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Opening Trade With Cuba Bittersweet for Some

MIAMI— President Barack Obama's decision to ease restrictions on U.S. trade with Cuba is attracting a lot of attention from the business community, with many companies poised to enter the last communist stronghold in the Americas. Long-time Cuban exiles in Miami say the news is bittersweet, however, for those who had to leave everything behind.

"I remember getting out of school and getting to my house, and there would be a seal on the door," he said.

When Jorge Valdez was eight years old, he and his family left Cuba with nothing but the clothes on their backs.

Now all he has left are some old photographs and a lot of memories.

"When I was a kid, my grandfather smoked cigars. We used to sit in the front of the house, and he used to sit in a rocking chair and smoke it, and I’d hold it -- my father and my uncle while they were playing dominoes, which is another part of being Cuban," he said. "It’s something that we do. We play dominoes, smoke cigars and roast pigs. It’s part of being Cuban.”

"One of my favorites is a Don Carlos [cigar brand]," said Valdez.

Today, Valdez owns a successful Miami cigar shop, Sabor Havana, with brands dominated by Cuban families who also fled Cuba and today use other tobacco to make top-brand cigars.

Valdez said people have been smuggling Cuban cigars into the United States for years. But now, large distributors are planning for when the Cuban market opens up, and Valdez is expecting sales to jump.

“I think that when trade opens up with Cuba, and when we do have Cuban cigars to sell here in the United States, there'll be a surge, of course, because it was, or it has been for 50 years, the forbidden fruit, so everyone wants to take a bite of the forbidden fruit,” he said.

Across town in Miami, the stronghold of Cuban-Americans, Andy Consuegra said lifting the trade embargo with Cuba would instantly boost his wine and spirit sales in the Caribbean.

"Overnight it’s about 4 or 5 more million tourists right overnight, plus the increase in tourists that would be expected, should things change or when things change, plus the local population, so another 11, 12 million people,” said Consuegra.

Consuegra said presently, large European companies dominate the market as they do not fall under the U.S. economic embargo.

Businessmen like Consuegra and Valdez look forward to the opportunities that open trade would bring. But for Valdez, it is difficult to forget the past.

"That’s the bitter part. I wish those kinds of things could be erased, but there is so much pain for 50 years that we hold onto that it’s hard to look at the upside of this exchange without there being some benefit to the people that are there," he said.

Valdez said that even if he could, he does not want to return to the communist nation. He said he is content to spend time with his friends and clients in his own little bit of Cuba here in Miami.

词汇解析

narrow

难度：4星核心词汇，属常用3000词

英汉解释

adj.有限的；狭窄的；精密的；度量小的

n.海峡；隘路；狭窄部份

v.变窄

参考例句

用作形容词 (adj.)

The shop sells only a narrow range of goods.

这家商店商品的种类有限。

A very narrow income has a tendency to contract the mind, and sour the temper.

一种很有限的收入容易使一个人的心胸变窄，脾气变坏。

用作名词 (n.)

Toucans also have a narrow, feather-like tongue.

巨嘴鸟也有狭窄部份，像羽毛一样的舌。

用作动词 (v.)

In order to widen the road they have to narrow the pavement.

为了拓宽道路只好将人行道弄窄。

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victory

难度：4星核心词汇，属常用3000词

英汉解释

n.胜利；成功

参考例句

用作名词 (n.)

The soldiers exulted at their victory.

战士们为取得胜利而欢跃。

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flour

难度：3星常用词汇，属常用6000词

英汉解释

n.面粉；粉末

v.研成粉末；撒上粉

参考例句

用作名词 (n.)

Bread is chiefly made of flour.

面包主要是由面粉做成的。

用作动词 (v.)

You may flour the pastry board so that the dough doesn't stick to it.

你可以在做糕点的面板上撒些面粉，这样揉好的面粉就不会粘到板上了。

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display

难度：4星核心词汇，属常用3000词

英汉解释

n.显示；陈列；炫耀

vt.显示；表现；夸示

参考例句

用作名词 (n.)

There will be a display of bronze statuary in this museum next week.

下星期这个博物馆将举办一个青铜雕塑作品展览。

用作及物动词 (vt.)

He had an opportunity to fully display his talents.

他有了大显身手的机会。

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terror

难度：2星扩展词汇，属常用10000词

英汉解释

n.恐怖；惊骇；<口>令人惧怕或讨厌的人或事物

参考例句

用作名词 (n.)

Her face worked as she stared at him in terror.

她惊恐地注视着他，脸也吓得抽动起来。

His terror is so great that he can do nothing.

他惊骇万分以致什么事都不能做。

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electrical

难度：3星常用词汇，属常用6000词

英汉解释

adj.电的；与电有关的

参考例句

用作形容词 (adj.)

Now electrical appliances have entered into ordinary families.

现在家用电器已经步入普通家庭。

The cooker isn't working because of an electrical fault.

这个炊具不能用了，因为出了电气方面的故障。

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stuff

难度：4星核心词汇，属常用3000词

英汉解释

n.东西；原料；材料

n.素质；本质；废物；无用的想法；废话，蠢话

vt.塞满；填满

参考例句

用作名词 (n.)

Get rid of that stuff in the garage.

把车库里那些没有用的东西处理掉。

用作及物动词 (vt.)

He stuffed the suitcase with his clothes.

他把衣服塞满手提箱。

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