时间:2019-01-13 作者:英语课 分类:2007年VOA标准英语(六月)


英语课
By Scott Bobb
Johannesburg
28 June 2007

In South Africa, one the longest strikes since the end of apartheid has ended. Unions representing workers in public schools, hospitals and government offices said they would accept a government package of wage and benefit increases and return to work. VOA's Scott Bobb reports from Johannesburg.






South African civil servants protest outside the Red Cross children's hospital during the first day of a national public service strike in a href=


South African civil servants protest outside the Red Cross children's hospital during the first day of a national public service strike in Cape Town, 01 June 2007



Unions representing hundreds of thousands of public service workers say they have unanimously agreed to call off their four-week old strike.


The agreement came after a lengthy 2 meeting Wednesday night.


The head of the Confederation of South African Trade Unions, Willie Madisha, said afterwards that COSATU pressed for a better offer from the government, but that the 19 unions in the confederation achieved some major goals.


"The best thing that we have done, in particular the COSATU unions, we have been able to unite them and keep them in the strike action for three weeks," said Madisha. "That's one major victory."


The strike, one of the longest since the end of apartheid 13 years ago, closed most schools and crippled public hospitals across the country.


The unions originally sought a 12 percent increase in wages but lowered their demand to nine percent during the weeks of negotiations 3.


The government, which first offered an increase of six percent, last week made a final offer of 7.5 percent and said it was ending the negotiations. The offer included increases in various benefits.


Most unions said they will sign the agreement. But the largest teachers union (South Africa Democratic Teachers Union-SADTU) said it is suspending its strike but will continue to negotiate with the government.


The strike embarrassed the ruling African National Congress as it convened 4 a major policy congress to prepare its platform for elections in two years.


ANC leaders acknowledged that progress toward eliminating poverty has been slow. But President Thabo Mbeki, in his opening speech, said it was unreasonable 5 to expect to redress 6 the inequities of 350 years of colonialism and apartheid in only 13 years.




n.海角,岬;披肩,短披风
  • I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
  • She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。
adj.漫长的,冗长的
  • We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
  • The professor wrote a lengthy book on Napoleon.教授写了一部有关拿破仑的巨著。
协商( negotiation的名词复数 ); 谈判; 完成(难事); 通过
  • negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
  • Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。
召开( convene的过去式 ); 召集; (为正式会议而)聚集; 集合
  • The chairman convened the committee to put the issue to a vote. 主席召集委员们开会对这个问题进行表决。
  • The governor convened his troops to put down the revolt. 总督召集他的部队去镇压叛乱。
adj.不讲道理的,不合情理的,过度的
  • I know that they made the most unreasonable demands on you.我知道他们对你提出了最不合理的要求。
  • They spend an unreasonable amount of money on clothes.他们花在衣服上的钱太多了。
n.赔偿,救济,矫正;v.纠正,匡正,革除
  • He did all that he possibly could to redress the wrongs.他尽了一切努力革除弊端。
  • Any man deserves redress if he has been injured unfairly.任何人若蒙受不公平的损害都应获得赔偿。
学英语单词
ace it
Acer leiopodum
affiliated society
American hop
analysts
Androsace zayulensis
annuler
antennal neuron
Archibald prize
bacterial membrane
besport
blocking relay
body-ring
broken circle
c-type
caprimulgidaes
Carya tomentosa
cattle actinomycosis
cavum hyaloideum
chloroacrolein
chorea syndrome
chronic hepatic encephalopathy
cmyc
codebook coding
concave grating spectrometer
condylar fracture
cupro fibre
curvature vorticity
De Sauty's method
deflocculator
Dorila
dye-dilution
ecobuoy
edge-defined film-fed growth
Emissy
endoecism
ethyl sulfonamide
extraneous nonterminal
flank on
flat deck poultry cage
foliated talc
gulancha
Heilong
hexyne
hollow flint glass
honeworts
Huatong
hydroxyskatol
ingratiate hiself with
job vacancy
Kordofan
Kotoko
local shear
localized
lone signal unit
lonithermies
lump-sum pension
macrophoma magnoliae
marcerized cotton
mid-months
Modal fibre
monoclinic pyroxene
mound-birds
neuro-patterns
off one's game
oncoapoptosis
one flew over the cuckoo's nest
oxygen resuscitator
pack tilting device
Palairos
pancreaticjejunostomy
pelvimetry
poitrel
predrag
price fixing agreement
pumpkin vines
quench-fire
scalping screen
security operations
selection examination
sequesterer
short-driven bolt
sister species
skyscraper sheaf
SMSI
solid-state scintillation counter
spermatozoicide
split fractions
stack tree
stopper ladle
subdivision rules
subscleral
system source
teaming up
transfix
turn something over to somebody
undecidable ring
wavy water surface
whale-watch
whaps
yamanashi
zone letter