(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
President Barack Obama will visit Cuba on March 21 and 22, the White House announced Thursday.
It will be the first time in nearly 90 years that a U.S. president visits Havana, the capital of the island nation.
Diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States have improved in the past 14 months. The countries have re-opened embassies, and commercial airlines will fly between the two countries soon.
Plus, the U.S. removed Cuba from its list of state sponsors of terrorism.
Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro have talked via telephone and have met in person twice. Obama will meet with Castro during the March visit. He will also meet with Cuban activists who work for social causes.
While normalizing relations, Obama said his administration promises to monitor Cuba's communist government on human rights issues.
"We still have differences with the Cuban government that I will raise directly," Obama wrote on Twitter. "America will always stand for human rights around the world."
The American presidency and Cuba had a sketchy relationship during the first half of the 20th century. President Calvin Coolidge visited Havana in 1928. President Harry Truman stopped by U.S.-controlled Guantanamo Bay and its naval base in 1948.
First Lady Michelle Obama will accompany the president on the Latin American trip. The Obamas will travel to Argentina after Cuba.
I'm Jim Dresbach.
词汇解释
1.sponsor n. 赞助者；主办者；保证人 vt. 赞助；发起
Dozens of companies, including Hewlett-Packard, are sponsoring the event.
包括惠普在内的许多公司都在赞助这项赛事。
2.via prep. 渠道，通过；经由
We drove via Lovech to the old Danube town of Ruse.
我们驱车经由洛维奇去了多瑙河畔的古城鲁塞。
3.cause n. 原因；事业；目标；奋斗目标 vt. 引起；使遭受
Refusing to have one leader has not helped the cause.
拒绝接受领导无益于该事业。
4.sketchy adj. 写生风格的；写生的；概略的
Details of what actually happened are still sketchy.
究竟发生了什么，细节仍旧不详。
内容解析
1.Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro have talked via telephone and have met in person twice.
in person 亲身;亲自 [亦作 in one's own person]；外貌上；身体上
She went to New York to receive the award in person.
她亲自前往纽约领奖。
It was the first time she had seen him in person.
这是她第一次见到他本人。
2."We still have differences with the Cuban government that I will raise directly," Obama wrote on Twitter. "America will always stand for human rights around the world."
stand for 代表；支持；象征；担任…的候选人
The party is trying to give the impression that it alone stands for democracy.
该党正企图让人觉得只有它才代表民主。
He stood for the cause of liberty and justice.
他为自由和正义的事业而奋斗。
3.President Harry Truman stopped by U.S.-controlled Guantanamo Bay and its naval base in 1948.
stop by 顺便访问；停在…近旁
Perhaps I'll stop by the hospital.
也许我会顺便去趟那家医院。
Pay attention not to stop by the gate.
注意千万别靠近大门。
参考译文
白宫周四宣布巴拉克·奥巴马总统将于3月21日到22日期间访问古巴。
这将是近90年来美国总统首次访问这个岛国的首都哈瓦那。
过去14个月来古巴和美国的外交关系有所改善，两国重开使馆，两国之间的商业航班很快就要运营。
另外，美国将古巴从恐怖主义赞助国名单中移去。
奥巴马和古巴国家主席劳尔·卡斯特罗曾电话通话过，还面谈过两次。奥巴马将在3月份的访问中与卡斯特罗会面，还还将与从事社会事业的古巴活动人士们会面。
尽管两国恢复了关系，但奥巴马说美国政府还将监督古巴共产党政府的人权问题。
奥巴马发表推文称：“我们与古巴政府还存在分歧，我会直接指出的，美国将永远捍卫世界各地的人权。”
20世纪上半页美国总统和古巴保持了简单的关系，凯文·柯立芝总统1928年访问哈瓦那，哈里·杜鲁门总统1948年顺路访问了美国控制下的关塔那摩湾和海军基地。
第一夫人米歇尔·奥巴马将陪伴总统进行这次拉美之旅，奥巴马夫妇在访问古巴后将前往阿根廷。
我是吉姆·德雷斯巴赫。
