??BY 2063,according tothe African Un-ion’s (AU) rather long-range prediction, Africa will be “a continent of seamless borders”. People, capital, goods and services will flow freely from South Africa to Tunisia and from Senegal to Somalia. Europe’s frontier-free Schengen area may be creakingunder the strain ofmigration and terror, but another will arise, this one encompassing a continent of more than 1.2bn people. Last year, with that goal in mind, the AUboldlyintroduced a single African passport. The first recipients were two of the continent’s most powerful strongmen: Rwanda’s president, Paul Kagame, and Chad’s president, Idriss Déby.
1）according to英[??k?:d?? t?]美[??k?:rd?? t?] na.根據，按照;據…所說;如;比照
Philip stayed at the hotel, according to Mr Hemming
據亨明先生所說，菲利普住在旅館里。
2）under the strain英[??nd?e?strein]美[??nd?ei stren]處于拉緊[緊張]狀態
His health cracked under the strain.
他的身體因過度勞累而垮下來了。
3）boldly英['b??ldl?]美['bo?ldl?] adv.大膽地，顯眼地;冒
We should boldly give them work and promote them and not be overcautious.
我們要放手地任用和提拔他們，不要畏首畏尾。
??For now, however, crossing borders remains a painful experience for most Africans. The World Bank estimates that intra-African trade is more expensive, all things considered, than trade in any other region. According to Anabel Gonzalez, senior director of a World Bank group on trade and competitiveness, one African supermarket chain reports that it spends $20,000 every week to get import permits for meat, milk and other goods in one country alone; every day one of its lorries isheld upat a border costs it $500. On average, Africans need a visa to travel to 54% of the continent’s countries; it’s easier for Americans to travel around Africa than it is for Africans themselves. So far, the AU has issued its single African passport only to heads of state and senior AU officials.
1）held up英[held?p]美[h?ld?p] v.停車( hold-up的過去式和過去分詞)；停頓；停止；支持
Her eyes flashed, but heheld upa hand. "Let me finish."
她眼光一閃，但他舉起一只手說：“讓我把話講完。”
??But in the past year things have improved a little, according to a new report from the African Development Bank. Africans now need visas to travel to slightly fewer countries than they did in 2015, and 13 African countries now offer electronic visas, up from 9 the previous year. Ghana made the most progress: in 2016 the government announced that it would provide visas on arrival for citizens of every AU member state, while offering entirely visa-free travel to 17 African countries, including the 14 other members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The Seychelles is still the only country on the continent to offer visa-freeaccess toall Africans. (An archipelago in the middle of the Indian Ocean, it is a haven forwell-heeledtourists but hard to get to if you are poor.)
1）access to英[??kses tu:]美[??ks?s tu]接近；有權使用；通向…的入口
U.N. aid convoys have unimpeded access to the city.
聯合國救援車隊可以暢通無阻地進入該市。
2）well-heeled英['wel'hi:ld]美adj.富有的；穿著考究的
Would you like to have a famous author, prominent entrepreneur, or well-heeled venturecapitalist in your network?
你想在自己的社交網絡中結識幾個知名作家，杰出企業家，或是某個富有的風投資本家嗎？
??Elsewhere, progress has beenpatchy. Less than a quarter of African countries provide “liberal access”—meaning visa free travel or at least visas on arrival—to all African citizens, and most of the continent’s richest countries tend to be more restrictive. War-torn central Africa remains the most closed region; east and west Africa haveopened upthe most.
1）patchy英[?p?t?i]美[?p?t?i] adj.不調和的;拼湊成的;有補丁的;脾氣別扭的
Thick patchy fog and irresponsible driving were to blame
局部濃霧和駕駛員不負責任是罪魁禍首。
2）open up英[??up?n?p]美[?op?n?p]打開;開發;<非正>開門;切開
As the market opens up, I think people are going to be able to spend more money onconsumer goods
隨著市場的放開，我認為人們將能夠增加用于消費品的支出。
短語：open up before one's eyes展示
