2007年VOA标准英语-Friday's G-8 Summit Talks to Focus on Africa

By Sonja Pace
Heiligendamm
07 June 2007

Leaders of the world's richest industrial nations wind up their three days of meetings in northern Germany on Friday.  Their last day is to be devoted¹ mostly to Africa - alleviation² of poverty, debt relief and aid.  VOA's Sonja Pace reports from near the G-8 summit site at Heiligendamm.

 "My name is Isiah, from Tanzania. I was born in Africa."

Seventeen-year old Isiah, is among a group of young people invited to address G-8 leaders in Heiligendamm. The issues raised, including poverty and HIV-AIDS, have been on everyone's lips.

G-8 leaders are seen during a working meeting in Heiligendamm June 7, 2007

Summit host, German Chancellor³ Angela Merkel said all along Africa would be a priority.

Mrs. Merkel spoke⁴ of general agreement on the need for greater assistance to Africa and urged a renewed commitment to make it happen.
 
U.S. President George Bush highlighted his government's $30 billion pledge to provide HIV/AIDS drugs for Africa and he called for a strong commitment from the G-8.

"I come with a deep desire to make sure that those suffering from HIV/AIDS on the continent of Africa know that they will get help from the G-8," Mr. Bush said.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said it is time to follow-up on aid commitments made by the G-8 in Gleneagles, Scotland two years ago.

"We have also got to focus on recommitting ourselves to the Gleneagles process on Africa, on making major steps forward there," he said.

Aid experts and activists⁶ say, however, a simple "re-commitment" is not enough.  South African anti-poverty activist⁵, Kumi Naidoo says the Gleneagles promises on aid and debt relief were modest at best and even these were not fully⁷ implemented⁸.  And he says he sees no sense of urgency to make this summit different.

"We want to just clarify that when we come here as Africans to the G-8 we are not coming to ask for charity, we are coming here to claim justice and the tone of the discussions [in the G-8] is lacking in inspiration, lacking in courage and lacking in leadership," Naidoo said.

Charles Abani, the Africa spokesman for the aid organization, Oxfam says the daily reality in Africa is grim.

"Four-thousand children dying every day from diarrhea ... 1,400 women dying of [child]birth-related complications in a world that technologically⁹ has really advanced.  This is really unacceptable. These are daily statistics of people dying in Africa and yet we sit here and wonder about promises. It is almost like moving from disbelief to anguish," said Abani.

Abani says fulfilling aid promises would cost only one additional dollar per person in G-8 countries.

 G-8 leaders have reached a compromise on tackling climate change.  Some see the agreement as substantial progress while others describe it as weak and ineffective.  Climate change, says Abani is not just an issue for wealthy nations - it affects Africa as well.

"Who is climate change going to affect worst and hardest?  Again, it is developing countries, again it is Africa. In Mozambique, the flood is every two or three years now and 200,000 people are displaced and rendered homeless. In Kenya, the floods used to come in cycles of 15 years, they come every other year now," said Abani.

Friday has been set aside to deal with African issues as G-8 leaders meet with the so-called Africa Outreach Group, which includes a number of African presidents, including Senegal's Abdoulaye Wade¹⁰, Nigeria's Umaru Yar'Adua and Ghana's John Kufuor.  

1 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

2 alleviation   

n. 减轻，缓和，解痛物

参考例句：

• These were the circumstances and the hopes which gradually brought alleviation to Sir Thomas's pain. 这些情况及其希望逐渐缓解了托马斯爵士的痛苦。
• The cost reduction achieved in this way will benefit patients and the society in burden alleviation. 集中招标采购降低的采购成本要让利于患者，减轻社会负担。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 口语

3 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

6 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

8 implemented   

v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革，经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句

9 technologically   

ad.技术上地

参考例句：

• Shanghai is a technologically advanced city. 上海是中国的一个技术先进的城市。
• Many senior managers are technologically illiterate. 许多高级经理都对技术知之甚少。

10 wade   

v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉

参考例句：

• We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
• We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。