VOA标准英语2011--Former British Prime Minister Calls for

Former British Prime Minister Calls for Increased Investment in Sierra Leone

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said he came to Sierra Leone to follow up on his initiatives to help the country.
"This is all part of the initiative we have here in Sierra Leone working alongside the President and his team to support them in their work in their priorities," said Blair. "Some of those priorities have to do with health care some to do with agriculture and energy, and of course investments and business. We want more businesses to come into Sierra Leone to base themselves here to create jobs to create health for the people because we need to get the living standards of the country lifted."
Mr Blair told investors¹ the time is right to explore Africa.
"My message is come and invest," said the former prime minister, "but to do so in a good way in a way that would help us with the development of the country. Iinvestment has got to be open and transparent² and proper. Tthere are fantastic opportunities here. This is part of what's happening in Africa more generally today. You know you see this in everywhere in Africa right now there is a buzz about it and an energy and we got to convert that into practical business and jobs and development."
The former British Prime Minister said he is also looking at ways the religious community can join in the fight against malaria³.
"My other charitable foundation is about the religious interfaith [community]. What we're doing is meeting the representatives of the Christian⁴ and Muslim communities. This is part of a project where we fight malaria by mobilizing the resources and the infrastructure⁵ of the faith community so that people know how to tackle malaria, how to use the bed nets that are made available to them, how to take the right drugs how to seek the most appropriate treatment."
He says his Africa Governance Initiative is training what he calls "faith ambassadors" who trainmembers of their congregations to help teach 20 families how to prevent malaria.
"So the idea," he said, "is you spread this out, and we hope to reach somewhere in the region of 70,000 families [by doing this] and if it works then we can start expanding this in different parts of Africa."
Mr Blair was also questioned about the recent bombings in Abuja, Nigeria. He said Mr Blair extremism is an issue that must be addressed.
"Well I was in Abuja a couple of days ago myself," he said. "I am very sorry for the people there and extend my sympathy to the country and to the people affected⁶. I am afraid this extremism is here in many parts of the world, and we've got to face up to it and we've got to deal with it."
Before leaving Sierra Leone, Mr Blair visited a nearly 4 million dollar juice factory in the country's first special economic zone near Freetown.

1 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

2 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

3 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。

4 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。

5 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

6 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。