时间:2018-12-17 作者:英语课 分类:2007年VOA常速英语(十月)


英语课
By Phil Mercer
Sydney, Australia
01 October 2007

Tourism officials in Australia say the number of visitors from Arab Gulf 1 nations is increasing.  Airlines are scheduling more flights between the Middle East and Australia to accommodate the rising popularity.  Phil Mercer reports from Sydney on where the Arab tourists are going and why.


Australia's tourism authority says arrivals from Arab Gulf states have increased by 25 percent so far this year - mostly from the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.


The northern Australian state of Queensland is a top choice for many Arab travelers.


Paul Buggy from Tourism Queensland says they are headed to the state's beach resorts.


"They are stopping off in Sydney and Melbourne and having a couple of days there, but primarily their number one destination is the Gold Coast. They like staying in apartments, of which the Gold Coast has plenty to offer," Buggy said. "You have theme parks and shopping centers who have put in prayer rooms.  The access to Halal food is a lot greater."


Looking after the cultural needs of Arab visitors also includes placing arrows in hotel rooms that point toward Islam's holy city of Mecca.  Facing the city during prayers is essential for Muslims.


Arab vacationers like to escape the scorching 2 summer heat of their homelands, visiting Australia most in July and August - winter in the southern hemisphere.


Tourism officials here expect the strong growth in the Arab market to continue.


Etihad Airways 3 - the national carrier of the United Arab Emirates - plans to increase the number of weekly flights to Sydney early next year and introduce new services to Brisbane.


The number of Arab visitors has been rising sharply since 2002, as many abandon destinations such as the United States and Europe.


Arab tourists have complained of hostility 4 in the United States and are wary 5 of tighter U.S. visa restrictions 6 imposed after the attacks in New York and Washington in September 2001.


Travel agents say Australia's reputation as a safe and friendly alternative is growing.


It's estimated that tourists from the Arab Gulf states spent more than $12 billion last year on overseas vacations.




1 gulf
n.海湾;深渊,鸿沟;分歧,隔阂
  • The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
  • There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。
2 scorching
adj. 灼热的
  • a scorching, pitiless sun 灼热的骄阳
  • a scorching critique of the government's economic policy 对政府经济政策的严厉批评
3 AIRWAYS
航空公司
  • The giant jets that increasingly dominate the world's airways. 越来越称雄于世界航线的巨型喷气机。
  • At one point the company bought from Nippon Airways a 727 jet. 有一次公司从日本航空公司买了一架727型喷气机。
4 hostility
n.敌对,敌意;抵制[pl.]交战,战争
  • There is open hostility between the two leaders.两位领导人表现出公开的敌意。
  • His hostility to your plan is well known.他对你的计划所持的敌意是众所周知的。
5 wary
adj.谨慎的,机警的,小心的
  • He is wary of telling secrets to others.他谨防向他人泄露秘密。
  • Paula frowned,suddenly wary.宝拉皱了皱眉头,突然警惕起来。
6 restrictions
约束( restriction的名词复数 ); 管制; 制约因素; 带限制性的条件(或规则)
  • I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
  • a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制
学英语单词
absorption reaction rate
abuse of law
acrobatic show
Aleksandrinka
Allo-PBSCT
application workspace
arbitrally
blinking method of stereoscopic viewing
brass watch case blank
Chilean tinamous
cixiid
clap-hand
common laburnum
compartment hot well
compartmentalised
conductivity
contra-cyclical measures
Coquimbo owl
cross platform
cyclotheric sedimentation
dc data set
determinable freeholds
diacetylurea
dicumarols
elasto-aerodynamics
erosional vacuity
erotematic
final thermomechanicaltreatment
Gamu
general most favoured nation clause
glory of the snow
green goodss
gyroso-
hally
haylee
hofners
hydrated stock
hyperthite
idiologism
in the jug
incidental cost
ioduretted
items sample
keep on trucking
kindjals
koevoets
laminated clay
Lasianthus formosensis
leveling off
macro-observation
magmatic circulation
marine windscreen
mGal, mgal
moisture measurer for sand and stone
muscle scars
N.C.
nbcc
nobeliums
nuclenoic
NuLab
on-state characteristic
peritoneal tap
phthioic acid
plate mangle
prends
prevention of collision
prolmon tablet
pyramidal cells
raw mast
reactor coolant system cold leg isolation valve
Regranex
relative-entropy
reliability index of generating system
risto
Rubus chiliadenus
sit down to
solti
standard reference materials
starch ester
static stability margin
stochastic procss
strict secrecy
stupiditarian
superior characters
switching pulse
symbiotic action
synedra undulata
synthetic nitrogenous fertilizer
systematic production of substitution lines
thuggish
total corneal transplantation
total variation decreasing scheme
Tuamarina
twin-screw conveyor
TWTA
ultraviolet radiations
unintentional nonlinearity
unquietous
wassily chair
wax string
y.m