英国新闻听力 54

BBC News with Blerry Gogan.

The American Defense¹ Secretary Robert Gates has told American troops in Iraq that their mission there is now, as he put it, in its endgame. He said the American military presence remained vitally important during what would be a crucial transition period. But American combat troops would leave Iraqi cities within the next six months. Mr. Gates was speaking at a US air base north of Baghdad.

“We are gonna have to be out of the cities, out of populated areas by the 30th of June. That represents a really significant change of mission. The fact is that the June 30th date was the date we gave them, not / vice² versa, because we believe, our commanders here believe, that that’s the point at which we will have turned over all 18 provinces to provincial³ Iraqi control. ”

Thousands of people have fled the disputed Sudanese oil town of Abyei after fresh fighting on Friday. One soldier was killed and an overnight curfew is now in place. Correspondents say the fighting was the most significant outbreak of violence in the town since May, when fighting between northern and southern forces prompted fears of a renewed civil war.

The British Defense Secretary John Hatton says piracy⁴ off the Horn of Africa is the price the world is paying for having ignored the situation in Somalia until it got out of hand. With over 120 ships attacked this year and around 300 crew members still being held hostage in Somalia, Mr. Hutton said that the international community should have reacted more quickly to the problem.

“We haven’t been as involved in Somalia as we should have been. This is the consequence. It could get worse unless we try and resolve this problem with our regional partners and friends, and allies around the world. The piracy is a manifestation⁵ of failed states. It could take other manifestations⁶: terrorism, drugs, people trafficking, and so on. We cannot allow these remote parts of the world to descend⁷ into the type of chaos⁸.”

An independent report in Colombia has described government figures on the number of rebels killed or captured by the security forces as vastly exaggerated. However, it acknowledged that there had been bigger advances in tackling the guerrilla threat. Here is Jeremy McDermott.

The report entitled “The Numbers Don’t Add Up” reveals that government statistics list over 114,000 members of the illegal armies killed, captured or surrendered over the last 6 years. Yet, those armies, according to previous government estimates, did not exceed 30,000 members. Even allowing for recruiting to replenish⁹ depleted¹⁰ ranks, the government figures suggest that 8 members of the warring factions¹¹ are killed every single day in Colombia, something not substantiated¹² by any other sources.

There has been a new wave of violent protests in the Greek capital Athens a week after the killing¹³ by police of a 15-year-old boy. Rioters threw petrol bombs and stones at a government building, a police station, shops and banks. Police fired teargas in reply. The violence broke out after hundreds of young people had staged peaceful demonstrations¹⁴ over the boy’s death.

World News from the BBC.

The ousted¹⁵ former Prime Minister of Thailand Thaksin Shinawatra has accused the army of interfering¹⁶ in the formation of a new government. In a video address recorded in exile and shown to tens of thousands of his supporters at a stadium in Bangkok. Mr. Thaksin said the army had used the courts to undermine the elected government. Here is Jonathan Head.

Mr. Thaksin’s address, when it came, not live on the phone as promised, but in a recorded video message, seemed to muted by comparison with other speakers. He demanded that those forces which he said had been meddling¹⁷ to undermine the government led by his allies, should stop, a thinly veiled reference to the senior military and royalist figures who’ve been backing Mr. Thaksin’s opponents. But there was little in his speech that seems likely to sway the defectors. After months of turmoil¹⁸, Thailand is now just days away from a new government that just might be able to cool the political atmosphere.

China, Japan and South Korea have ended their first summit since the Second World War with a promise to work together to counter the global economic crisis. A statement after the meeting in Japan also expressed the hope that the Asian countries would lead the way to a global recovery. Japan and South Korea have been hit hard by the economic slowdown. There are signs that it is having an impact in China too.

Burma’s military government has freed the daughter of the country’s late leader Ne Win who had been under house arrest for more than 6 years. The woman Sandar Win was detained with her father in 2002 over an alleged¹⁹ plot to overthrow²⁰ the government. Her husband and three sons were sentenced to death, although they haven’t yet been executed.

The President of Cuba Raul Castro is in Venezuela on his first official trip abroad since taking over from his ailing²¹ brother Fidel earlier this year. At the start of his visit, he was met and embraced by the Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez at the airport. The visit is seen as largely symbolic²². But Venezuela is a key political and economic ally of Cuba. Fidel Castro also made his first foreign trip there….

1 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。

2 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。

3 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

4 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。

5 manifestation   

n.表现形式；表明；现象

参考例句：

• Her smile is a manifestation of joy.她的微笑是她快乐的表现。
• What we call mass is only another manifestation of energy.我们称之为质量的东西只是能量的另一种表现形态。

6 manifestations   

n.表示，显示（manifestation的复数形式）

参考例句：

• These were manifestations of the darker side of his character. 这些是他性格阴暗面的表现。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• To be wordly-wise and play safe is one of the manifestations of liberalism. 明哲保身是自由主义的表现之一。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 descend   

vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降

参考例句：

• I hope the grace of God would descend on me.我期望上帝的恩惠。
• We're not going to descend to such methods.我们不会沦落到使用这种手段。

8 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

9 replenish   

vt.补充；(把…)装满；(再)填满

参考例句：

• I always replenish my food supply before it is depleted.我总是在我的食物吃完之前加以补充。
• We have to import an extra 4 million tons of wheat to replenish our reserves.我们不得不额外进口四百万吨小麦以补充我们的储备。

10 depleted   

adj. 枯竭的, 废弃的 动词deplete的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Food supplies were severely depleted. 食物供应已严重不足。
• Both teams were severely depleted by injuries. 两个队都因队员受伤而实力大减。

11 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别

12 substantiated   

v.用事实支持（某主张、说法等），证明，证实( substantiate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The results of the tests substantiated his claims. 这些检验的结果证实了他的说法。
• The statement has never been substantiated. 这一陈述从未得到证实。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

13 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。

14 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

15 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

16 interfering   

adj. 妨碍的 动词interfere的现在分词

参考例句：

• He's an interfering old busybody! 他老爱管闲事！
• I wish my mother would stop interfering and let me make my own decisions. 我希望我母亲不再干预，让我自己拿主意。

17 meddling   

v.干涉，干预（他人事务）( meddle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He denounced all "meddling" attempts to promote a negotiation. 他斥责了一切“干预”促成谈判的企图。 来自辞典例句
• They liked this field because it was never visited by meddling strangers. 她们喜欢这块田野，因为好事的陌生人从来不到那里去。 来自辞典例句

18 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。

19 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

20 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

21 ailing   

v.生病

参考例句：

• They discussed the problems ailing the steel industry. 他们讨论了困扰钢铁工业的问题。
• She looked after her ailing father. 她照顾有病的父亲。

22 symbolic   

adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的

参考例句：

• It is symbolic of the fighting spirit of modern womanhood.它象征着现代妇女的战斗精神。
• The Christian ceremony of baptism is a symbolic act.基督教的洗礼仪式是一种象征性的做法。