英国新闻听力 69

BBC News with Blerry Gogan.

Israeli’s explaining why they have launched two days of devastating¹ air attacks on Gaza; say they are determining to change the realities on the ground. The Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said the aim was to free Israeli citizens from four years of Palestinian rocket attacks. She said Israeli forces had targeted the headquarters of Hamas, the military group which controls the territory.

We took Hamas by surprise, we targeted Hamas headquarters. This is the beginning of a successful operation, I hope. The idea is to change realities on the ground, so the question is not only what is going /on/ now in Gaza Strip, but how we are going to change the future of the citizens of Fizibel.

In one of the latest raids, Israeli planes bombed the Islamic University in Gaza, a significant Hamas cultural symbol. Palestinian estimates suggest that almost 300 people have been killed so far.

Thousands of angry demonstrators have been taking to the streets in a number of Middle-Eastern cities to show support for the Palestinians. Some protestors notably² in Egypt also called on their governments to take a tough stance against Israel. At an official level, Egypt-led the Arab world in condemnation³ of the bombardment in Gaza bay summoning Israeli ambassador to demand an end to the attacks.

Rescuers in northwestern Pakistan have been working into the night searching for people who may still be trapped under rubble⁴ after a car bomb explosion destroyed the polling station and a nearly school. It happened during a parliament by-election in Buner district and that killed at least 33 people. // reports.

Officials said a suicide bomber⁵ stopped the explosive-laden car outside the polling station, asked local people to help push it, then immediately denoted the explosion. The blast was so powerful that the polling station and a nearby school collapsed⁶. Large numbers of people, including school children were trapped under the rubble. Rescuers and local residents so worked frantically⁷ to look at survivors⁹. A spokesman for the Pakistani militant¹⁰ group Tehrik-e-Taliban in Swat said it had carried out the attack in retaliation¹¹ for an earlier attack on its fighters by a local government-backed militia¹².

A court in Iraq has brought a new series of charges against more than 20 members of the former government of Saddam Hussein, accusing them of crimes against humanity. The best known defendants¹³ are the former Iraqi deputy Prime Minister, Tariq Aziz and Ali Hassan al-Majid. Caroline Wyatt reports from Baghdad.

Tariq Aziz, once the urbane¹⁴, cigar-smoking public face of Saddam Hussein's government, and Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as Chemical Ali, are charged with persecuting¹⁵ political opponents during the Baath Party's long rule in Iraq. The new charges centre on the arrest of up to 200,000 members of Iraq's political parties. Ali Hassan al-Majid has already been sentenced to death twice and is being trialed on separate charges over the gas attack in Halabja that killed some 5,000 Iraqi Kurds in 1988.

World News from the BBC.

Coastguards in India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands are also searching for hundreds of illegal immigrants, illegal migrants who are missing after they jumped from a drifting boat and tried to swim ashore¹⁶. A police official said one body had been found and more than 100 people rescued. A survivor⁸ told police that over 400 people had been on the boat, trying to reach Malaysia. Many of the missing are feared to have been drowned. The migrants are thought to be from Bangladesh and Burma.

Belgium’s later political crisis has step close to being resolved. The speaker of the Lower House parliament Herman Van Rompuy has accepted a request by King Albert II to try and form a new government. Mr. Van Rompuy, a Flemish Christian¹⁷ Democrat¹⁸ is expected to maintain the existing five-party-coalition of the outgoing Prime Minister Yves Leterme. His government quitted earlier this month over a bank scandal.

Election officials in Ghana have begun counting votes in the closely-fought presidential run-off poll. The choice for president has been between Nana Akufo-Addo of the governing party and the opposition¹⁹ candidate John Atta Mills after neither managed to win out try in the first round. Will Ross is in the capital Accra.

Rumors²⁰ of rigging and attempts of rigging /are/ throughout the day, but many of those rumors are proved to be for slums. Suspicions have been extremely high since the first round of this election and two candidates Nana Akufo-Addo of the governing party and John Atta Mills of the opposition are very closely matched, the first round just 1% separated them. And within the next 48 hours, we should find out who has headed for Ghana’s recently built multi-million dollar presidential palace.

The President of Venezuela Hugo Chavez says his government will take back a number of mining concessions²¹ granted to private companies in an effort to supplement foreign oil revenues. He did not say which concessions would be affected²². The Venezuelan Mining Minister Rodolfo Sanz said earlier this year the government intended to take over the country’s largest gold miner, Las Cristinas.

BBC News.

1 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

2 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

3 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。

4 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

5 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。

6 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

7 frantically   

ad.发狂地, 发疯地

参考例句：

• He dashed frantically across the road. 他疯狂地跑过马路。
• She bid frantically for the old chair. 她发狂地喊出高价要买那把古老的椅子。

8 survivor   

n.生存者，残存者，幸存者

参考例句：

• The sole survivor of the crash was an infant.这次撞车的惟一幸存者是一个婴儿。
• There was only one survivor of the plane crash.这次飞机失事中只有一名幸存者。

9 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

10 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

11 retaliation   

n.报复，反击

参考例句：

• retaliation against UN workers 对联合国工作人员的报复
• He never said a single word in retaliation. 他从未说过一句反击的话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

13 defendants   

被告( defendant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The courts heard that the six defendants had been coerced into making a confession. 法官审判时发现6位被告人曾被迫承认罪行。
• As in courts, the defendants are represented by legal counsel. 与法院相同，被告有辩护律师作为代表。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

14 urbane   

adj.温文尔雅的，懂礼的

参考例句：

• He tried hard to be urbane.他极力作出彬彬有礼的神态。
• Despite the crisis,the chairman's voice was urbane as usual.尽管处于危机之中，董事长的声音还象通常一样温文尔雅。

15 persecuting   

（尤指宗教或政治信仰的）迫害(~sb. for sth.)( persecute的现在分词 )； 烦扰，困扰或骚扰某人

参考例句：

• This endurance made old Earnshaw furious, when he discovered his son persecuting the poor, fatherless child, as he called him. 当老恩萧发现他的儿子这样虐待他所谓的可怜的孤儿时，这种逆来顺受使老恩萧冒火了。
• He is possessed with the idea that someone is persecuting him. 他老是觉得有人要害他。

16 ashore   

adv.在(向)岸上，上岸

参考例句：

• The children got ashore before the tide came in.涨潮前，孩子们就上岸了。
• He laid hold of the rope and pulled the boat ashore.他抓住绳子拉船靠岸。

17 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

18 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

19 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。

20 rumors   

n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷

参考例句：

• Rumors have it that the school was burned down. 有谣言说学校给烧掉了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Rumors of a revolt were afloat. 叛变的谣言四起。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 concessions   

n.（尤指由政府或雇主给予的）特许权( concession的名词复数 )；承认；减价；（在某地的）特许经营权

参考例句：

• The firm will be forced to make concessions if it wants to avoid a strike. 要想避免罢工，公司将不得不作出一些让步。
• The concessions did little to placate the students. 让步根本未能平息学生的愤怒。

22 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。