英国新闻听力 04

BBC News with Joe Macintosh

President Bush has signed into law a controversial 700-billion-dollar rescue package for America's stricken financial system less than two hours after the House of Representatives approved a revised version. Mr. Bush said the law would help ease the credit crunch¹ threatening the US economy, and show the world that America could deal with the crisis. But President Bush said he understood people's concerns over the package.

"I know some Americans have concerns about this legislation, especially about the government's role and the bill's cost. As a strong supporter of free enterprise, I believe government intervention² should occur only when necessary. In this situation, action is clearly necessary. Ultimately, the cost of taxpayers³ will be far less than the initial outlay⁴."

Share prices in New York ended the day down. The Dow Jones closed 1.5% lower after figures showed the biggest drop in the number of Americans with jobs for more than five years. Gred Wood reports.

Nearly 160,000 American jobs were lost in September, the biggest jump in unemployment for five and a half years, and a clear sign that the credit crunch is biting where it hurts most. Added to that are worries about whether the bail-out plan itself will work. It will involve a complex process of auctions⁶, run by private asset management companies and overseen⁷ by the US Treasury⁸. The first auction⁵ will not take place for at least a month, so it’ll be some time before any results are seen.

At least 20 people have been killed along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan after air strikes suspected to have been carried out by US forces. Here is Sebastian Ashier.

Intelligence officials in Pakistan say two air strikes were carried out by US aircraft on targets in the unstable⁹ region of North Waziristan. One report said at least five people in a local tribesman’s house were among those killed. Other reports said a number of militants¹⁰ were killed, too. There has been no confirmation¹¹ from the Americans. In recent weeks, U.S. forces have mounted a series of attacks against militants inside Pakistan, creating new tensions between the two countries. Islamabad says the strikes are an infringement¹² of its sovereignty and are counterproductive in the battle against extremists.

The Indian car company Tata Motors is abandoning plans to build its low-cost Nano vehicle in the state of West Bengal where violent protests by farmers over land have halted construction of the factory. The company chairman, Ratan Tata, said it was impossible to run a factory with police protection all the time.

The authorities in the breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia say seven soldiers were killed when a military vehicle exploded inside the Russian Army base in the capital Tskhinvali. Reports say Russian troops had confiscated¹³ the vehicle from an ethnic¹⁴ Georgian village when they found it was carrying weapons.

You're listening to latest World News coming to you from the BBC.

Russia has called for joint¹⁵ international action to fight piracy¹⁶ off the coast of Somalia. The Russian Foreign Minister said Moscow would work closely with America and the European Union to stop what he described as "the outrageous¹⁷ actions of Somali pirates". The European Union on Wednesday agreed to set up a maritime¹⁸ security force.

A new study suggests tens of millions of people in China will die in the next 25 years as a result of lung disease, and the vast majority of those premature¹⁹ deaths are preventable. The study was carried out by researchers of the Harvard School of Public Health. The author, Majid Ezzati, says dramatic intervention now could save many millions of lives.

"If China manages to control tobacco through taxation²⁰, through health education, through advertising²¹ ban, and if it manages to get clean fuel to the 70% of its population that need cleaner fuels, or ways of burning their current fuels more cleanly, they have a lot of health gains to make."

The British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has reshuffled his cabinet and in a surprise move he has brought back Peter Mandelson, the European Union Trade Commissioner²². Mr. Mandelson, who’ll be Business Secretary, twice held ministerial posts in the former Prime Minister Tony Blair's cabinet, but both times he resigned over perceived conflicts of interest.

The Mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, has provoked strong opposition²³ by calling for a rule change to allow him to stand for a third term. His critics on the New York City Council say the proposals amount to a subversion²⁴ of democracy. The billionaire businessman is due to stand down next year at the end of his second term.

The United States government has notified the Congress of plans to supply Taiwan with arms worth more than six billion dollars. The planned sales include advanced interceptor missiles and submarine-launched missiles. The U.S. Defense²⁵ Security and Cooperation Agency said the sales were aimed at improving Taiwan's defenses.

And that’s the latest BBC News.

1 crunch   

n.关键时刻；艰难局面；v.发出碎裂声

参考例句：

• If it comes to the crunch they'll support us.关键时刻他们是会支持我们的。
• People who crunch nuts at the movies can be very annoying.看电影时嘎吱作声地嚼干果的人会使人十分讨厌。

2 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

3 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

4 outlay   

n.费用，经费，支出；v.花费

参考例句：

• There was very little outlay on new machinery.添置新机器的开支微乎其微。
• The outlay seems to bear no relation to the object aimed at.这费用似乎和预期目的完全不相称。

5 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。

6 auctions   

n.拍卖，拍卖方式( auction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They picked up most of the furniture at auctions in country towns. 他们大部分的家具都是在乡村镇上的拍卖处买的。 来自辞典例句
• Our dealers didn't want these cars, so we had to dump them at auctions. 我们的承销商都不要这些车子，因此我们只好贱价拍卖。 来自辞典例句

7 overseen   

v.监督，监视( oversee的过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was overseen stealing the letters. 他被人撞见在偷信件。 来自辞典例句
• It will be overseen by ThomasLi, director of IBM China Research Laboratory. 该实验室由IBM中国研究院院长李实恭(ThomasLi)引导。 来自互联网

8 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

9 unstable   

adj.不稳定的，易变的

参考例句：

• This bookcase is too unstable to hold so many books.这书橱很不结实，装不了这么多书。
• The patient's condition was unstable.那患者的病情不稳定。

10 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。

11 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

12 infringement   

n.违反；侵权

参考例句：

• Infringement of this regulation would automatically rule you out of the championship.违背这一规则会被自动取消参加锦标赛的资格。
• The committee ruled that the US ban constituted an infringement of free trade.委员会裁定美国的禁令对自由贸易构成了侵犯

13 confiscated   

没收，充公( confiscate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Their land was confiscated after the war. 他们的土地在战后被没收。
• The customs officer confiscated the smuggled goods. 海关官员没收了走私品。

14 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

15 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

16 piracy   

n.海盗行为，剽窃，著作权侵害

参考例句：

• The government has already adopted effective measures against piracy.政府已采取有效措施惩治盗版行为。
• They made the place a notorious centre of piracy.他们把这地方变成了臭名昭著的海盗中心。

17 outrageous   

adj.无理的，令人不能容忍的

参考例句：

• Her outrageous behaviour at the party offended everyone.她在聚会上的无礼行为触怒了每一个人。
• Charges for local telephone calls are particularly outrageous.本地电话资费贵得出奇。

18 maritime   

adj.海的，海事的，航海的，近海的，沿海的

参考例句：

• Many maritime people are fishermen.许多居于海滨的人是渔夫。
• The temperature change in winter is less in maritime areas.冬季沿海的温差较小。

19 premature   

adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的

参考例句：

• It is yet premature to predict the possible outcome of the dialogue.预言这次对话可能有什么结果为时尚早。
• The premature baby is doing well.那个早产的婴儿很健康。

20 taxation   

n.征税，税收，税金

参考例句：

• He made a number of simplifications in the taxation system.他在税制上作了一些简化。
• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。

21 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

22 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

23 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

24 subversion   

n.颠覆，破坏

参考例句：

• He was arrested in parliament on charges of subversion for organizing the demonstration.他因组织示威活动在议会上被以颠覆破坏罪名逮捕。
• It had a cultural identity relatively immune to subversion from neighboring countries.它的文化同一性使它相对地不易被邻国所颠覆。

25 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。