BEC中级阅读赖斯访韩获昵称“罗梨秀”_BEC中级

    us secretary of state condoleezza rice was given a korean nickname by south korean admirers as she visited the nation monday for the inauguration of president lee myung-bak.
    rice was nicknamed ra i-su, meaning "a pear flower with surpassing beauty," said the korea-us alliance friendship society.
    "in creating her korean name, we hope that south korea and the united states will strengthen their alliance and partnership," its head seo jin-seob said after delivering a paper inscribed with her name to the us embassy.
    ra was derived from "rice" while i means "pear flower" and su means "supreme". together they signify a faithful and upright public servant who is respected by allies, seo was quoted as saying by yonhap news agency.
    the society has given nicknames to other high-profile americans as a mark of friendship.
    us ambassador alexander vershbow was named "park bo-woo," interpreted as "everlasting friend of koreans like treasure."
    general burwell bell, commander of us forces in south korea, was nicknamed "baek bo-guk," meaning the "defender of the country."
    rice left south korea tuesday for beijing on the second leg of a regional tour aimed at breaking an impasse in nuclear negotiations with north korea, a us embassy spokesman said.
    美国国务卿康多莉扎?赖斯于本周一前往韩国参加新任总统李明博的就职仪式。赖斯访韩期间,她的韩国仰慕者们给她起了一个韩语昵称。
    据韩美联谊协会介绍,赖斯的韩语名为ra i-su(罗梨秀),意思是“美丽至极的梨花”。
    韩美联谊协会会长徐俊燮说:“我们给赖斯起韩语名是希望韩美两国能加强双边联盟和合作关系。”此前徐会长将一张印有赖斯昵称的纸交给了美国大使馆。
    韩国联合通讯社援引徐会长的话说,ra源自赖斯的名字“rice”,i在韩语中表示“梨花”,su的意思是“最高、至极”,合在一起即为“美丽至极的梨花”(“罗梨秀”),寓意赖斯是一位深受盟国尊重、忠诚正直的官员。
    据悉,韩美联谊协会还给美国其他高层官员起过昵称,作为韩美两国友谊的象征。
    美国驻韩大使亚历山大?弗什博的韩语名是“park bo-woo”(朴宝友),翻译为“如珍宝般珍贵的、韩国人民永远的朋友”;驻韩美军司令波维尔?贝尔的昵称是“baek bo-guk”,意思是“国家的卫士”。
    美国大使馆一名发言人称,赖斯于本周二离开韩国,前往北京开始其第二阶段的地区访问。赖斯此行旨在打破朝核问题会谈的僵局。
    vocabulary:
    impasse:僵局