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 broughtthe 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 tosupport 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. AllI’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 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 governments 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 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.
练习题：
Choose correct answers to the question:
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. What did Diana mean when she said "... putting a face to those figures brought the realityhome to me" (Line 5, Para. 1)?
A. Meeting the landmine victims in person made her believe the statistics.
B. She just couldn’t bear to meet the landmine victims face to face.
C. The actual situation in Angola made her feel like going back home.
D. Seeing the pain of the victims made realize the seriousness of the situation.
3. 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
4. How did Diana respond to the criticisms?
A. She made more :appearances on TV.
B. She paid no attention to them.
C. She rose to argue with her opponents.
D. She met the 13-year-old girl as planned.
5. 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.
1.[A] 根据题干中的时间、人名可以马上找到信息源为文章第1句，其中的不定式正好与选项的形式一致,表示目的，只要将选项内容与原文第1句中的不定式结构内容相对照即可得出答案为A。
2.[D] 此题考查语义及逻辑推理能力，关键在于理解brought the reality home to sb. (使某人了解到现实)及I knew the statistics, but...的隐含义“我知道统计数字，但是(没想到会这么严重)”。再结合上文可知D的表述正确。C错在黛安娜不是亲身看到那些受害者之后才相信该统计数字的。
3.[B] 第3段第1句指出，回到伦敦，她的观点并没有得到英国政府的`一些官员的认可。黛安娜是支持banning landmines(禁止地雷)的，故英国政府的一些官员是反对禁止地雷，因此答案选B。而从第5段第2句“……黛安娜王妃出访已获英国外交部批准，而且事实上她对安哥拉的形势和英国政府有关地雷的政策都很了解。’’可知A、C、D的说法均不正确。
4.[A] 此题关键在于理解第4段第1句中brush aside“无视,不顾，漠视”这个短语，A的paid no attention与brush aside同义,故选A。
5.[B] 根据文章最后一句，黛安娜总结其出访安哥拉的意义，B中的brought her closer to the ordinary people是原文get closer to people and their problems的同义改写。