英国新闻听力 20

BBC News with Lopaco Tary

Iceland has become the first western country since the 1970s to have to ask the International Monetary¹ Fund for emergency financial help. The IMF has agreed in principle to give Iceland a loan of two billion dollars over the next two years. The move follows the collapse² of Iceland's banking³ system earlier this month, a development which threatened its entire economy. The Prime Minister Geir Haarde said the agreement would allow Iceland to attract funding from other sources and stabilize⁴ its currency.

"We have taken now an important step, decisive action with respect to the difficult situation that has arisen here as a result of the banking crisis which was precipitated⁵ by the international financial crisis, the worst probably since 1914 and the liquidity⁶ squeeze that came upon us as a result of the crisis. "

The latest survey of opium⁷ production in Afghanistan says it's fallen steeply after two years of record highs. The official in charge of American anti-drug policy said opium output in Afghanistan was expected to decline by more than 30% this year. Dan Isaacs reports.

These latest U.S. government figures show a substantial fall not only in opium produced, but also of land being used for growing opium poppies. More than half of all Afghanistan's provinces are now poppy-free, according to President Bush's anti-drugs chief John Walters. He said the declines reflected the growing effectiveness of international efforts in Afghanistan and the recognition that tackling drug production was a critical element of any successful policy to bring stability to the country which produces 90% of the world's opium.

The Republican vice⁸ presidential candidate in the United States Sarah Palin is being questioned under oath about allegations that she abused her powers as governor of Alaska. She and her husband are meeting state lawyers to answer accusations⁹ that she sacked Alaska's Public Safety Commissioner¹⁰ Walt Monegan because of a personal feud¹¹. Rachel Harvey reports from Washington.

Mrs. Palin is accused of removing Mr. Monegan because he in turn refused to fire a state trooper involved in a bitter divorce from Mrs. Palin's sister. Governor Palin denies any wrongdoing. But an earlier legislative¹² inquiry¹³ found that although she did have the authority to fire Mr. Monegan, she had breached¹⁴ state ethics¹⁵ laws in pressing for the dismissal of the trooper. This latest investigation¹⁶ is unlikely to reach any conclusion before the election on November 4th, but it's clearly an unwelcome distraction¹⁷ for the Republicans.

Mystery still surrounds the identity of the winner of Italy's biggest-ever lottery¹⁸ Jackpot. The winning ticket worth 125 million dollars was bought in the Sicilian city of Catania, one of Italy's poorest. The mayor said he hoped the winner would feel a moral obligation to help the local community.

World News from the BBC.

Three NATO warships¹⁹ have been deployed²⁰ off the Somali coast to combat piracy²¹ in the area. Their main job will be to escort ships delivering humanitarian²² aid to Somalia but they’ll also patrol waters vulnerable to attack by pirates. The NATO vessels²³ and an Italian destroyer and frigates²⁴ from Greece and Britain join ships from other countries.

The Jewish community in Romania has reacted with outrage²⁵ after more than a hundred gravestones at a Jewish cemetery²⁶ in the capital, Bucharest, were vandalized. Many of the graves disturbed were those of victims of the Nazi²⁷ Holocaust²⁸. The head of Bucharest’s Jewish community has demanded that the perpetrators be punished. The Romanian Justice Ministry²⁹ has promised a thorough investigation.

One of the two police officers who shot dead an innocent Brazilian man Jean Charles de Menezes on a London underground at the height of a terror-alert in 2005 has broken down while giving evidence to the inquest into the killing³⁰. After a brief halt to the proceedings³¹ because of the officer's distress³², he said he was totally convinced the Brazilian was about to detonate a bomb when he shot him. Rob Broomby reports.

The elite³³ firearms officer identified only as C12 told the inquest of the sense of disbelief, shock and sadness that gripped him when he‘d realised he killed an innocent man. He said everything he had ever trained for, seeing threats and acting³⁴ on threats had proved wrong. "I’m responsible for the death of an innocent man", he said, “and that is something I've got to live with for the rest of my life".

Doctors in Madrid say their latest operation on the Spanish golfing champion Severiano Ballesteros who has a brain tumor³⁵ has gone well. A hospital statement said the remnants of the tumor had been removed and the swelling³⁶ around the golfer's brain had been reduced. It was the third time Ballesteros had undergone surgery since being admitted to hospital earlier this month.

BBC News.

1 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

2 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。

3 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

4 stabilize   

vt.（使）稳定，使稳固，使稳定平衡；vi.稳定

参考例句：

• They are eager to stabilize currencies.他们急于稳定货币。
• His blood pressure tended to stabilize.他的血压趋向稳定。

5 precipitated   

v.（突如其来地）使发生( precipitate的过去式和过去分词 )；促成；猛然摔下；使沉淀

参考例句：

• His resignation precipitated a leadership crisis. 他的辞职立即引发了领导层的危机。
• He lost his footing and was precipitated to the ground. 他失足摔倒在地上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 liquidity   

n.流动性，偿债能力，流动资产

参考例句：

• The bank has progressively increased its liquidity.银行逐渐地增加其流动资产。
• The demand for and the supply of credit is closely linked to changes in liquidity.信用的供求和流动资金的变化有密切关系。

7 opium   

n.鸦片；adj.鸦片的

参考例句：

• That man gave her a dose of opium.那男人给了她一剂鸦片。
• Opium is classed under the head of narcotic.鸦片是归入麻醉剂一类的东西。

8 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。

9 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

10 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。

11 feud   

n.长期不和；世仇；v.长期争斗；世代结仇

参考例句：

• How did he start his feud with his neighbor?他是怎样和邻居开始争吵起来的？
• The two tribes were long at feud with each other.这两个部族长期不和。

12 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

13 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

14 breached   

攻破( breach的现在分词 )； 破坏，违反

参考例句：

• These commitments have already been breached. 这些承诺已遭背弃。
• Our tanks have breached the enemy defences. 我方坦克车突破了敌人的防线。

15 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。

16 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

17 distraction   

n.精神涣散，精神不集中，消遣，娱乐

参考例句：

• Total concentration is required with no distractions.要全神贯注，不能有丝毫分神。
• Their national distraction is going to the disco.他们的全民消遣就是去蹦迪。

18 lottery   

n.抽彩；碰运气的事，难于算计的事

参考例句：

• He won no less than ￡5000 in the lottery.他居然中了5000英镑的奖券。
• They thought themselves lucky in the lottery of life.他们认为自己是变幻莫测的人生中的幸运者。

19 warships   

军舰，战舰( warship的名词复数 )； 舰只

参考例句：

• The enemy warships were disengaged from the battle after suffering heavy casualties. 在遭受惨重伤亡后，敌舰退出了海战。
• The government fitted out warships and sailors for them. 政府给他们配备了战舰和水手。

20 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

21 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。

22 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。

23 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

24 frigates   

n.快速军舰( frigate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Frigates are a vital part of any balanced sea-going fleet. 护卫舰是任何一个配置均衡的远洋舰队所必需的。 来自互联网
• These ships are based on the Chinese Jiangwei II class frigates. 这些战舰是基于中国的江卫II型护卫舰。 来自互联网

25 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

26 cemetery   

n.坟墓，墓地，坟场

参考例句：

• He was buried in the cemetery.他被葬在公墓。
• His remains were interred in the cemetery.他的遗体葬在墓地。

27 Nazi   

n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的

参考例句：

• They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻，并出面求和。
• Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。

28 holocaust   

n.大破坏；大屠杀

参考例句：

• The Auschwitz concentration camp always remind the world of the holocaust.奥辛威茨集中营总是让世人想起大屠杀。
• Ahmadinejad is denying the holocaust because he's as brutal as Hitler was.内贾德否认大屠杀，因为他像希特勒一样残忍。

29 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

30 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。

31 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

32 distress   

n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛

参考例句：

• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
• Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。

33 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

34 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

35 tumor   

n.（肿）瘤，肿块(英)tumour

参考例句：

• He was died of a malignant tumor.他死于恶性肿瘤。
• The surgeons irradiated the tumor.外科医生用X射线照射那个肿瘤。

36 swelling   

n.肿胀

参考例句：

• Use ice to reduce the swelling. 用冰敷消肿。
• There is a marked swelling of the lymph nodes. 淋巴结处有明显的肿块。