VOA标准英语2012--Jamaican Plan to Abandon Queen Raises Questions

Jamaican Plan to Abandon Queen Raises Questions

Independence
Jamaica is celebrating 50 years of independence from Britain. At her inaugural¹ address, newly elected Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller² said the anniversary provides an opportunity for Jamaica.
"As we celebrate our achievements as an independent nation we need to complete the circle of independence," said Miller. "In this regard we will initiate³ the process of our detachment from the monarchy⁴, to become a republic with our own indigenous⁵ president as head of state."
Analysts⁶ say many Jamaicans see little point in retaining the Queen as head of state; it gives them no automatic right to British citizenship⁷. There is lingering anger over Britain's role in the slave trade.
Reaction
Richard Fitzwilliams, an expert on the monarchy, says the Jamaican prime minister's announcement was met with surprise in Britain.
"The republican movement in the Caribbean, one thinks of Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago, there are precedents⁸ for it," he said. "Equally Jamaica has a history of being very pro-monarchy. I suspect that this is something to do with the political infighting there. I would be surprised if it was actually put to the people, that you would be definitely sure that you would get a vote for a republic."
Along with Britain, Queen Elizabeth is the head of state of 16 other nations, known as realms. Her role is purely⁹ ceremonial.
She is also head of the Commonwealth¹⁰, an organization that rose from the ashes of Britain's Empire. Most of its 53 member countries are former colonies like Uganda, where the Queen visited in 2007.
Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams says last year's wedding between Prince William and Catherine Middleton, gave the Monarchy's image a boost.
"The British Royal Family is the world's most high profile," he said. "I do think that in the Commonwealth, where the Queen is head of 16 realms, the Monarchy is undoubtedly¹¹ at one of its peaks when it comes to popularity."
Relevance¹²
But questions are being raised over the Commonwealth's relevance.
"It must become proactive. There is a need to revitalize the Commonwealth countries," said Ajit Prakash, an Indian human rights activist¹³ and former chief justice of the Delhi High Court. "The regime today has not really been able to stop human rights violations¹⁴ in several countries which are members of the Commonwealth."
To mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee¹⁵, members of the Royal Family will tour Commonwealth countries later this year. Prince Harry¹⁶ will visit Jamaica. By then, the country could be well on its way to abandoning his grandmother as its head of state.

1 inaugural   

adj.就职的；n.就职典礼

参考例句：

• We listened to the President's inaugural speech on the radio yesterday.昨天我们通过无线电听了总统的就职演说。
• Professor Pearson gave the inaugural lecture in the new lecture theatre.皮尔逊教授在新的阶梯讲堂发表了启用演说。

2 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

3 initiate   

vt.开始，创始，发动；启蒙，使入门；引入

参考例句：

• A language teacher should initiate pupils into the elements of grammar.语言老师应该把基本语法教给学生。
• They wanted to initiate a discussion on economics.他们想启动一次经济学讨论。

4 monarchy   

n.君主，最高统治者；君主政体，君主国

参考例句：

• The monarchy in England plays an important role in British culture.英格兰的君主政体在英国文化中起重要作用。
• The power of the monarchy in Britain today is more symbolical than real.今日英国君主的权力多为象徵性的，无甚实际意义。

5 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。

6 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

7 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

8 precedents   

引用单元； 范例( precedent的名词复数 )； 先前出现的事例； 前例； 先例

参考例句：

• There is no lack of precedents in this connection. 不乏先例。
• He copied after bad precedents. 他仿效恶例。

9 purely   

adv.纯粹地，完全地

参考例句：

• I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
• This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。

10 commonwealth   

n.共和国，联邦，共同体

参考例句：

• He is the chairman of the commonwealth of artists.他是艺术家协会的主席。
• Most of the members of the Commonwealth are nonwhite.英联邦的许多成员国不是白人国家。

11 undoubtedly   

adv.确实地，无疑地

参考例句：

• It is undoubtedly she who has said that.这话明明是她说的。
• He is undoubtedly the pride of China.毫无疑问他是中国的骄傲。

12 relevance   

n.中肯，适当，关联，相关性

参考例句：

• Politicians' private lives have no relevance to their public roles.政治家的私生活与他们的公众角色不相关。
• Her ideas have lost all relevance to the modern world.她的想法与现代社会完全脱节。

13 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。

14 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

15 jubilee   

n.周年纪念；欢乐

参考例句：

• They had a big jubilee to celebrate the victory.他们举行盛大的周年纪念活动以祝贺胜利。
• Every Jubilee,to take the opposite case,has served a function.反过来说，历次君主巡幸，都曾起到某种作用。

16 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。