Unit 2 POLITICAL SYSTEM, EDUCATION AND ECONOMY Go over the following focal points before reading the text: Parliament Mixed Member Proportional Representation the Cabinet the Ombudsman primary schools and secondary schools the Correspondence School universities and polytechnics crops and horticulture forests fisheries energy overseas trade Text Government New Zealand is an independent state,governed by a democrati- capacity n. cally elected parliament.New Zealand has no written constitution.The 身份，地位，职务 Constitution Act 1986 defines the relationship between the legislative chamber n. (上议院或下议院)议院 (Parliament),executive (Government departments and agencies)and judicial (the courts)roles of government.1 The Head of State is the British monarch Queen Elizabeth II in her capacity as Queen of New Zealand,represented by a Governor-General.2 The Governor-General's agreement is required for an Act of Parliament to become law. Since 1950,Parliament has had a single chamber,the House of
Unit 2 Polltical System,Education and Economy 19 Pacific Islanders and one ethnic Chinese were elected.Neither the Na- coalition n. tional nor the Labour Party has held a majority of seats in Parliament 联合 cahinet n. since 1996.Goverment has been a coalition of at least two parties.13 (常作C-)内阁 The Prime Minister chooses up to 20 MPs to form the Cabinet. portfolio n. They are then known as Ministers,and take responsibility for making 部长制，大臣刺 government policy.Ministers'responsibilities are called "portfolios." public servant 公务员 Ministers may be responsible for more than one portfolio. accountable adj. Officials,working in government departments and ministries,are 负有责任的 called"public servauts."In New Zealand the appointment of public transparent ad球 servants is independent of the political process4.So although Ministers 透明的 privatize v. may change according to the party in power at any one time,public 私有化 servants-including the most senior levels--remain in their positions. dividend n. Over the last 15 years there has been significant reform of Govern- 红利，股息 ment affairs.Departmental functions are now more clearly specified, shareholder n. 股东 chief executives and managers are fully accountable for the efficient ombudsman n. running of each organisation and the costs of governmental activities 调查自，巡规自 are more transparent. ratepayer n. The government has also withdrawn from activities which can be (英)（尤指持有不动产的） 地方纳税人，纳税人 carried out more effectively by the private sectorls.A number of former government enterprises have been privatized,including the national airline,telecommunications,the railways,insurance and banking com- panies. Trading departments and corporations which were not privatised -such as the former Electricity Division of the Ministry of Energy- became publicly financed corporations.They are expected to compete as businesses on the open market and pay dividends to the government as a shareholder.They are known as state-owned enterprises (SOEs) or Crown Enterprisest7. The Ombudsman is appointed by Parliament to investigate people's complaints against government departments and local authorities,and to ensure that appropriate official information is freely available to the public under the Official Information Act.The Ombudsman'authority does not include complaints against private companies and individuals, judges'decisions or ministerial decisions. Local Government Local authorities are responsible to their electorates,and council elections are held every three years.Wbile the powers of local authori- ties are given by Parliament,and Parliament must consider any increase to an authority'powers,they raise their own funds by local taxes on land,known as"rates"19.Accountability to the ratepayers is very im-
20 Unit 2 Political System,Education and Economy portant.Local authorities must give public notice and receive public submission n. submissions before making important decisions 意见，看法 soil conservation There are three levels of local government,and a ratepayer may 土壤保持 deal with all three in everyday life: pest control Regional councils have an environmental overview and are 宠物管理 responsible for resource management,soil conservation and consent n. 同意，准许 rivers,pest control,harbours,some transport and regional civil reserve n. defence2. (自然)保护区 Territorial authorities are City Councils,District Councils and sewerage n. the Chatham Islands21 County Council.Their responsibilities 污水排除 correspondence course include land use consents(such as permits to build houses or to 函授课程 open shops or petrol stations),libraries,parks and reserves,noise trustee n. and rubbish control,water,sewerage,rubbish collection,park- 理事会成 ing and local civil defence. creche n. 托儿所 Community boards promote local community interests and may cater for have other powers that the local Council gives them.Their pur- 满足…器要 pose is to represent the community to its local authority,so that the authority can consult the community about its interests. Special purpose local authorities have specific tasks such as the management of an airport,a museum or a forest. Boards and councils are headed by mayors or chairpersons;the members are called councillors.Anyone who is on the Electoral Roll may stand for election to a local council.22 Education Education in New Zealand is compulsory between the ages of 6 and 16,and tuition in state schools is free to New Zealand residents. Children living in areas too isolated for them to attend school,or who cannot attend for medical or other reasons,are able to receive edu- cation by taking correspondence courses.At primary and secondary school levels,parents may choose to send their children to state or to private schools or,under certain circumstances,educate their children at home. An elected board of trustees governs each school.State schools charge fees to foreign students who are not New Zealand residents,ex- cept for exchange students. Many parents like their children to play and learn with others in their community bofore starting primary scbool.Creches take babies from a few weeks old.Kindergartens usually cater for two-and-a-half to four-year-olds.Kohanga reo,meaning"language nests"in English
22 Unit 2 Political System,Education and Economy disabilities. dentistry n There are nine universities in New Zealand:Auckland,Auckland 牙科学 horticulture n University of Technology,Canterbury(Christchurch),Lincoln(near 园艺，园艺学 Christchurch),Massey (Wellington,Palmerston North,and Albany,near veterinary adj. Auckland),Otago(Dunedin),Victoria(Wellington),Waikato (Hamilton) 善医的 and one Maori university.All offer arts,seience and commerce;some accountancy n. 会计学 pecialize in certain fields such as agriculture,architecture,dentistry, extra-mural adj. engineering,fine arts,food technology,horticulture,medicine,physi- 大学以外的 cal education,and vetertnary science.Most offer courses in law and polytechnicsn accountancy.Massey University offers extra-mural tuition in a wide 工艺专科学校，理工专科学校 vocational adj. range of subjects.Any citizen or permanent resident may attend univer- 泉业教青的 sity when they are over 20,even if they have passed no exams. teleconferencing n. The 23 polytechnics in New Zealand provide a range of vocational 电话会议 and academic courses which cover a large number of subjects at various rugged adj. 高低不平的，多丘陵的 levels up to degree level.There are 17 polytechnics in the North Island arable adi. and 6 in the South Island. 可并种的 The largest,the Open Polytechnic,is New Zealand's biggest edu- nuisance n. cation provider.Most of the students are in paid employment.This poly- 令人讨厌的东西 bracken n technic offers over 700 courses with subjects ranging from the Bachelor 政洲喉 of Business degree to airline pilots'licences.Students learn through print thistle n. material,audio and video cassettes,teleconferencing,face-to-face semi- 药（一种植物） nars,computer networking,workplace training packages,study groups gorse n. 别豆（一种植物) and block courses. Economy Agriculture New Zealand is a rugged country,with little flat,naturally arable land,and its reputation as the world's largest farm has been the result of hard work.Today'thriving agricultural export trade is the result of inore than a centuty of hard work by farmers,scientists and exporters. Every kind of animal farmed,almost every food plant and crop,is de- scended from stock brought in from overseas and adapted to local con- ditions.Some 14 million hectares are grazed by 50.2 million sbeep and about 8 million cattle. The relationship between farmer,land and nature is a delicate bal. ance.Constant effort is needed to resist introduced nuisances such as rabbits,opossums,bracken,thistles and gorse.Farmers are the back- bone of the economy,and media comment and advertising mean that even city dwellers are very much in touch with the issues affecting them. New Zealand is a world leader in agricultural researcl and advi-
Unit 2 Political System,Education and Economy 23 sory services.The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries plays a major quarantine n. part in enforcing agricultural security,animal welfare and pest and dis- 检疫 ease management.Biological control of some plant pests is already prov- alpaca n. (南美的》羊驼 ing successful.Quarantine regulations for all live imports are strict, Hlama n. but alpacas,llamas,water buffalo,emu and ostrich are being imported 美洲驼 and established emu n. 高大而不会飞的鸟 About 173 million hectares is farmed in a total of about 80 000 ostrich n. farms.Including casual workers and unpaid family members,on aver. 鸵鸟 age only two people operate each farm.Farms tend to bo family busi- casual worker nesses.Owners work hard-many smaller farms are one-person opera- 临时工 sharemilker n. tions,sometimes with a spouse or partner working off-farm to provide 收益分成的挤奶工 steady income.3 Sharemilkers,often owning their own herds and sav- livestock nt. ing to buy their own farms,work on about a quarter of dairy farms.New 牡畜 Zealand is one of the few countries in the world where farming is not pasture n. 牧革地 subsidised by the state. bovine spongiform encephlitis New Zealand's climate allows almost all livestock to remain out- 疯牛病 side all year round,feeding almost entirely on pasture.For extra winter kiwi-fruit nt. feed,farmers tend to raise their own hay,or food crops such as turnips. 務猴桃 stone-fruit n. The use of artificial foods for sheep and cattle is rarely necessary,so 核果 problems encountered overseas-such as bovine spongiform encepha- squash n. litis(Mad Cow Disease)have been avoided. 南瓜属植物 Although pastoral farming remains the main land use,other crops berry-fruit n. 浆果 are being planted.Major exports include kiwi-fruit,apples and pears, cereal n. stone-fruit (peaches,plums apricots etc),onions,squasl,flowers and 谷物 berry-fruit.Grapes are increasingly planted as New Zealand wine barley n. achieves international recognition. 大麦 oat n. Cereals such as wheat,barley and oats are grown in the South 燕表 Island;maize in the North. nai2论A. Export markets are being developed for a number of subtropical 玉米 fruit-particularly avocados and persimmons. avocado n. 饲梨 persimmon n. Forestry Fishing 柿子 Forestry and fishing constitute new natural resource-based indus- tries with exciting potential for further development. Forests cover more than a quarter of New Zealand.About 6.2 mil- lion hectares are natural forest and 1.3 million hectares are planted pro- duction forests-including the world's largest plantation forest.Most of the plantation forest was planted by the state,but today 80%is privately owned. Forest products are important eamers of overseas funds.Australia, Japan and Korea are the largest customers