It came as something of a surprise when Diana, Princess of Wales, made a trip to Angola in 1997,
to support the Red Cross campaign for a total ban on all anti-personnel landmines. Within hours of arriving in Angola, television screens around the world were filled with images of her comforting victims injured
in explosions caused by landmines. “I knew the statistics,” she said. “But putting a face to those figures
brought the reality home to me; like when I met Sandra, a 13- year-old girl who had lost her leg, and
people like her.”
The Princess concluded with a simple message: “We must stop landmines”. And she used every
opportunity during her visit to repeat this message.
But, back in London, her views were not shared by some members of the British government, which
refused to support a ban on these weapons. Angry politicians launched an attack on the Princess in the
press. They described her as “very ill-informed” and a “loose cannon”. (乱放炮的人)
The Princess responded by brushing aside the criticisms: “This is a distraction (干扰) we do not need. All I’m trying to do is help.”
Opposition parties, the media and the public immediately voiced their support for the Princess. To
make matters worse for the government, it soon emerged that the Princess’s trip had been approved by
the Foreign Office, and that she was in fact very well-informed about both the situation in Angola and the
British government’s policy regarding landmines. The result was a severe embarrassment for the
government.
To try and limit the damage, the Foreign Secretary, Malcolm Rifkidnd, claimed that the Princess’s
views on landmines were not very different from government policy, and that it was “working towards" a
worldwide ban. The Defence Secretary, Michael Portillo, claimed the matter was “a misinterpretation or
misunderstanding.”
For the Princess, the trip to this war-torn country was an excellent opportunity to use her popularity
to show the world how much destruction and suffering landmines can cause. She said that the experience
had also given her the chance to get closer to people and their problems.
1. Princess Diana paid a visit to Angola in 1997_____.
A. to clarify the British governments stand on landmines
B. to establish her image as a friend of landmine victims
C. to investigate the sufferings of landmine victims there
D. to voice her support for a total ban of landmines
2. Some members of the British government criticized Diana because _____.
A. she had not consulted the government before the visit
B. she was ill-informed of the governments policy
C. they were actually opposed to banning landmines
D. they believed that she had misinterpreted the situation in Angola
3. How did Diana respond to the criticisms?
A. She paid no attention to them
B. She made more appearances on TV.
C. She met the 13-year-old girl as planned
D. She rose to argue with her opponents
4. What did Princess Diana think of her visit to Angola?
A. It had caused embarrassment to the British government.
B. It had greatly promoted her popularity.
C. It had brought her closer to the ordinary people.
D. It had affected her relations with the British government.
There were red faces at one of Britain"s biggest banks recently. They had accepted a telephone
order to buy ￡100,000 worth of shares(股票) from a fifteen-year-old schoolboy (they thought he
was twenty-one). The shares fell in value and the schoolboy was unable to pay up. The bank lost
￡ 20,000 on the deal which it cannot get back because, for one thing, this young speculator(投机者)
does not have the money and, for another, being under eighteen, he is not legally liable for his debts.
If the shares had risen in value by the same amount that they fell, he would have pocketed ￡ 20,000
profit. Not bad for a fifteen-year-old. It certainly is better than delivering the morning newspaper. In
another recent case, a boy of fourteen found, in his grandmother"s house, a suitcase full of foreign
banknotes. The clean, crisp, banknotes looked very convincing but they were now not used in their
country of origin or anywhere else. This young boy headed straight to the nearest bank with his
pockets filled with notes. The cashiers did not realise that the country in question had reduced the
value of its currency by 90%. They exchanged the notes the notes at their face value at the current
exchange rate. In three days, before he was found out, he took ￡ 200,000 from nine different banks.
Amazingly, he had already spent more than half of this on taxi-rides, restaurant meals, concert tickets
and presents for his many new girlfriends (at least he was generous!) before the police caught up with
him. Because he is also under eighteen the banks have kissed goodbye to a lot of money, and several
cashiers(出纳员) have lost their jobs.
Should we admire these youngsters for being enterprising(有创业精神的) and showing initiative
(主动精神) or condemn them for their dishonesty? Maybe they had managed for years with tiny
amounts of pocket money that they got from tight-fisted parents. Maybe they had done Saturday jobs
for peanuts. It is hardly surprising, given the expensive things that young people want to buy, such as
fashionable running shoes and computer games, if they sometimes think up more imaginative ways of
making money than delivering newspapers and baby-sitting. These lads saw the chance to make a lot
of money and took it.
Another recent story which should give us food for thought is the case of the man who paid his
six-year-old daughter ￡ 300 a week pocket money. He then charged her for the food she ate and for
her share of the rent and household bills. After paying for all this, she was left with a few coins for her
piggy bank. "She will soon learn the value of money," he said. "There"s no such thing as a free lunch.
Everything has to be paid for and the sooner she learns that the better." At the other extreme there are
fond parents who provide free bed and board for their grown-up children. While even the most
hard-hearted parents might hesitate to throw their children out on the streets, we all know people in
their late twenties who still shamelessly live off their parents. Surely there comes a time when everyone
has to leave the parental nest, look after themselves and pay their own way in life. But when is it?
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