VOA常速英语2008年-Zimbabwe Presidential Challenger Outlines Platf

By Peta Thornycroft
13 February 2008

Zimbabwe's former finance minister Simba Makoni, who was expelled from the ruling ZANU-PF Tuesday after announcing his candidacy in next months presidential election, has spelled out elements of his election manifesto¹. Peta Thornycroft reports for VOA from Zimbabwe.

Simba Makoni, who formally signs on as a presidential candidate Friday, has invigorated the political environment, especially in the main urban centers of Harare and Bulawayo.

Makoni offered a message of renewal² at a news conference in Harare, where he spelled out a vision of a Zimbabwe under his leadership. He said he would end the tradition of government hand-outs and allow people to reassert their independence from the state.

"I will not promise to do this or to give this to the people, instead I will promise to facilitate and enable the people to do things for themselves, to do things for their families, their businesses, to do things for their communities and indeed do things for this lovely country of ours," he said. "We will remove the impediments that inhibit³ the people of Zimbabwe doing things for themselves, we will facilitate people to remove themselves from the bondage⁴ of dependency."

Makoni said Zimbabwe's crisis is not irreversible, but that a new administration, which he said he will win with a landslide⁵ victory, would establish an authority for national re-engagement, renewal, and reconciliation⁶.

President Mugabe began seizing white-owned farms in 2000, which economists⁷ say is the main reason for the collapsed⁸ economy and the world's highest inflation rate. For decades commercial agriculture exported food to the region and produced more than 40 percent of Zimbabwe's annual foreign currency revenues. Now millions depend on food hand-outs.

Makoni said that 2008 is the eighth consecutive⁹ year of agricultural failure.

"The land is a strategic national resource, let me also say our land is not unique, it is not different from the land of any other country or nation, our land is not an ornament¹⁰ for beautification, our land it is not a fetish for reverence¹¹, the land is a source [of] empowerment, it is an asset for income generation and eradication¹² of poverty, our land is a tool for social development and empowerment," he said.

He said Zimbabwe needs land reform more urgently than ever before, and that seizure¹³ of land to redress¹⁴ the wrongs of the colonial era alone did not represent agrarian¹⁵ reform. He said land acquisition and redistribution needs to be undertaken in an equitable¹⁶ and fair manner.

None of the senior members of the ruling ZANU-PF have come out in support of Simba Makoni, but sources close to him insist there is such support. Some politicians who pulled out of ZANU-PF as it clamped down on freedoms have said they will stand as independent candidates for the legislature.

1 manifesto   

n.宣言，声明

参考例句：

• I was involved in the preparation of Labour's manifesto.我参与了工党宣言的起草工作。
• His manifesto promised measures to protect them.他在宣言里保证要为他们采取保护措施。

2 renewal   

adj.(契约)延期，续订，更新，复活，重来

参考例句：

• Her contract is coming up for renewal in the autumn.她的合同秋天就应该续签了。
• Easter eggs symbolize the renewal of life.复活蛋象征新生。

3 inhibit   

vt.阻止，妨碍，抑制

参考例句：

• Don't let ego and greed inhibit clear thinking and hard work.不要让自我和贪婪妨碍清晰的思维和刻苦的工作。
• They passed a law to inhibit people from parking in the street.他们通过一项法令以阻止人们在街上停车。

4 bondage   

n.奴役，束缚

参考例句：

• Masters sometimes allowed their slaves to buy their way out of bondage.奴隶主们有时允许奴隶为自己赎身。
• They aim to deliver the people who are in bondage to superstitious belief.他们的目的在于解脱那些受迷信束缚的人。

5 landslide   

n.(竞选中)压倒多数的选票；一面倒的胜利

参考例句：

• Our candidate is predicated to win by a landslide.我们的候选人被预言将以绝对优势取胜。
• An electoral landslide put the Labour Party into power in 1945.1945年工党以压倒多数的胜利当选执政。

6 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

7 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

9 consecutive   

adj.连续的，联贯的，始终一贯的

参考例句：

• It has rained for four consecutive days.已连续下了四天雨。
• The policy of our Party is consecutive.我党的政策始终如一。

10 ornament   

v.装饰，美化；n.装饰，装饰物

参考例句：

• The flowers were put on the table for ornament.花放在桌子上做装饰用。
• She wears a crystal ornament on her chest.她的前胸戴了一个水晶饰品。

11 reverence   

n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬

参考例句：

• He was a bishop who was held in reverence by all.他是一位被大家都尊敬的主教。
• We reverence tradition but will not be fettered by it.我们尊重传统，但不被传统所束缚。

12 eradication   

n.根除

参考例句：

• The eradication of an established infestation is not easy. 根除昆虫蔓延是不容易的。
• This is often required for intelligent control and eradication. 这经常需要灵巧的控制与消除。

13 seizure   

n.没收；占有；抵押

参考例句：

• The seizure of contraband is made by customs.那些走私品是被海关没收的。
• The courts ordered the seizure of all her property.法院下令查封她所有的财产。

14 redress   

n.赔偿，救济，矫正；v.纠正，匡正，革除

参考例句：

• He did all that he possibly could to redress the wrongs.他尽了一切努力革除弊端。
• Any man deserves redress if he has been injured unfairly.任何人若蒙受不公平的损害都应获得赔偿。

15 agrarian   

adj.土地的，农村的，农业的

参考例句：

• People are leaving an agrarian way of life to go to the city.人们正在放弃农业生活方式而转向城市。
• This was a feature of agrarian development in Britain.这是大不列颠土地所有制发展的一个特征。

16 equitable   

adj.公平的；公正的

参考例句：

• This is an equitable solution to the dispute. 这是对该项争议的公正解决。
• Paying a person what he has earned is equitable. 酬其应得,乃公平之事。