singapore
singapore is a small, flat, marshy island that has been developed to become the most important port and business center in southeast asia and one of the ten wealthiest countries in the world in terms of gross national product per capita2 .
singapore has a population of 3. 5 million people and a high density of more than 500 people per square kilometer. the superior infrastructure — especially the excellent port and international airport — has made singapore the import and transshipment center for the region. it is one of the world’s largest oil refining centers3, where crude oil is unloaded and refined before shipment to the rest of asia . these functions are complemented by a large variety of maritime service activities, including banking, insurance, communications, and consulting.
singapore has diversified its service sector to include a wider range of financial, communications, and management activities and has attracted the regional headquarters of many multinational corporations. and tourism has also become a significant industry. this diversification, as well as high consumption levels in the domestic market, allowed singapore to cope with the 1983 oil crisis and 1997 asian financial crisis somewhat more easily than did other countries in the region.
singapore has a population of diverse ethnicity and religion, but it is dominated ( 77 percent) by overseas chinese, descendants of immigrants who moved to singapore in the colonial period and followed the religions of buddhism and taoism. other groups include malays ( about 15 percent) and indians ( about 7 percent, mainly hindu) . fertility rates are low in singapore, and the government has tried to promote more births among the highly educated in order to reduce labor shortages and ensure a workforce to support the older population. colonial singapore was residentially segregated, with the british living next to the government buildings on the east shore of the singapore river4, chinatown on the west riverbank, and indian and malay neighborhoods farther toward the east. there are remnants of this structure in contemporary singapore, but the city is now characterized by dozens of tall office buildings, housing complexes, new towns and new industrial parks.
the government has made serious attempts to foster harmony between ethnic groups and to create a sense of national identity by designating four official languages ( mandarin 064 chinese, english, malay, and indian tamil) . they promote an asian identity through schools and national military service that emphasize hard work, community consensus, and respect for authority. they also enforce singapore’s image of a clean and crime-free 5 environment through very strict rules against litter and graffiti, media censorship, and licensing of satellite dishes and street entertainers.
閱讀自測(cè)
Ⅰ. complete the sentence s with the proper forms of the words given in parentheses :
1. the nation’s _______( consume) of coal decreased continuously last year.
2. today’s bicycles are _______( descend ) of the earlier velocipede ( 早期的腳踏兩 輪車(chē)) .
3. the chinese are an _______ ( industry) nation.
4. _______( immigrate) can’t work in the united states without a permit.
、. complete each sentence with a proper word , and make changes if necessary: ( characterize , fund, enforce, ensure , dominate)
1. successful leaders events rather than react to them.
2. we can that the work shall be done in the right way.
3. this disease is by rash and high fever.
4. the responsibility that the police shoulders is to the law.
5. the space program is completely by the central government
參考答案
、. 1. consumption 2 . descendants 3. industrious 4 . immigrants
、. 1. dominate 2 . ensure 3. characterized 4. enforce 5. funded
參考譯文
非凡島國(guó)———新加坡
新 加坡面積不大, 地勢(shì)平坦, 是個(gè)濕潤(rùn)的島國(guó), 現(xiàn)已發(fā)展成東南亞最重要的港口和商業(yè) 中心。按照人均國(guó)民生產(chǎn)總值計(jì)算的話(huà), 新加坡現(xiàn)已成為世界最富的十國(guó)之一。
新加坡有350 萬(wàn)人口, 人口高度密集, 每平方公里就有五百多個(gè)人。新加坡的基礎(chǔ)設(shè) 施完備, 其港口和國(guó)際機(jī)場(chǎng)尤為精良, 優(yōu)越的條件已使新加坡成為東南亞地區(qū)進(jìn)口和中轉(zhuǎn) 中心。新加坡也是世界最 大的煉油中心之一, 原油在這里卸載, 進(jìn)行精煉, 然后運(yùn)送到亞洲 其他地方。這些功能與種類(lèi)繁多的銀行、保險(xiǎn)、通信和咨詢(xún)等海事服務(wù)機(jī)構(gòu)相輔相承
新加坡使本國(guó)的服務(wù)業(yè)多樣化, 它廣泛開(kāi)展各種金融、通訊和管理活動(dòng), 于是吸引了許 多跨國(guó)公司在當(dāng)?shù)亟⒌貐^(qū)性總部。同樣, 旅游業(yè)也成為一個(gè)重要的產(chǎn)業(yè)。服務(wù)業(yè)的多樣 化以及國(guó)內(nèi)市場(chǎng)的高消費(fèi)水平, 使新加坡能比該地區(qū)其他國(guó)家更加從容地應(yīng)付1983 年的 石油危機(jī)和1997 年的亞洲金融危機(jī)。
新 加坡人有著不同的種族和不同的宗教信仰, 但海外華人處于支配地位( 占總?cè)丝诘?77% ) , 他們是殖民時(shí)期移民到新加坡的華人的后代, 信仰佛教和道教。其他種族包括馬來(lái) 人( 約占15% ) 和印度人( 約占7% , 主要是印度教徒) 。新加坡的人口出生率不高, 因此政 府鼓勵(lì)受過(guò)高等教育的人多生育, 從而緩解勞動(dòng)力不足, 確保人口結(jié)構(gòu)的平衡。殖民地時(shí) 期的新加坡在住宅區(qū)實(shí)行種族隔離, 當(dāng)時(shí)英國(guó)人住的地方貼近佇立在新加坡河?xùn)|岸的政府 大樓, 唐人街在河的西岸, 而印度人和馬來(lái)人住的地方離東岸更遠(yuǎn)。如今的新加坡還留有 這種結(jié)構(gòu)的殘跡, 但現(xiàn)在整個(gè)城市已到處都是高聳的寫(xiě)字樓、配套住宅區(qū)、新興城鎮(zhèn)和新興 工業(yè)園。
新加坡政府努力促進(jìn)不同種族間的和諧相處, 通過(guò)將四種語(yǔ)言定為官 方語(yǔ)言( 分別為 漢語(yǔ)、英語(yǔ)、馬來(lái)語(yǔ)和印度泰米爾語(yǔ)) , 來(lái)促使每個(gè)新加坡人產(chǎn)生民族身份感。新加坡政府 還通過(guò)教育和義務(wù)兵役制來(lái)強(qiáng)調(diào)努力工作、與社會(huì)保持一致和尊重權(quán) 威的理念, 從而促進(jìn) 了新加坡國(guó)民亞洲人的身份感。新加坡政府還嚴(yán)格實(shí)施各種法規(guī), 嚴(yán)禁亂扔垃圾和任意涂 鴉, 對(duì)媒體進(jìn)行嚴(yán)格審查, 并對(duì)圓盤(pán)式衛(wèi)星電視天線(xiàn)和街頭藝人頒發(fā)許可證來(lái)進(jìn)行限制, 以 此樹(shù)立新加坡環(huán)境清潔、治安良好的國(guó)家形象。
閱讀導(dǎo)評(píng)
從自然特點(diǎn)看, 新加坡是一個(gè)資源短缺, 連淡水都要進(jìn)口的海島小國(guó), 但就是這樣一個(gè) 彈丸之地卻自1965 年獨(dú)立的這幾十年里, 創(chuàng)造了多個(gè)“亞洲奇跡”。這全在于新加坡人的 憂(yōu)患意識(shí)和先進(jìn)的治國(guó)理念, 因?yàn)槁浜缶鸵ご。在資源稀缺、人口不多的情況下, 新加坡 大力發(fā)展尖端科學(xué), 努力增強(qiáng)公民的社會(huì)感和凝聚力, 嚴(yán)格依法治國(guó), 致使新加坡政府成為 “ 最講效率、最為廉潔”的政府, 新加坡也最終躋身于發(fā)達(dá)國(guó)家的行列。
閱讀導(dǎo)釋
1. 新加坡, 俗稱(chēng)獅城, 但因國(guó)土小如星斗, 故又稱(chēng)星洲、星島。新加坡是東南亞的一個(gè)島國(guó), 氣候宜人, 位于馬來(lái)半島最南端, 面積僅有600 多平方公里, 由新加坡島和附近54 個(gè)小 島組成。該國(guó)地狹人稠, 資源匱乏, 但依靠其得天獨(dú)厚的地理位置發(fā)展經(jīng)濟(jì), 成為東南亞 的經(jīng)濟(jì)中心。新加坡1842 年成為英國(guó)殖民地,1963 年被并入馬來(lái)西亞, 1965 年獨(dú)立建國(guó)。
2. 按照人均國(guó)民生產(chǎn)總值計(jì)算。gross national product, 即gnp, 意為“ 國(guó)民生產(chǎn)總值”。與 其相似的還有g(shù)dp ( gross domestic product) , 意為“ 國(guó)內(nèi)生產(chǎn)總值”。
3. 新加坡是世界最 大的煉油中心之一。全國(guó)建有五大煉油廠(chǎng), 成品油出口僅次于荷蘭, 居 世界第二位。refine v. 精煉, 提煉, 其過(guò)程就是在煉油廠(chǎng)( oil refinery) 將原油( crude oil) 變成精煉油( refined oil) 。
4. 新加坡河是新加坡的象征之一, 全長(zhǎng)約四五公里, 是新加坡人的生命之河。該河貫穿新 加坡市中心, 將新加坡市分為東西兩部分。新加坡河岸邊高樓林立, 商業(yè)活動(dòng)繁忙, 構(gòu)成 新加坡的金融商業(yè)中心區(qū)。
5. 沒(méi)有犯罪的。-free 同micro-一樣是一種組合語(yǔ)素( combining form) , 表示“ 無(wú)⋯⋯的”, “ 免除⋯⋯的”, 如: disease-free ( 無(wú)病的) ; worry-free ( 無(wú)憂(yōu)無(wú)慮的) 。
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