英国新闻听力 62

BBC news with Jerry Schmitt.

Police in Mexico have found nine decapitated bodies near the tourist resort of Acapulco, and at least some of them have been identified as soldiers. The bodies were left, found on a highway not far from an army base. Their heads were dumped outside a shopping center. Stephen Gibbs reports from Mexico City

The local public safety secretary has said that some of the victims were soldiers. A note was apparently¹ found with the severed² heads warning that more decapitations will follow. With corruption³ and ongoing⁴ problem in Mexico's police forces, President Calderon has increasingly been relying on the army, in his attempt to destroy the powerful drug Cartels which operate across the country.

The United States says it no longer supports the power-sharing deal in Zimbabwe had agreed on by President Robert Mugabe and the opposition⁵ leader Morgan Tsvangirai of the MDC. The senior American envoy⁶ to Africa Jendayi Frazer said the United States had been willing to use its influence with the International Monetary⁷ Fund and World Bank to clear Zimbabwe's 1.2 billion dollars of debt, but was no longer prepared to do so.

That's off the table now with Robert Mugabe, um remaining in government because we don't think that you can have credible⁸ power sharing with him there, and we don't think that you can restart the economy, um, start social services to, you know, really help them return to democracy if you don't have genuine power sharing.

East African foreign ministers have said that they are ready to impose sanctions on the president of Somalia Abdullahi Yusuf. The decision which was made at a meeting in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa is in response to Mr. Yusuf's decision to sack the Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein. The ministers also discussed ways of replacing Ethiopian troops when they pull out of Somalia in the next few weeks. The head of the African Union Commission Jean Ping said Nigeria was prepared to send troops.

I'm happy to announce that the Nigerian head of states himself confirmed to me the day before yesterday that Nigeria will contribute one battalion⁹ shortly. He indicated to me that the troops are already prepared and equipped for this purpose which leads me to think that we could perhaps confirm the arrival of the battalion as early as January.

The charity Medecins sans Frontières says it is having to work in increasingly hazardous¹⁰ and threatening environments around the world, over the past year it's said direct attacks and threats against aid workers in Somalia had forced it to curtail¹¹ its operations there. While in the Sudanese region of Darfur, a lack of security had left hundreds of thousands cut off from aid, MSF said that continuing fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo had left many areas too dangerous for aid work.

World News from the BBC.

The Shiite-led Iraqi government has insisted that several thousand Iranians including members of the Iranian opposition group The People's Mujahedin must leave Iraq. The People's Mujahedin is listed as a terrorist organization in the United States and Europe. Iran has been demanding they be expelled from Iraq, but the group says it fears its members will be executed if they return home.

Two of Israel's foremost politicians - the Foreign Minister, Tzipi Livni, and the leader of the opposition Likud Party, Binyamin Netanyahu have vowed¹² to end the rule of the Palestinian Islamic party Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Ms. Livni and Mr. Netanyahu are rivals to become prime minister in February's election in Israel. A six-month Egyptian-brokered truce¹³ between Israel and Hamas came to an end on Friday.

The two luxury hotels targeted in last month's attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai Taj Mahal and Trident Oberoi have partially¹⁴ reopened for business. Although sections of the buildings remain badly damaged, both the buildings have been repaired sufficiently¹⁵ to receive guests. The manager of the Trident Rattan¹⁶ Keswani said his restaurants and lounges were full for the reopening.

We don't have a seat free in any of the restaurants and through the lobby lounge in the hotel. That would kind of indicate that there was no reluctance¹⁷ of come [coming] back to the hotel. A lot of people know our staffs have been cared for them during their trying time. All their friends and family have been cared for, so we had a small prayer ceremony which is a multi-religion prayer ceremony that they all attended in the lobby, and after that, they all were in our restaurants.

President Lech Kaczyński has become the first Polish head of state to attend a religious service for the main synagogue in the capital, Warsaw. A gesture, Jewish leaders have described as a historic step in the revival¹⁸ of the community in Poland. Mr. Kaczyński, who is a practising Roman-Catholic, lit a candle during the service which marked the start of the Jewish festival of Hannuka.

1 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。

2 severed   

v.切断，断绝( sever的过去式和过去分词 )；断，裂

参考例句：

• The doctor said I'd severed a vessel in my leg. 医生说我割断了腿上的一根血管。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We have severed diplomatic relations with that country. 我们与那个国家断绝了外交关系。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 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。

4 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

5 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。

6 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

7 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。

8 credible   

adj.可信任的，可靠的

参考例句：

• The news report is hardly credible.这则新闻报道令人难以置信。
• Is there a credible alternative to the nuclear deterrent?是否有可以取代核威慑力量的可靠办法？

9 battalion   

n.营；部队；大队(的人)

参考例句：

• The town was garrisoned by a battalion.该镇由一营士兵驻守。
• At the end of the drill parade,the battalion fell out.操练之后，队伍解散了。

10 hazardous   

adj.(有)危险的，冒险的；碰运气的

参考例句：

• These conditions are very hazardous for shipping.这些情况对航海非常不利。
• Everybody said that it was a hazardous investment.大家都说那是一次危险的投资。

11 curtail   

vt.截短，缩短；削减

参考例句：

• The government hopes to curtail public spending.政府希望缩减公共事业开支。
• The minister had to curtail his visit.部长不得不缩短访问日期。

12 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

13 truce   

n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束

参考例句：

• The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。
• She had thought of flying out to breathe the fresh air in an interval of truce.她想跑出去呼吸一下休战期间的新鲜空气。

14 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。

15 sufficiently   

adv.足够地，充分地

参考例句：

• It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
• The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。

16 rattan   

n.藤条，藤杖

参考例句：

• When they reached a long bridge fastened with rattan strips,everyone got out and walked.走到那顶藤条扎的长桥，大家都下车步行。
• Rattan furniture,include rattan chair,rattan table,and so on.藤器家具包括藤椅藤桌等等。

17 reluctance   

n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿

参考例句：

• The police released Andrew with reluctance.警方勉强把安德鲁放走了。
• He showed the greatest reluctance to make a reply.他表示很不愿意答复。

18 revival   

n.复兴，复苏，（精力、活力等的）重振

参考例句：

• The period saw a great revival in the wine trade.这一时期葡萄酒业出现了很大的复苏。
• He claimed the housing market was showing signs of a revival.他指出房地产市场正出现复苏的迹象。