VOA慢速英语2014 French Citizen Is Likely Among Militants in Beheading Video

 

French Citizen Is Likely Among Militants¹ in Beheading Video

A French official says there is a strong likelihood that a French citizen was among the Islamic militants who executed an American aid worker.

Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve announced on Monday that French intelligence experts studied a newly-released video from Islamic State militants. The video shows the execution of aid worker Abdul-Rahman Kassig. The minister said the experts believe a 22-year-old Frenchman can be seen among images showing the American’s head and the beheading of several Syrian soldiers.  Officials are trying to learn if a second Frenchman may have taken part. 

Also, a Welshman, Ahmed Muthana, says one of the other people shown in the video looks like his son, medical student Nasser Muthana.

Abdul-Rahman Kassig was captured 13 months ago while doing humanitarian² work in Syria. He was known as Peter Kassig before accepting Islam during his captivity³. The United States confirmed the beheading of the aid worker. He is the third American to be executed in Syria by Islamic State militants. President Barack Obama offered prayers and sympathy to the parents and family of Mr. Kassig. The president condemned⁴ the killing⁵, calling it “an act of pure evil.”

An unexpected recession in Japan

The Japanese economy unexpectedly entered a recession between the months of July and September. The recession comes two years after Shinzo Abe became Japan’s prime minister. Mr. Abe promised to help the economy through public spending and reforms, a plan he called “Abenomics.”

The news of the recession makes it likely that Prime Minister Abe will delay an unpopular sales tax.  He also is likely to call general elections two years earlier than planned.

Economists⁷ have predicted the Japanese economy would expand. The economy shrank 7.1 percent in the period from April through June 2014.News of the recession caused the leading measure of Japanese stock prices to fall nearly three percent on Monday.

Australia and China signed free trade agreement

Australia and China have signed a free trade agreement. The two sides hope the trade agreement will open up markets worth billions of dollars to Australian exporters. The deal was approved after Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke⁸ to Australia’s parliament.

President Xi is only the second Chinese leader to speak to the Australian parliament. He told parliament that his goal is to create a modern, socialist⁹ country and to double China’s national income by 2020.

After his speech, Mr. Xi approved the free trade agreement. It is expected to open up markets to Australia farmer exports and the services industry, while easing investment in Australia.

Almost 200 received experimental Ebola vaccine¹⁰

Scientists reported on Monday that they have given an experimental Ebola vaccine to almost 200 people. The drug company GlaxoSmithKline developed the vaccine.

The trials began just over two months ago in the United States, Britain, Mali and Switzerland. The scientists have been testing the experimental drug on healthy volunteers, instead of patients infected with the Ebola virus.

The experimental vaccine uses a single Ebola virus gene⁶ from a chimpanzee virus to activate¹¹ the body’s natural defenses against disease.

The World Health Organization says Ebola has infected more than 13,000 people, mainly in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. More than 5,000 of them have died from the disease.                                                   

1 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

2 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

3 captivity   

n.囚禁；被俘；束缚

参考例句：

• A zoo is a place where live animals are kept in captivity for the public to see.动物园是圈养动物以供公众观看的场所。
• He was held in captivity for three years.他被囚禁叁年。

4 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

5 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

6 gene   

n.遗传因子，基因

参考例句：

• A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
• The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。

7 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

9 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

10 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

11 activate   

vt.使活动起来，使开始起作用

参考例句：

• We must activate the youth to study.我们要激励青年去学习。
• These push buttons can activate the elevator.这些按钮能启动电梯。