他是世界上知名的作家之一。
• She is renowned for her advocacy of human rights.她以提倡人权而闻名。

2 hijacked   

劫持( hijack的过去式和过去分词 )； 绑架； 拦路抢劫； 操纵（会议等，以推销自己的意图）

参考例句：

• The plane was hijacked by two armed men on a flight from London to Rome. 飞机在从伦敦飞往罗马途中遭到两名持械男子劫持。
• The plane was hijacked soon after it took off. 那架飞机起飞后不久被劫持了。

3 ravages   

劫掠后的残迹，破坏的结果，毁坏后的残迹

参考例句：

• the ravages of war 战争造成的灾难
• It is hard for anyone to escape from the ravages of time. 任何人都很难逃避时间的摧残。

4 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

5 impoverished   

adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化

参考例句：

• the impoverished areas of the city 这个城市的贫民区
• They were impoverished by a prolonged spell of unemployment. 他们因长期失业而一贫如洗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 genre   

n.(文学、艺术等的)类型，体裁，风格

参考例句：

• My favorite music genre is blues.我最喜欢的音乐种类是布鲁斯音乐。
• Superficially,this Shakespeare's work seems to fit into the same genre.从表面上看， 莎士比亚的这个剧本似乎属于同一类型。

7 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。