Tue, Apr 15, 2008 page14

• Rudd ruffles feathers, wows Chinese students陸克文引起眾怒，卻讓中國學生驚艷

  • • 
    • 
    • 

  For a former diplomat, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is drawing a lot of flak at home over his behavior with heads of state on his first major trip abroad. However, he may have redeemed himself in China.

  First he outraged the opposition by flipping a salute to US President George W. Bush; then he got in trouble for not bending his neck when he met Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II.

  Rudd’s behavior towards Bush was described as “conduct unbecoming of an Australian prime minister” and as carrying a “subservient connotation.”

  

  Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd gestures during a speech at Peking University, April 9, 2008. 澳洲總理陸克文四月九日在北大演講時以手勢示意。 照片：法新社

  PHOTO: AFP

  Days later, at an audience with the queen at Windsor Castle, Rudd failed to show her enough respect, conservative Senator George Brandis said last Wednesday.

  “It’s interesting that the prime minister of Australia doesn’t afford the appropriate formal courtesy to the person who is at least nominally Australia’s head of state, but makes this flamboyant and rather obsequious gesture to the president of the United States.”

  Rudd laughed off the original criticism of his salute to Bush at a NATO meeting in Bucharest, saying “it was just a joke.”

  Meanwhile Rudd impressed students last Wednesday with his flawless Chinese at China’s Peking University while leaving the audience laughing over quick witticisms on China’s history and culture.

  Although Rudd’s comments about “significant human rights problems in Tibet,” might draw ire from his hosts Premier Wen Jiabao and President Hu Jintao, China’s top students appeared unfazed.

  “I agreed with what he said,” said Li Yang, a graduate student in environmental sciences. “The Tibetan issue should be resolved without violence and through dialogue, this is correct.”

  A computer science graduate, surnamed Chen said “I enjoyed his discussion on how China needs to integrate with the world, this was very important ... his message was that everyone needs to deepen understanding and the first step is through language learning.”(Staff writer ,with afp)

  前外交官暨現任澳洲總理陸克文展開首場重要外交之旅，但他與其他各國元首的互動卻在家鄉引起一陣撻伐。然而，他或�?齒^自己在中國的名聲。

  一開始是他對美國總統布希舉手行禮的動作激怒了反對黨；接著他會晤英國女王伊麗莎白二世時沒有行鞠躬禮又招致批評。

  陸克文對布希行禮的舉動被形容為「有失澳洲總理身份」，感覺像是在「抱美國大腿」。

  保守派參議員喬治．布蘭迪上週三表示，幾天後，陸克文到溫莎堡覲見英女王時，竟未對女王展現出應有的尊敬。

  「有趣的是，澳洲總理沒對至少名義上是澳洲元首的英女王展現恰當的正式禮儀，卻對美國總統�?o個浮誇甚至相當阿諛諂媚的手勢。」

  陸克文對他在布加勒斯特舉行的北約峰會上對布希行禮所引來的批評一笑置之，並說：「那只是個玩笑。」

  同時，陸克文上週三在中國北京大學演講時，他流利的中文讓聽講的學生驚艷；談及中國歷史和文化時的妙語如珠也搏得哄堂大笑。

  即使他談到「西藏的人權問題值得我們關注」，可能會激怒東道主中國總理溫家寶和中國國家主席胡錦濤，但中國最高學府的學生似乎不以為忤。

  「我同意他說的，」一個環境科學研究所學生李揚（音譯）說：「西藏議題應該透過對談而非暴力手段解決，這點完全正確。」

  一位資訊科學系的陳姓畢業生說：「我很欣賞他對中國應如何融入全球的論述，這點相當重要…他傳遞的訊息是每個人都應該深入了解，而且第一步就是要透過語言學習。」（法新社�翻譯：袁星塵）

  For your information

  Today's Words今日單字

  1. subservient adj. 奉承的 (feng4 cheng2 de5) 例: Some bosses thrive on employing subservient rather than proactive staff. (有些老闆偏好雇用唯命是從的員工，而非個性積極主動者。) 2. nominally adv. 名義上 (ming2 yi4 shang4) 例: Dr Baker is nominally the head of the charity, but in actuality he doesn't really wield any power. (貝可博士名義上是該慈善單位的負責人，但事實上他並非掌權者。) 3. obsequious adj. 諂媚的 (chan3 mei4 de5) 例: Obsequious people can be very irritating. (諂媚者有時候非常討人厭。) 4. witticism n. 俏皮話 (qiao4 pi2 hua4) 例: Michael is known for his quick witticisms. (麥克的妙語如珠是出了名的。)

  For your information

  Reading Comprehension 閱讀測驗

  1. Senator George Brandis thinks that Rudd... a. showed too much respect for Queen Elizabeth II. b. showed too little respect for Queen Elizabeth II. c. should have shown more respect to Bush. 2. Who of the following is Australia’s head of state? a. George W. Bush. b. Kevin Rudd. c. Queen Elizabeth II. 3. Where was Rudd speaking on Wednesday? a. Windsor Castle. b. Bucharest. c. Peking University. 4. The students at Peking University appeared to... a. strongly disagree with Rudd. b. agree with Rudd. c. have difficulty understanding Rudd.

  For your information

  Say What?說說看

  draw ire 強烈激怒 If somebody draws somebody’s ire, he or she strongly displeases that person. Ire is stronger than anger. For example: “Freddie really drew Sally’s ire when he bullied Jasmine.” If someone draws many people’s ire, he or she might be said to have caused a ruckus. For example: “The senator caused a ruckus when he said that women shouldn’t hold high positions in the government.” Ire is similar to rage or fury, but rage and fury imply that the person feeling the emotion is being irrational on some level. 如果某人「draw somebody’s ire」，表示他或她嚴重激怒對方。「ire」比「angry」程度更強烈，例如：「佛萊迪欺負茉莉時，真的讓莎莉非常憤怒」。 如果某人同時激怒很多人，也可以說他或她「cause a ruckus」，例如：「那位參議員說女性不應在政府擔任要職，引發眾怒」。 「ire」和「rage」或「fury」意思類似，但「rage」 和「fury」意味著這個人在某種程度上已失去 理性。

  For your information

  Out Loud對話練習

  Terry: What’s up? You look mad as hell! Helen: I’ve just about had enough. I’ve reached boiling point. Terry: What’s happened? Helen: Leo told me that he cheated on Mary, and then he tried to buy my silence with a fancy bottle of wine! Terry: The cheek of it! Helen: Exactly what I thought. I told him to stuff it. He’s just going to have to face the music. I kept the wine though, it’s a 1998 Penfold’s Grange! 泰瑞：怎麼啦？你看起來氣壞了！ 海倫：我真的受夠了，我已經忍無可忍了。 泰瑞：發生了什麼事？ 海倫：里歐告訴我他背著瑪莉偷腥，然後他想送我一瓶好酒來封我的口。 泰瑞：真是厚臉皮耶！ 海倫：我就是這個意思啊，我叫他把事情解決。他總得面對這件事的，但我留下了那瓶酒，那可是一九九八年的Penfold’s Grange！ boiling point　崩潰邊緣 If someone reaches boiling point they are as angry as they can be without actually exploding. 如果某人瀕臨「boiling point」，表示他們已經憤怒到幾乎要爆發了。

  For your information

  What's Wrong?挑毛病

  Choose the correct sentence: 選出正確的解答： (1) a. I got a trouble for forgetting to hand my assignment in. b. I got in troubles for forgetting to hand my assignment in. c. I got in trouble for forgetting to hand my assignment in. (2) a. I was granted an audience for the crown prince. b. I was granted an audience with the crown prince. c. I was granted an audience to the crown prince. (3) a. I agreed for everything that was said. b. I agreed with everything that was said. c. I agreed by everything that was said.

  For your information

  Usage Questions文法練習

  1. I have two cats ___ home. They’re really smart. a. on b. for c. to d. at 2. The situation was so ridiculous that we had little choice other than to laugh it ___ . a. out b. off c. in d. to 3. We need ___ assess the needs of our customers if we are to sell enough pies. a. for b. by c. by d. to

  For your information

  Today's Answers今日解答

  Reading comprehension: 1. b 2. c 3. c 4. b What's wrong?: 1. c 2. b 3. b Usage questions: 1. d 2. b 3. d
• Most Popular

  • 1

    China reserves offshore airspace for 40 days without explanation: WSJ

  • 2

    Danish envoys’ privileges revoked over naming controversy

  • 3

    Eight million barrels of oil to set sail for Taiwan this month

  • 4

    Foreign exchange reserves fall below US$600 billion

  • 5

    First bluefin tuna of season sells for record NT$10,600 per kg in Pingtung