(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
African Leaders Launch First Continental Trade Agreement
African leaders have officially launched a trade agreement for the entire continent.
The agreement is called the African Continental Free Trade Area. It removes tariffs on most goods in an effort to sharply increase trade within Africa. It is designed to unite 1.3 billion people under one market.
Leaders discussed "operational" parts of the agreement at a recent gathering of the African Union in Niger. The deal had been under discussion since 2002 and a general agreement to form the trade area was reached in March.
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari signed the agreement for his country - Africa's largest economy – on Sunday. Benin also signed on to the agreement during the African Union meeting.
The head of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, praised the completion of the deal. "An old dream is coming true, the founding fathers must be proud," he said.
Niger's President Mahamadou Issoufou called it "the greatest historical event for the African continent since the creation of the Organization of African Unity in 1963." That organization was replaced by the African Union in 2002.
African Union Chairman and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi said "the eyes of the world are turned towards Africa" as the agreement was launched. He added that the success of the deal "will be the real test to achieve economic growth that will turn our people's dream of welfare and quality of life into a reality."
Economic experts have predicted the new free trade area could be worth $3.4 trillion dollars. They have said trade among African nations could rise as much as 60 percent in just three years.
But the experts have also noted that Africa still faces major difficulties that could prevent major financial gains. The difficulties include poor road and rail links, large areas of unrest, corruption and border restrictions.
With the latest signings of Nigeria and Benin, the trade area now includes 54 of Africa's 55 nations. The only remaining country, Eritrea, announced it will consider joining the agreement.
I'm Bryan Lynn.
重点解析
1.trade agreement 贸易协议
They contracted a trade agreement with Japan.
他们和日本订立了一项贸易协定。
2.economic growth 经济增长
High interest rates have stunted economic growth.
高利率已经阻碍了经济的增长。
3.general agreement 总体协议；全面协议
The strike will continue until general agreement is reached about pay and working conditions.
此次罢工将一直持续到就工资和工作条件问题达成全面协议的时候为止。
4.founding father 开国元勋
If economics has a founding father, it is smith.
如果说经济学有一位开山鼻祖的话，那就是斯密。
5.African Union Chairman and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi said "the eyes of the world are turned towards Africa" as the agreement was launched.
turned towards 转向；朝向
We changed our plans and turned towards Hunan.
我们改变了计划，折向湖南。
She looked drawn and tired when she turned towards me.
她转向我时看上去憔悴又疲惫。
6.It removes tariffs on most goods in an effort to sharply increase trade within Africa.
in an effort to 为了
Penny tended to work through her lunch hour in an effort to keep up with her work.
为了把活儿干完，彭妮常常午饭时间也要工作。
Mass burials are now under way in an effort to ward off an outbreak of cholera.
为防止霍乱爆发正在进行大规模掩埋。
参考译文
非洲大陆自贸区正式成立
非洲国家领导人正式启动了一项针对整个非洲大陆的贸易协议。
该协议被称为“非洲大陆自由贸易区协议”。该协议取消了大多数商品的关税，以大幅增加非洲内部的贸易。它旨在将13亿人团结在一个市场下。
最近在尼日尔举行的非洲联盟会议上，各国领导人讨论了该协议的“操作性”部分。自2002年以来，各方一直在讨论该协议，并于今年3月达成了一项形成该贸易区的总体协议。
周日，尼日利亚总统布哈里（Muhammadu Buhari）签署了这项协议。尼日利亚是非洲最大的经济体。贝宁在非洲联盟会议期间也签署了这项协议。
非洲联盟委员会主席穆萨·法基·马哈马特赞扬了这项协议的完成。他说：“一个古老的梦想正在实现，开国元勋们一定感到很自豪。”
尼日尔总统马哈马杜·伊素福（Mahamadou Issoufou）称，这是“自1963年非洲统一组织成立以来非洲大陆最伟大的历史事件”。该组织于2002年被非洲联盟取代。
非洲联盟主席、埃及总统塞西称，随着该协议的签署，“全球的目光都聚焦于非洲”。他补充说，该协议的成功“将是实现经济增长的真正考验，而经济增长将把我们人民对福利和生活质量的梦想变成现实。”
经济专家预测，新的自贸区协议可能价值3.4万亿美元。他们表示，非洲国家之间的贸易在短短三年内可能增长60%。
但专家们也指出，非洲仍然面临可能阻碍重大财政获益的大难题。其中包括糟糕的公路和铁路，大面积的动乱，腐败和边境限制。
随着尼日利亚和贝宁最近加入该协议，非洲55个国家中已有54个国家加入了该贸易区。唯一没加入的厄立特里亚宣布将考虑加入该协议。
布莱恩·林恩为您播报。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
