VOA标准英语2011-Holy Land Enjoys Record Year of Tourism i

The Holy Land enjoyed a flood of visitors last year, which benefited Israelis and Palestinians alike.

It was a record year for tourism in Israel thanks to a lull¹ in violence. There were 3.45 million visitors in 2010, 14 percent more than the previous record two years ago.

Mark Feldman, who heads the Israeli travel agency Zion Tours, says tourism is booming.

"More and more flights... that's the biggest reason we are breaking 3 million for the first time," said Feldman. "We have charter flights from London, from Copenhagen, all over. We have conferences, congresses, delegations². It's bringing in $20 billion of revenue."

Most of the visitors were Jews and Evangelical Christians⁴. Some 625,000 Americans came, more than any other country.

Richard Martin of Atlanta, Georgia said he decided⁵ to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, because the security situation has improved.

"It's wonderful being in Israel, just knowing that you're in the place where Jesus walked and lived and ministered for the three years. And we feel perfectly⁶ safe," said Martin.

Many Christian³ tourists are also visiting two biblical towns under Palestinian control, Bethlehem and Jericho, both of which welcomed a record number of people in 2010. Some 1.5 million tourists visited Jesus' traditional birthplace in Bethlehem, 50 percent more than the previous year.

Bethlehem businessman Ibrahim Salah says it is a boost to the Palestinian economy.

"We want business," said Salah. "This is what we want, you know, to bring food to the table to our children and our families. I mean when you have lots of people then usually you have good business."

But the boom in tourism is fragile, especially because the Middle East peace process is deadlocked⁷ over Israel's expansion of Jewish settlements. Israelis and Palestinians are well aware that in the recent past, eruptions⁸ of violence have scared the tourists away.

1 lull   

v.使安静，使入睡，缓和，哄骗；n.暂停，间歇

参考例句：

• The drug put Simpson in a lull for thirty minutes.药物使辛普森安静了30分钟。
• Ground fighting flared up again after a two-week lull.经过两个星期的平静之后，地面战又突然爆发了。

2 delegations   

n.代表团( delegation的名词复数 )；委托，委派

参考例句：

• In the past 15 years, China has sent 280 women delegations abroad. 十五年来，中国共派280批妇女代表团出访。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• The Sun Ray decision follows the federal pattern of tolerating broad delegations but insisting on safeguards. “阳光”案的判决仿效联邦容许广泛授权的做法，但又坚持保护措施。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法

3 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

4 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

7 deadlocked   

陷入僵局的；僵持不下的

参考例句：

• The plan deadlocked over the funds. 这个计划由于经费问题而搁浅了。
• The meeting deadlocked over the wage issue. 会议因工资问题而停顿下来。

8 eruptions   

n.喷发，爆发( eruption的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There have been several volcanic eruptions this year. 今年火山爆发了好几次。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Over 200 people have been killed by volcanic eruptions. 火山喷发已导致200多人丧生。 来自辞典例句