英国新闻听力 50

BBC News with Joe Macintosh.

The streets of the Greek capital Athens have become calmer after several days of riots. A candle-lit vigil has been held outside parliament following the funeral of a 15-year-old boy who was shot dead by police on Saturday. The Trade Union Movement has refused to call off a general strike planned for Wednesday. Malcolm Brabant reports from Athens.

The Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis has spent the day talking to the president and the opposition¹ party leaders, apparently² trying and failing to reach a consensus³ over how to restore order. He accused the rioters of being the enemies of democracy. The main Socialist⁴ opposition leader George Papandreou has called on Mr. Karamanlis to resign and call elections. The left is determined⁵ to topple the conservative administration.

The World Bank has predicted that the global economic slowdown means international trade will fall next year for the first time since 1982. It believes / the decline will be just over two percent. The Bank argues that this reduction in trade will hurt poorer countries most as they tend to rely on their exports of commodities to richer nations. It also suggests that there would be a sharp drop in investment between countries.

A United Nations special investigator⁶ on human rights has said Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip is a massive violation⁷ of International Humanitarian⁸ Law. Professor Richard Falk said Israel was allowing in barely enough food to avoid famine and disease. Laura Trevelyan reports.

The UN rapporteur has aroused Israel’s anger before, but his latest criticisms are probably his strongest yet. He described Israeli blockade of the Gaza as “a siege in full fury” and said its collective punishment to Palestinians amounted to a crime against humanity. Mr. Falk went on to say that the International Criminal Court should consider indicting⁹ Israeli leaders for possible violations¹⁰ of International Criminal Law. There was no immediate¹¹ comment by Israel but it’s dismissed previous statements by Mr. Falk as offensive and unbalanced.

The Governor of the American state of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, has been charged with corruption¹². A federal prosecutor¹³ Patrick Fitzgerald said Mr. Blagojevich had been involved in a corruption crime spree.

We acted to stop that crime spree. The most appalling¹⁴ conduct Governor Blagojevich / engaged in, according to the complaint file today or unsealed today, is that he attempted to sell the Senate seat, the Senate seat he had the sole right / under Illinois to appoint to replace President-elect Obama.

The BBC Washington correspondent says Barack Obama is not close to the governor and is unlikely to be damaged by the affair. Mr. Blagojevich has been released on bail¹⁵.

Negotiations¹⁶ are continuing in Washington on a deal that will provide billions of dollars in aid to the US car industry. The Senate Majority Leader Harry¹⁷ Reid said he hoped the bill would be voted on by as early as Wednesday.

This is World News from the BBC.

A senior defense¹⁸ official in Britain has said British forces should begin their pullout from Iraq next March. Britain has more than 4,000 troops in Basra but plans to withdraw them over the next year if Iraqi elections in January pass off peacefully. Caroline Wyatt reports.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has indicated that almost all British troops should be out of Iraq by the middle of next year. The eventual¹⁹ withdrawal²⁰ of all, but a few hundred British forces who may remain to continue training the Iraqi security forces should free up more helicopters and intelligence assets for the campaign in Afghanistan. Defense sources said the Taliban have been quick to adapt their tactics with increased use of improvised²¹ explosive devices. The US is planning a big increase in forces in Afghanistan in the new year, and it's hoping that its NATO allies will follow suit.

The authorities in Mexico have announced that a leading police official has been shot dead in the capital Mexico City. The official Victor Hugo Moneda was killed late on Monday outside his home. He was reportedly investigating the activities of several criminal groups. The authorities did not say whether they believed his death was related to the wave of drug-related murders that has claimed the lives of more than 5,000 people so far this year in Mexico.

The United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, has begun delivering clean water by truck to the Zimbabwean capital Harare where cholera²² is spreading. The city’s water supply was interrupted ten days ago because of a lack of purifying chemicals. A UN official said three public hospitals in Harare had been closed since the epidemic²³ began.

Somali pirates holding a Ukrainian ship loaded with tanks say they stopped an attempt by the captive crew to escape. One of the pirates said the hostages had tried to overpower their guards and take control of the vessel²⁴. He said mostly Ukrainian crew risked serious punishment. The vessel was hijacked²⁵ in September. It’s one of more than a dozen being held by Somali pirates.

BBC News.

1 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。

2 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

3 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

4 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

5 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

6 investigator   

n.研究者，调查者，审查者

参考例句：

• He was a special investigator for the FBI.他是联邦调查局的特别调查员。
• The investigator was able to deduce the crime and find the criminal.调查者能够推出犯罪过程并锁定罪犯。

7 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

8 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。

9 indicting   

控告，起诉( indict的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• But Moreno-Ocampo stressed he was not indicting President Bashir. 但是奥坎波强调，他并不是在起诉巴希尔总统。
• He says that indicting the journalists is just another move at Washington. 尹德民说，起诉这两名记者就是针对华盛顿的另一个行动。

10 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

11 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

12 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

13 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

14 appalling   

adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的

参考例句：

• The search was hampered by appalling weather conditions.恶劣的天气妨碍了搜寻工作。
• Nothing can extenuate such appalling behaviour.这种骇人听闻的行径罪无可恕。

15 bail   

v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人

参考例句：

• One of the prisoner's friends offered to bail him out.犯人的一个朋友答应保释他出来。
• She has been granted conditional bail.她被准予有条件保释。

16 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

17 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

18 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。

19 eventual   

adj.最后的，结局的，最终的

参考例句：

• Several schools face eventual closure.几所学校面临最终关闭。
• Both parties expressed optimism about an eventual solution.双方对问题的最终解决都表示乐观。

20 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

21 improvised   

a.即席而作的,即兴的

参考例句：

• He improvised a song about the football team's victory. 他即席创作了一首足球队胜利之歌。
• We improvised a tent out of two blankets and some long poles. 我们用两条毛毯和几根长竿搭成一个临时帐蓬。

22 cholera   

n.霍乱

参考例句：

• The cholera outbreak has been contained.霍乱的发生已被控制住了。
• Cholera spread like wildfire through the camps.霍乱在营地里迅速传播。

23 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

24 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

25 hijacked   

劫持( hijack的过去式和过去分词 )； 绑架； 拦路抢劫； 操纵（会议等，以推销自己的意图）

参考例句：

• The plane was hijacked by two armed men on a flight from London to Rome. 飞机在从伦敦飞往罗马途中遭到两名持械男子劫持。
• The plane was hijacked soon after it took off. 那架飞机起飞后不久被劫持了。