时间:2019-01-03 作者:英语课 分类:2018年VOA慢速英语(六)月


英语课

 


When Presidents, royalty 1 or celebrities 2 visit Singapore, they often receive a specially 3 grown orchid 4, the national flower of the city-state, named after them.


Barack and Michelle Obama, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Nelson Mandela all have multi-colored orchids 5 in their names.


Botanists 7 and others want to know if Singapore will extend its “orchid diplomacy 8” to U.S. President Donald Trump 9 and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un when they arrive on the island for Tuesday’s historic talks.


Nicholas Fang 10 is with the research group Singapore Institute of International Affairs. He said Singapore might do it as a sign of goodwill 11 and friendship.


Fang said: “This kind of soft diplomacy is something that is uniquely Singaporean.” He said that it is possible the two leaders may lend their names to a single orchid.


The special orchids live in the Singapore Botanic Gardens. It is the only tropical botanical garden on the world heritage list kept by the United Nations cultural agency UNESCO.


The gardens are near the special area where the summit will take place.


The June 12 meeting will start a discussion on ending North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. In return, North Korea hopes to gain diplomatic and economic recognition from the West. An agreement could also bring peace to the Korean Peninsula.


Singapore has not yet made public any plans to present orchids to either leader.


NParks is the agency that operates the gardens. It says orchid diplomacy “plays an important role in building bilateral 12 ties.” It said last year that more than 200 orchids have been named after important visitors.


Both Kim Jong Un’s father, Kim Jong il, and his grandfather, Kim il Sung, have flowers named for them. They are called “Kimjongilia” and “Kimilsungia.” They are cultivated at a center in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang that opened in 2002.


But the current leader is not known to have a flower named for him.


The latest orchid named in Singapore was the Dendrobium Narendra Modi, marking an official visit by the Indian prime minister this month.


Members of the British royal family have several, with the most recent named for Prince Charles and his wife Camilla in 2017. Even British popular music singer Elton John has his own.


“When Singapore names an orchid after a foreign leader, it is usually a hybrid 13 orchid,” said one of the employees at Woon Leng Nursery in Singapore.


“And a hybrid orchid is difficult to make - it takes at least five years. This is why it has become something rare and unique.”


I’m Susan Shand.


Words in This Story


orchid – n. a plant with flowers that are brightly colored and that have unusual shapes


botanist 6 – n. one who studies the branch of science that deals with plant life


unique – adj. very special or unusual


tropical – adj. from the part of the world that is near the equator where the weather is very warm


heritage – n. the traditions, achievements, beliefs, etc., that are part of the history of a group or nation


bilateral – adj. involving two groups or countries


hybrid – adj. plant that is produced from plants of different kinds


cultivate –v. to grow and care for



n.皇家,皇族
  • She claims to be descended from royalty.她声称她是皇室后裔。
  • I waited on tables,and even catered to royalty at the Royal Albert Hall.我做过服务生, 甚至在皇家阿伯特大厅侍奉过皇室的人。
n.(尤指娱乐界的)名人( celebrity的名词复数 );名流;名声;名誉
  • He only invited A-list celebrities to his parties. 他只邀请头等名流参加他的聚会。
  • a TV chat show full of B-list celebrities 由众多二流人物参加的电视访谈节目
adv.特定地;特殊地;明确地
  • They are specially packaged so that they stack easily.它们经过特别包装以便于堆放。
  • The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings.这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。
n.兰花,淡紫色
  • The orchid is a class of plant which I have never tried to grow.兰花这类植物我从来没种过。
  • There are over 35 000 species of orchid distributed throughout the world.有35,000多种兰花分布在世界各地。
n.兰花( orchid的名词复数 )
  • Wild flowers such as orchids and primroses are becoming rare. 兰花和报春花这类野花越来越稀少了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • She breeds orchids in her greenhouse. 她在温室里培育兰花。 来自《简明英汉词典》
n.植物学家
  • The botanist introduced a new species of plant to the region.那位植物学家向该地区引入了一种新植物。
  • I had never talked with a botanist before,and I found him fascinating.我从没有接触过植物学那一类的学者,我觉得他说话极有吸引力。
n.植物学家,研究植物的人( botanist的名词复数 )
  • Botanists had some difficulty categorizing the newly found plant. 植物学家们不大容易确定这种新发现的植物的种类。 来自辞典例句
  • Botanists refer this flower to the rose family. 植物学家将这花归入蔷薇科。 来自辞典例句
n.外交;外交手腕,交际手腕
  • The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
  • This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。
n.王牌,法宝;v.打出王牌,吹喇叭
  • He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
  • The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手,作为他的王牌。
n.尖牙,犬牙
  • Look how the bone sticks out of the flesh like a dog's fang.瞧瞧,这根骨头从肉里露出来,象一只犬牙似的。
  • The green fairy's fang thrusting between his lips.绿妖精的尖牙从他的嘴唇里龇出来。
n.善意,亲善,信誉,声誉
  • His heart is full of goodwill to all men.他心里对所有人都充满着爱心。
  • We paid £10,000 for the shop,and £2000 for its goodwill.我们用一万英镑买下了这家商店,两千英镑买下了它的信誉。
adj.双方的,两边的,两侧的
  • They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
  • There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题,两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。
n.(动,植)杂种,混合物
  • That is a hybrid perpetual rose.那是一株杂交的四季开花的蔷薇。
  • The hybrid was tall,handsome,and intelligent.那混血儿高大、英俊、又聪明。
学英语单词
4-methylsalinomycin
acetilenic
airspace prohibited area
aporheidine
ataxiameter
Barytheres
bismarckia nobilis hiddebr et wendel
boiler blowdown water
Carloforte
cassette lid
cellulose propionate fibre
chapel of love
chobes
closing of root
commuting time
crassament
cultural immediacy
cushion moss
differential instrument
dilatant fluia
diveroli
documentary
ecomap
electrovoice
enqueuers
enquiry (enq)
everall
Fahry alloy
fire-prevention pipe
forest-police
game laws
gastos
geographical variant of association
grievance provision
grouped controls
had a cow
high tensile reinforing steel
highway bus station
historiosophical
hydraulic gate valve
information system for process control
inverse-feedback filter
jtc
Krishnapur
kuehneola japonica
lift someone's face
Ligularia atroviolacea
martingality
melolontha minima
Mendhein kiln
military ordinary mail
Murker
musico-
national resource industries
nickelization
niprs
nostalgie
occluded rubber
off-market offsetting
ornela
pansy orchid
pat test
per incuriam
pesterings
piston (pneumatic)
platydema terusane
production campaign
projection tract
pronunciable
pseudo-cumene
radial ventilated type
response circuit
scanzoni
seien
selective bias
semi passive
set an objective
shock tube
shotblaster
shriveling
Sinmyong
Soromaya
stowings
subarea
systems audit
Taihei-yama
taken your own life
talastine
the Alps
traceability of measurements
transient condition
truanted
truth drug
two-pass symbolic language assembler
typical model
UK-6558-01
unisolvent
Ur of the Chaldees
vapor pressure method
water fennel oil
weather notations