5 French President's Visit to US Strengthens Ties 法国总统访美以加强两国关系

仔细听

Relations between the United States and France appeared to grow stronger this week after President Francois Hollande visited Washington.President Barack Obama welcomed the French leader by taking him on Monday to Charlottesville，Virginia.They visited Monticello，the 18th century house designed and built by Thomas Jefferson，America's third president.Jefferson was also one of the writers of the Declaration of Independence and served as America's representative to France from 1785 to 1789.

本周法国总统弗朗索瓦·奥朗德访问了华盛顿之后，美、法两国的关系似乎更加稳固了。为了表示对法国总统奥朗德的欢迎，美国总统贝拉克·奥巴马周一与奥朗德来到弗吉尼亚州的夏洛茨维尔市。他们参观了美国第三任总统托马斯·杰斐逊在18世纪设计并建造的蒙蒂塞洛庄园。杰斐逊曾是《独立宣言》的撰写者之一，并于1785年到1789年期间担任过美国驻法代表。

听力破解：开篇第一句是整篇新闻的一个总结概括性的句子。播音员重读了第一个单词relations，可见这段新闻主要谈论两国关系的相关话题。词汇宝典：appear to的意思是“似乎，好像”；serve常用的意思是“服务”，serve as的意思并不是“为……服务”，而是“担任……，充当……”的意思。

仔细听

President Obama told President Hollande that Monticello is an example of what he called the“incredible history”between the United States and France.Thomas Jefferson loved France，and was a supporter of the French Revolution.As Mr.Obama noted，France supported Britain's North American colonies as they fought for independence.

“All this is signified here at Monticello and our hope in starting our visit in this way is that just as we can extend back through generations to see the links between the United States and France，tomorrow we will have an opportunity to talk about not only our current bonds and alliance，but also ways we can strengthen our cooperation in the future.”

奥巴马总统告诉奥朗德总统，蒙蒂塞洛庄园是他所说的美、法之间“传奇历史”的一个有力见证。托马斯·杰斐逊非常热爱法国，而且是法国大革命的支持者。奥巴马指出，早在美国还是英国的北美殖民地时，法国就支持它们为争取独立而战。

奥巴马说，“所有的一切在蒙蒂塞洛都有所表明，我们之所以以这种方式开始访问，是希望未来我们两国的谈话不止于目前的债券和联盟问题，希望还能加强我们在未来的合作，重塑我们回顾历史时看到的美、法之间的紧密联系。”

听力破解：注意英语中的吞音问题，如新闻中的extend back through，[d]和[k]被吞音。

仔细听

President Hollande also spoke to reporters during his visit to Monticello.He noted how a Frenchman，the Marquis de Lafayette，assisted the colonial forces during the American Revolution.“We were allies in the time of Jefferson and Lafayette，we are indeed still allies today.We were friends in the time of Jefferson and Lafayette and we will remain friends forever.”

President Hollande spent the second day of his state visit in Washington.He received the traditional ceremonial welcome to the White House before opening talks with President Obama.

奥朗德总统在参观蒙蒂塞洛庄园时，也对记者发表了讲话。他提到了法国人拉法耶特侯爵在美国革命期间是如何帮助殖民地的武装力量的。

奥朗德总统说，“在杰斐逊和拉法耶特时期，我们是盟友，如今我们仍然是盟友。在杰斐逊和拉法耶特时期，我们是朋友，我们也将永远是朋友。”在国事访问第二天，奥朗德总统到访华盛顿。在与奥巴马总统举行会谈之前，他受到了白宫传统仪式的欢迎。

词汇宝典：state visit的意思是“国事访问”，下文的state dinner的意思是“国宴”，这种词汇在谈论两国关系的相关话题上面较为常见。

仔细听

Two newspapers，“Le Monde ”and“The Washington Post”，published an opinion piece written by the two men.They wrote about a modern relationship marked by expansion.They said it includes more cooperation in NATO，agreement to remove chemical weapons from Syria and to prevent Al-Qaida from gaining more influence in Africa.

法国《世界报》和《华盛顿邮报》刊登了一篇由两位总统共同撰写的评论文章。文章主题是以扩张为标志的当代关系。他们说这包括了在北约框架内采取更多行动、解除叙利亚化学武器的协议以及防止基地组织在非洲获得更大影响力等方面的更多的合作。

词汇宝典：an opinion piece的意思是“一篇观点文章”，这里的piece是“文章”的意思，piece还有“块，片”等意思。

学着说一说

1.an example of ……的例证

▶an example of是一个很常见的短语，此外，我们还可以说an excellent example of（……的很好例证）或an simple example of（……的简单例证）等。

2.force军队

▶force 在新闻中是“军队，武力”的意思，如：

The government decided to use force to break up the demonstrations.

政府决定使用武力来驱散示威游行。

▶口语中常用的force短语为be forced to do sth.，表示“被迫去做某事”，be forced into sth.表示“被迫参与某事”，如：

He is forced to apologize to her.他被迫向她道歉。

He is forced into doing the work.他被迫做这个工作。

3.write about写有关……的内容

▶新闻中表达文章的主题时，用到了write about这个短语，即write about a modern relationship marked by expansion（文章主题是以扩张为标志的当代关系）。

▶write口语常用意思是“写信”，如：

She writes every week to her mother.她每星期都给母亲写信。