英国新闻听力 40

BBC News with Cathy Clarkston.

The United States Central Bank, the Federal Reserve, has announced plans for another huge spending package to stimulate¹ the American economy, as new figures show it shrank by more than previously² thought in the third quarter. The Federal Reserve will buy up to 600 billion dollars of mortgage related debt to increase the availability of home loans. A further 200 billion dollars will be used to help with loans for small businesses, car buyers and students. The U. S. Treasury³ Secretary Henry Paulson said the package was vital, but warned that a full economic recovery would not come immediately.

It will take time to work through the difficulties in our market and our economy, and new challenges will continue to arise. I and my regulatory colleagues are committed to using all the tools at our disposal to preserve the strength of our financial institutions and stabilize⁴ our financial markets, to minimize the spillover into the rest of the economy.

It's been reported in Washington that the U. S. Defense⁵ Secretary Robert Gates has agreed to stay on in his post under President-elect Barack Obama, the Politico news website and ABC News quoted officials in both Democratic and Republican parties. They also said that General James Jones, a former marine⁶ commandant, and commander of U. S. and NATO forces in Europe, will be named as national security advisor⁷. Our correspondent in Washington Jonathan Beale says there were early indications Barack Obama would ask Robert Gates to stay on.

He said himself that he would be asking a Republican or maybe more to serve in the administration. Whether Robert Gates actually counts as a Republican is a moot⁸ point ( 争论未决的问题) because he is a registered independent, but certainly somebody who has served not just in this president Bush's administration, he also served under George Bush's father as the head of the CIA, so I think that you know he is a respected man. He is well liked in the Pentagon and I think the universal belief is that he’s done a good job there.

The BBC has uncovered evidence of serious overcrowding and poor living conditions in Iraq's prisons. In one facility in Baghdad, the prisoners said they were rarely let out of their cells. Andrew North reports from inside one of the jails.

In the dim light, it took a while to realize just how many prisoners were inside. Almost 150 inmates⁹ were in this one wing in a space about the size of a school classroom. Iraq's Interior Ministry¹⁰ admits it has a problem but blames the security situation. Thousands of people have been arrested in the past few years, but months even years later, many of these people are still waiting to be charged because Iraq's judicial¹¹ system is too overloaded¹² to cope.

Two American soldiers have been shot dead just west of the city of Mosul in northern Iraq. The U. S. military said they were killed while distributing humanitarian¹³ aid near the town of Baaj. The attacker was an Iraqi soldier who escaped after the shooting.

World News from the BBC.

The parliament in Jamaica has voted to keep the death penalty as the Caribbean nation struggles to contain one of the world's highest murder rates. Members of parliament were allowed a free vote on the issue rather than having to vote along party lines. Electron Neil Smith reports.

The vote follows weeks of passionate¹⁴ debate. Those opposed wanted improvements to Jamaica’s heavily criticized police and justice system while those in favor pointed¹⁵ to the ever-upward rise in violent crime. Jamaica currently has nine men on death row, but legal challenges have meant it has been 20 years since the last execution. The governing Jamaica Labor¹⁶ Party was elected last year, with a call to resume hanging immediately and with 1, 200 murders so far in 2008, there's strong popular support. As one politician said, it is the only way the crime monster can be tamed.

The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has warned Zimbabwe's political parties that the deteriorating¹⁷ humanitarian situation in the country means they can not afford to fail in their efforts to negotiate a power-sharing deal. He said Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party and the opposition¹⁸ MDC should reach a workable agreement quickly so they can tackle the formidable challenges facing Zimbabwe.

Botswana's Foreign Minister Phandu Skelemani said that holding another presidential election might be the best solution if the parties couldn't agree to a constitutional amendment¹⁹.

We can't go on like this if, in fact, they can't agree on this amendment, which is vital, there is no way you can have a government of national unity²⁰ without this amendment. If they can't, then we might as well pursue the only option that we know, of going back to the people.

A referendum has been taking place in Greenland to decide whether the island should seek greater autonomy from Denmark. Correspondents say a yes vote would be a major step towards independence for the Arctic territory, which relies on subsidies²¹ from Denmark to sustain its economy.

1 stimulate   

vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋

参考例句：

• Your encouragement will stimulate me to further efforts.你的鼓励会激发我进一步努力。
• Success will stimulate the people for fresh efforts.成功能鼓舞人们去作新的努力。

2 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

3 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。

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 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。

6 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

7 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

8 moot   

v.提出；adj.未决议的；n.大会；辩论会

参考例句：

• The question mooted in the board meeting is still a moot point.那个在董事会上提出讨论的问题仍未决的。
• The oil versus nuclear equation is largely moot.石油和核能之间的关系还很有争议。

9 inmates   

n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• One of the inmates has escaped. 被收容的人中有一个逃跑了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The inmates were moved to an undisclosed location. 监狱里的囚犯被转移到一个秘密处所。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 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。

11 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

12 overloaded   

a.超载的，超负荷的

参考例句：

• He's overloaded with responsibilities. 他担负的责任过多。
• She has overloaded her schedule with work, study, and family responsibilities. 她的日程表上排满了工作、学习、家务等，使自己负担过重。

13 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。

14 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。

15 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

16 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

17 deteriorating   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The weather conditions are deteriorating. 天气变得越来越糟。
• I was well aware of the bad morale and the deteriorating factories. 我很清楚，大家情绪低落，各个工厂越搞越坏。

18 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。

19 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

20 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

21 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》