英国新闻听力 28

BBC News with Jerry Schmitt.

Stock markets in United States and Europe have fallen sharply as fears of a global recession continue to grow. In New York, the Dow Jones Index closed almost 5% down, while London, Paris and Frankfurt all suffered substantial losses. The International Monetary¹ Fund is now predicting that the developed economies will shrink for the whole of next year. It welcomed interest rate cuts by many central banks on Thursday but said more needed to be done. The President of the European Central Bank Jean-Claude Trichet said there was still a lack of confidence in the markets.

“The level of uncertainty² stemming from financial market developments remains³ extraordinarily⁴ high. And exceptional challenges lie ahead. We expect the banking⁵ sector⁶ to make its contribution, to restore confidence.”

There has been a mixed reaction to the first high profile appointment by the US President-elect Barack Obama. A senior Republican Party Congressman⁷ John Boehner criticized the appointment of Rahm Emanuel, a tough and aggressive politician as chief of staff. He said it was ironic⁸, considering Mr. Obama’s pledge to govern from the centre. But Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said Mr. Emanuel had great political skills and was a wise choice.

The Italian Prime Minister Slivio Berlusconi has drawn⁹ condemnation¹⁰ in Italy with a comment about Barack Obama’s skin colour. He referred to the US president-elect as “young, handsome and sun tanned.” Duncan Kennedy reports from Rome.

Slivio Berlusconi made his comments on a trip to Moscow. He was asked by a reporter about the prospect¹¹ for US-Russian relations. Mr. Berlusconi said that Barack Obama has everything needed in order to reach deals with the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. “Mr. Obama was”, he said, “young, handsome and even tanned.” One black Italian member of Parliament said, in the United States, a joke like that wouldn’t just be politically incorrect but a great offence.

The international charity Save the Children says there has been a sharp increase in the recruitment of child soldiers by rebel groups across the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The charity says the current surge in fighting has led to rebels specifically targeting children in schools. Peter Greste reports from Goma.

The militias¹² in the eastern Congo had a disturbing history of abducting¹³ young men and women and forcing them to join. But now as the fighting escalates¹⁴ across the region and the need for reinforcements grows, it seems the armed groups are targeting entire schools for their new recruits. Save the Children has uncovered at least two cases in which militiamen either forced their way into a classroom or ambushed¹⁵ students as they left school. One pair of students told me they were taken along with five of their classmates and three teachers as they walked home together. All were thrown into a pit for two days before they managed to escape.

World News from the BBC.

A suicide car bomber¹⁶ has killed two people and injured at least 20 others in the northwest of Pakistan. The bomber detonated his vehicle at a police checkpoint in the east Swat Valley, an area where the army has been fighting a rising tide of militancy¹⁷. Earlier in the day, 17 people were killed in another suicide attack in the Bajaur district near the Afghan frontier.

The Iranian President Mhamoud Ahmadinejad has offered his congratulations to Barack Obama on his election as president. It’s believed to be the first time an Iranian leader has sent such a message since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. From Tehran, John Lion reports.

The message of congratulations from President Mhamoud Ahmadinejad is rare, possibly unprecedented¹⁸. Iran and the United States are more used to trading insults. George W. Bush labeled Iran part of the “axis of evil” and Iran has long called America “the Great Satan”. The actual contents of Mr. Ahmadinejad’s message was a little more familiar. He called on the United States to change its policies, stop war mongering and to take steps to reclaim¹⁹ the sense of honor and hope. It’s widely thought that Mr. Ahmadinejad wants to open a dialogue with the United States.

Federal prosecutors²⁰ in the United States have said they would not bring criminal charges against the former governor of New York Eliot Spitzer for his role in a prostitution scandal. A US Attorney Michael Garcia said he’d found no evidence that Spitzer or his office had misused²¹ public or campaign funds. Mr. Spitzer was forced from office in March after it was revealed that he’d paid high-priced call girls.

A Chinese diplomat²² who saved thousands of Jews from the Nazi²³ Holocaust²⁴ has been honored posthumously²⁵ in Austria. Ho Fengshan served in Vienna from 1938 to 1940 and issued visas to Austrian Jews, enabling them to escape to Shanghai.

And that’s the latest 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 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

3 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

4 extraordinarily   

adv.格外地；极端地

参考例句：

• She is an extraordinarily beautiful girl.她是个美丽非凡的姑娘。
• The sea was extraordinarily calm that morning.那天清晨，大海出奇地宁静。

5 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。

6 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

7 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

8 ironic   

adj.讽刺的，有讽刺意味的，出乎意料的

参考例句：

• That is a summary and ironic end.那是一个具有概括性和讽刺意味的结局。
• People used to call me Mr Popularity at high school,but they were being ironic.人们中学时常把我称作“万人迷先生”，但他们是在挖苦我。

9 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

10 condemnation   

n.谴责; 定罪

参考例句：

• There was widespread condemnation of the invasion. 那次侵略遭到了人们普遍的谴责。
• The jury's condemnation was a shock to the suspect. 陪审团宣告有罪使嫌疑犯大为震惊。

11 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

12 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

13 abducting   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的现在分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• She was charged with abducting a six-month-old child. 她被控诱拐一个6个月大的孩子。
• At the same time, the rate of abducting foreigners is going down. 同时，发生在外国人身上的绑架案正在下降。

14 escalates   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的第三人称单数 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• As the challenge escalates, the need for teamwork elevates. 面临的挑战越大，越需要团队协同合作。 来自互联网
• I cannot understand why a minor disagreement escalates into a fist-fight. 我真不明白为什么一点意见不合就变成了拳头相见。 来自互联网

15 ambushed   

v.埋伏( ambush的过去式和过去分词 )；埋伏着

参考例句：

• The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The military vehicles were ambushed. 军车遭到伏击。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 bomber   

n.轰炸机，投弹手，投掷炸弹者

参考例句：

• He flew a bomber during the war.他在战时驾驶轰炸机。
• Detectives hunting the London bombers will be keen to interview him.追查伦敦爆炸案凶犯的侦探们急于对他进行讯问。

17 militancy   

n.warlike behavior or tendency

参考例句：

• Full of militancy and revolutionary ardour, the people of all nationalities in the country are working hard for the realization of the four modernizations. 全国各族人民意气风发， 斗志昂扬，为实现四个现代化而奋战。
• The seniority system is another factor that leads to union militancy. 排资论辈制度也是导致工会好斗争的另一因素。

18 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

19 reclaim   

v.要求归还，收回；开垦

参考例句：

• I have tried to reclaim my money without success.我没能把钱取回来。
• You must present this ticket when you reclaim your luggage.当你要取回行李时，必须出示这张票子。

20 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

21 misused   

v.使用…不当( misuse的过去式和过去分词 )；把…派作不正当的用途；虐待；滥用

参考例句：

• He misused his dog shamefully. 他可耻地虐待自己的狗。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He had grossly misused his power. 他严重滥用职权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

23 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。

24 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。

25 posthumously   

adv.于死后，于身后；于著作者死后出版地

参考例句：

• He was confirmed posthumously as a member of the Chinese Communist Party. 他被追认为中国共产党党员。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Her last book was published posthumously in 1948. 她最后的一本书在她死后于1948 年出版了。 来自《简明英汉词典》