VOA常速英语2008年-Bush Departs on Five-Nation Africa Tour

By Michael Bowman
White House
15 February 2008

President Bush has embarked¹ on a five-nation trip to Africa to promote democratic reform and economic advancement², and to review progress made in fighting disease. From the White House, VOA's Michael Bowman reports.

For years, critics of U.S. foreign policy under President Bush have complained that the United States has focused on Iraq and Afghanistan to the virtual exclusion³ of the rest of the world. Not so say administration officials, and they point to Africa as a key example of positive U.S. engagement in the developing world.

In recent years, President Bush has directed billions of dollars in U.S. assistance to fighting HIV/AIDS and other diseases in Africa and elsewhere. The president says those funds are producing concrete results, which he will highlight in coming days as he visits Benin, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ghana and Liberia.

"The American people are compassionate⁴ people, decent people, who want to help moms deal with malaria⁵, or families deal with HIV/AIDS, and the need to feed the hungry," he said.

Mr. Bush was speaking at the White House before his departure.

The administration projects overall U.S. aid to Africa will double in 2010 from the levels recorded just four years ago. In addition to fighting disease, the United States is focusing on trade initiatives and economic growth programs, debt relief, food assistance, and efforts to promote primary education.

President Bush has also spoken out on the massive bloodletting in Sudan's Darfur region, and called for an end to violence in Kenya.

1 embarked   

乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事

参考例句：

• We stood on the pier and watched as they embarked. 我们站在突码头上目送他们登船。
• She embarked on a discourse about the town's origins. 她开始讲本市的起源。

2 advancement   

n.前进，促进，提升

参考例句：

• His new contribution to the advancement of physiology was well appreciated.他对生理学发展的新贡献获得高度赞赏。
• The aim of a university should be the advancement of learning.大学的目标应是促进学术。

3 exclusion   

n.拒绝，排除，排斥，远足，远途旅行

参考例句：

• Don't revise a few topics to the exclusion of all others.不要修改少数论题以致排除所有其他的。
• He plays golf to the exclusion of all other sports.他专打高尔夫球，其他运动一概不参加。

4 compassionate   

adj.有同情心的，表示同情的

参考例句：

• She is a compassionate person.她是一个有同情心的人。
• The compassionate judge gave the young offender a light sentence.慈悲的法官从轻判处了那个年轻罪犯。

5 malaria   

n.疟疾

参考例句：

• He had frequent attacks of malaria.他常患疟疾。
• Malaria is a kind of serious malady.疟疾是一种严重的疾病。