VOA标准英语2012--Jamaican Plan to Abandon Queen Raises Questions
时间：2019-01-13 作者：英语课 分类：VOA标准英语2012年(一月)
Jamaican Plan to Abandon Queen Raises Questions
Independence
Jamaica is celebrating 50 years of independence from Britain. At her inaugural 1 address, newly elected Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller 2 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 initiate 3 the process of our detachment from the monarchy 4, to become a republic with our own indigenous 5 president as head of state."
Analysts 6 say many Jamaicans see little point in retaining the Queen as head of state; it gives them no automatic right to British citizenship 7. 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 precedents 8 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 purely 9 ceremonial.
She is also head of the Commonwealth 10, 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 undoubtedly 11 at one of its peaks when it comes to popularity."
Relevance 12
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 activist 13 and former chief justice of the Delhi High Court. "The regime today has not really been able to stop human rights violations 14 in several countries which are members of the Commonwealth."
To mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee 15, members of the Royal Family will tour Commonwealth countries later this year. Prince Harry 16 will visit Jamaica. By then, the country could be well on its way to abandoning his grandmother as its head of state.
- 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。
- 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。
- 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。
- 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。
- 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。
- 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。
- 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。
- There is no lack of precedents in this connection. 不乏先例。
- He copied after bad precedents. 他仿效恶例。
- 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。
- 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。
- 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。
- 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。
- 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。
- 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。
- 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。