NEW DELHI (AP) — President Barack Obama heralded the relationship between the United States and India as a “defining partnership” of the 21st century Monday during a grand ceremony marking his visit to the world’s largest democracy.

Obama’s limousine was escorted to Rashtrapati Bhavan, the palatial residence of India’s president, by guards on horseback. Obama greeted Indian dignitaries, then stood with his hand on his heart as the U.S. national anthem was played.

The president spoke briefly during the ceremony, thanking the Indian people for their hospitality and saying he hoped his trip here would strengthen the friendship between the two nations.

“The partnership between the United States and India will be one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century,” Obama said.

The grandeur of the arrival ceremony kicked off a day heavy on diplomacy. Obama was to meet privately with India’s Prime Minister Manmoham Singh, and the two leaders were then to take questions from the press. Later Monday, Obama planned to speak to the Indian Parliament, with announcements expected on counterterrorism, regional security, clean energy, climate change and economic growth.

Hanging over Obama’s 10-day trip to Asia are heavy election losses at home. On Sunday, Obama promised to make “midcourse corrections” to reinvigorate his embattled domestic agenda in the face of a testier American public and more combative Congress.

He was also confronted about his support for Pakistan, New Delhi’s nuclear neighbor and rival. He defended the alliance while acknowledging that Pakistan-based extremists are “a cancer” with the potential to “engulf the country.”

【熱點話題】 分析認(rèn)為，政治類話題是在雅思考試中比較少出現(xiàn)的，一般提到政治（politics）總是以科目或者以泛指的概念出現(xiàn)，是個?？荚~。但是政治影響著人們生活的方方面面，對于各種政策制定都有非常大的影響，如文中提到的反恐、地區(qū)安全、潔凈能源、氣候變化和經(jīng)濟增長等。

【必殺詞匯】

president??? 總統(tǒng)，主席

ceremony??? 慶典

limousine??? 豪華轎車

escort?????? 護(hù)送

residence??? 居住，住處

guard??????? 保衛(wèi)

hospitality??? 殷勤，好客

strengthen?? 加強

kick off????? 開始

diplomacy??? 外交，外交術(shù)

press??????? 新聞界

counterterrorism? 反恐

regional security?? 地區(qū)安全

clean energy?? 潔凈能源

climate change? 氣候變化

economic growth? 經(jīng)濟增長

election????? 選舉

correction??? 修改

confront????? 面對，遭遇

rival????????? 競爭對手

defend??????? 防御

potential????? 潛在的

真題回顧：劍橋6? Test 1? Question 11-16配對題選項 F strengthened

解析：Strengthened解釋為加強的，這個選項經(jīng)常被誤選，一般加強都是指在原來基礎(chǔ)上進(jìn)行提高，而原文中強調(diào)的是已經(jīng)將lift（電梯）進(jìn)行了更換（replaced），雖然性能好了，但不能算加強。

劍橋6? Test 4? Question 12? preparing refreshments________

解析：原文中對應(yīng)該題的內(nèi)容是：most of the hospitality staff have been put in the blue team，so the chefs among you and the kitchen hands will need a blue T-shirt. 雖然可以根據(jù)kitchen hands來判斷所講的是和食物相關(guān)的內(nèi)容，但之前能意識到hospitality解釋為招待，款待的意思，答案會更加明確。