RUSSIAN Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his wife Lyudmila made a rare joint public appearance over the weekend seeking to reaffirm their marriage amid persistentdivorce rumors.

In a video posted on the government's website yesterday the couple jointly answered questions from a census-taker who visited Putin's residence outside Moscow as part of a nationwide population count.

Putin, 58, who stepped down as president in 2008 to become prime minister, has been married to Lyudmila, 52, since 1983. They have two daughters.

The Putins have only rarely been seen in public in recent years, raising media speculation that they had secretlydivorced and that Putin planned to marry Olympic champion gymnast Alina Kabayeva, who was born the same year Putin married Lyudmila.

Less than a month before stepping down as president, Putin dismissed the rumors, telling journalists to keep their "snotty noses" out of his private life.

In the new video, the Putins tell the census taker they are married.

"I am his wife," says Lyudmila.

• minister [´ministə] n.部长；大臣 v.伺候 (初中英语单词)
• divorce [di´vɔ:s] n.离婚 vt.同....离婚 (初中英语单词)
• yesterday [´jestədi] n.&ad.昨天；前不久 (初中英语单词)
• residence [´rezidəns] n.居住(期间)；住宅 (初中英语单词)
• moscow [´mɔskəu] n.莫斯科 (初中英语单词)
• rarely [´reəli] ad.难得；非凡地 (初中英语单词)
• champion [´tʃæmpiən] n.冠军 vt.拥护 (初中英语单词)
• persistent [pə´sistənt] a.坚持的；固执的 (高中英语单词)
• speculation [,spekju´leiʃən] n.思索，推测；投机 (高中英语单词)
• secretly [´si:kritli] ad.秘密地；隐蔽地 (高中英语单词)
• weekend [´wi:kend, ,wi:k´end] n.周末休假 (英语四级单词)
• census [´sensəs] n.人口普查 (英语四级单词)