News Review

 

 

1

 

As the US Secretary of State Colin Powell prepares to arrive in Israel, the country’s Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has rejected pressure from Washington to end the military offensive in the West Bank. Mr. Sharon was speaking after the suicide bombing of a bus near Haifa which left at least eight Israelis dead. There’re reports that more than a hundred Palestinians were killed as the Israeli military strengthened its hold on the refugee camp in the town of Jenin. Eyewitnesses² say Israel has been ¹⁾bulldozing homes to make way for heavy armor. Three hundred Palestinians, some of them armed, surrendered to Israeli troops. Meanwhile Israel says it’s withdrawn³ from the West Bank villages of Yatta, Qabatya and Samua where weapons and explosive laboratories have been found.

          

2

 

In Britain people are continuing to pay their respects at the final resting place of the Queen Mother. She is now ²⁾entombed in ³⁾St. Georges Chapel⁴ at Windsor Castle along with the ashes of her daughter Princess Margaret and alongside her husband King George VI. In death as in life the Queen Mother’s hold on public affections has been unbreakable.  The numbers may have been down on yesterday’s momentous⁵ funeral, but the hundreds that came today did so out of genuine interest and respect. Whatever their reason for coming people who joined this queue have the next ten days to come and pay their last respects at the tomb of the Queen Mother, now ⁴⁾interred here next to her husband. The tomb itself lies within ornate iron gates in a corner of St. Georges Chapel, the simplest of ⁵⁾inscriptions marking the place they now share. In her own gesture of remembrance at ⁶⁾Westminster Abbey, the Queen placed her funeral wreath on the tomb of the unknown warrior⁸ just as the Queen Mother did with her wedding ⁷⁾bouquet⁹ in 1923. Her long life is to be ⁸⁾commemorated in a series of stamps originally issued for her 90th birthday they’ll be on sale later this month.

 

3

 

Within the last hour we’ve been hearing that there’s been a plane crash in South Korea.The aviation authorities in Seoul say a Boeing 737 carrying more than 160 people has crashed near Kimhae airport near Pusan. They say the aircraft belonged to Air China and was ⁹⁾approaching the airport from Beijing. Visibility was reported to be poor.

Officials say visibility was very poor, there was heavy fog and rain and in fact many regional flights from the South Korean capital have actually been cancelled because of those poor weather conditions. Air China is saying 80 - 90% of the passengers on board were Korean. The figures of the total number of passengers still hasn’t been confirmed, but we’re hearing that up to 155 or 160 passengers could have been on board.

                 

4

 

Tiger Woods has become only the third golfer ever to win ¹⁰⁾back to back Masters titles along with Jack¹¹ Nicklaus and Nick Faldo. Woods won his seventh career major after carding a final round 71 at Augusta finishing twelve under ¹¹⁾par¹, three shots clear of his nearest challenger the South African, Retief Goosen.

 

5

One of China’s top air carriers is planning to place a big order by the end of the day. Sources in China recent (recently) said the company plans to order twenty Airbus jets to expand its fleet over the next three to five years. China’s second largest carrier is due to sign the deal in Shanghai late Tuesday. Sources declined to specify¹² the amounts of the purchase. But a China based Airbus official says the ¹²⁾sticker price for the jet in question, an Airbus A320 is $55 million apiece.

 

6

Japan’s government is taking a ratings cut by Standard & Poor’s downgrading as both a slap in the face and a call to arms. Vice¹³ Finance Minister for International Affairs, Haruhiko Kuroda struck back at the downgrade. He challenged the credibility of ratings agencies saying they had foundered¹⁴ since the collapse¹⁵ of Enron. On the other hand Economics Minister Heizo Takenaka took it as a call to press ahead with reforms. CE

 

 

13、新闻回顾

听力指南：仔细听以下六则英语新闻，并完成第二部分的听力练习。

 

1

尽管美国国务卿柯林·鲍威尔将抵达以色列，华盛顿也对以色列施加压力，要求其结束在加沙河西岸的军事进攻，以色列总理阿里埃勒·沙龙依然我行我素。在靠近海法地区发生了导致至少八名以色列人死亡的自杀性公共汽车爆炸事件后，沙龙发表了讲话。有报道说，在以色列军方加强其对杰宁的难民营的控制后，有一百名巴勒斯坦人被杀害。目击者说以军强迫当地人为重型装甲部队让道。三百名巴勒斯坦人，其中包括部分武装人员向以军投降。同时以色列说它已从西岸的亚塔、卡贝亚和萨姆阿村撤军，在那里发现了武器和爆炸物实验室。

2

到王太后的最后安息之所致哀的英国人依然络绎不绝。目前王太后的灵柩安放在坐落于温莎堡的圣·乔治教堂内，与她的女儿玛格丽特公主和丈夫英王乔治六世长眠在一起。无论生前还是身后王太后，在公众心目中持久的影响力是不可动摇的。参加昨天隆重葬礼的人还不是很多，但是今天有成百上千的人出于真心的关注和崇敬来凭吊皇太后。无论他们基于何种理由，人们还有十天的时间去吊唁王太后及其丈夫的陵墓。陵墓坐落于圣·乔治教堂一角装饰华丽的铁门内，上面镌刻着简单的铭文，标示着他们长眠的位置。在威斯敏斯特大教堂，女王自己的纪念方式是在无名战士墓前亲手安放了花圈，正如王太后在1923年将自己的婚礼捧花用来敬献无名烈士一样。 英国邮政部门将发行系列邮票来纪念皇太后的一生，这些邮票的第一套是为纪念她90岁诞辰而发行的。这些邮票将在本月迟些时候上市。

3

截止前一个小时，一直有消息报道说一架飞机在韩国坠毁。汉城航空官员说一架载有一百六十多名乘客的波音飞机在釜山近旁的金海机场附近坠毁。他们说这架飞机属于中国航空公司，是从北京机场起飞的。有报道说当时能见度低。

官员说能见度非常低，因为当时有浓雾和大雨，天气十分恶劣，从韩国首都起飞的许多国内航班已经取消。中国航空公司说机上百分之八十至九十的乘客是韩国人，乘客的具体人数还没有确定，但我们听说机上乘客大约有155至160人。

 

4

继杰克·尼古拉斯和尼克·费尔多之后，老虎伍兹成为第三个连续夺得大师赛冠军的高尔夫球手，这是伍兹第七次在奥古斯塔职业比赛中夺冠。他在决赛中以七十一杆、低于标准杆十二杆的成绩大获全胜，领先来自南非的劲敌鲁迪·古森三杆。

5

中国最大的航空公司之一有计划在今时候签订一笔大额订单。来自中国的消息说，该公司计划在今后三至五年内订购二十架空中客车飞机，以扩大营运规模。中国第二大航空公司将于本周二在上海签订购买协议。消息中虽未提到具体的购买金额，但是一位空中客车中国办事处的官员说，这笔交易中提到的飞机价格是，一架A320空中客车飞机的价格为五千五百万美元。

 

6

日本政府认为标准普尔指数降低其信用度是一种侮辱。日本财务省负责国际事务的次官黑田东彦回击滑坡之说，他对那些信用评级机构的信用度提出质疑，指出这些机构是在安然倒闭前就已经成立的。另一方面，日本经济产业省大臣竹中平藏认为面临的指责是前进和改革的动力。CE

 

1) bulldoze [5buldEuz] v. 强迫，威胁

2) entomb [in5tu:m] v. 埋葬，成为……的坟墓

3) St. George’s Chapel: 圣·乔治教堂。五百年来，圣·乔治教堂一直在英国王室生活中起着重要的作用，有十位英国君主死后被埋葬在这里，其中包括乔治六世。

4) inter⁶ [5intE] v. 埋葬

5) inscription⁷ [in5skripFEn] n. 题字，碑铭

6) Westminster Abbey: 威斯敏斯特教堂（又称西敏寺）是世界上最巍峨壮丽的教堂之一，也是世界上最著名的建筑物之一。大教堂始建于1065年，13世纪重建后仍有哥特式的外貌。自1066年爱德华时代起，这里就是每位英国国王（除爱德华五世和八世）举行加冕典礼的圣殿，历代帝王王后死后也多葬于此。教堂内还有大量馆藏，加冕用品以及宝座、勋章等庆典用品。

7) bouquet [bu5kei] n. 花束

8) commemorate¹⁰ [kE5memEreit] v. 纪念

9) approach [E5prEutF] v. 向……靠近，接近

10) back to back: 接二连三，连续

11) par [pB:] a. 标准的，同等的

12) sticker price: 标价，定价

 

 

 

1 par   

n.标准，票面价值，平均数量；adj.票面的，平常的，标准的

参考例句：

• Sales of nylon have been below par in recent years.近年来尼龙织品的销售额一直不及以往。
• I don't think his ability is on a par with yours.我认为他的能力不能与你的能力相媲美。

2 eyewitnesses   

目击者( eyewitness的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The examination of all the eyewitnesses took a week. 对所有证人的质询用了一周的时间。
• Several eyewitnesses testified that they saw the officers hit Miller in the face. 几位目击证人证明他们看见那几个警官打了米勒的脸。

3 withdrawn   

vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出

参考例句：

• Our force has been withdrawn from the danger area.我们的军队已从危险地区撤出。
• All foreign troops should be withdrawn to their own countries.一切外国军队都应撤回本国去。

4 chapel   

n.小教堂，殡仪馆

参考例句：

• The nimble hero,skipped into a chapel that stood near.敏捷的英雄跳进近旁的一座小教堂里。
• She was on the peak that Sunday afternoon when she played in chapel.那个星期天的下午，她在小教堂的演出，可以说是登峰造极。

5 momentous   

adj.重要的，重大的

参考例句：

• I am deeply honoured to be invited to this momentous occasion.能应邀出席如此重要的场合，我深感荣幸。
• The momentous news was that war had begun.重大的新闻是战争已经开始。

6 inter   

v.埋葬

参考例句：

• They interred their dear comrade in the arms.他们埋葬了他们亲爱的战友。
• The man who died in that accident has been interred.在那次事故中死的那个人已经被埋葬了。

7 inscription   

n.（尤指石块上的）刻印文字，铭文，碑文

参考例句：

• The inscription has worn away and can no longer be read.铭文已磨损，无法辨认了。
• He chiselled an inscription on the marble.他在大理石上刻碑文。

8 warrior   

n.勇士，武士，斗士

参考例句：

• The young man is a bold warrior.这个年轻人是个很英勇的武士。
• A true warrior values glory and honor above life.一个真正的勇士珍视荣誉胜过生命。

9 bouquet   

n.花束，酒香

参考例句：

• This wine has a rich bouquet.这种葡萄酒有浓郁的香气。
• Her wedding bouquet consisted of roses and ivy.她的婚礼花篮包括玫瑰和长春藤。

10 commemorate   

vt.纪念，庆祝

参考例句：

• This building was built to commemorate the Fire of London.这栋大楼是为纪念“伦敦大火”而兴建的。
• We commemorate the founding of our nation with a public holiday.我们放假一日以庆祝国庆。

11 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

12 specify   

vt.指定，详细说明

参考例句：

• We should specify a time and a place for the meeting.我们应指定会议的时间和地点。
• Please specify what you will do.请你详述一下你将做什么。

13 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

14 foundered   

v.创始人( founder的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Three ships foundered in heavy seas. 三艘船在波涛汹涌的海面上沉没了。 来自辞典例句
• The project foundered as a result of lack of finance. 该项目因缺乏资金而告吹。 来自辞典例句

15 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。