英语听力精选进阶版 8635

Billions of dollars have been wiped off stock marketsaround the world because growing concern aboutplunging oil prices and fears about economicslowdown. In New York, the Dow Jones Index close1.5% down. The main European stock exchanges slip to a 15 months low. Theo Leggettreports.“Serious concerns about growth in China and what that might mean for the global economy,falling oil prices and the effects of rising interest rates in the United States. All of these havebeen cited as factors affecting share prices around the world. The 100 Share Index has droppedto levels not seen since late 2012 and it's lost a fifth of its values since reaching record highs inApril 2015, the situation known as a bear market. Analysts¹ say many investors² are simply losingconfidence and selling shares in order to find a safer place for their money.”

马里恩·马歇尔为你播报BBC新闻。

对油价下跌的担忧和对经济放缓的恐惧使得全世界股市损失了数十亿美元，在纽约，道琼斯指数收盘了跌了1.5%，欧洲主要证券交易所跌到15个月来的最低点。莱格特报道。“人们非常担心中国的增长以及这对世界经济的影响，还担心油价下跌和美国升息的影响，所有这些都是影响世界股价的因素。100指数下跌到2012年底以来的最低点，损失了自2015年4月最高纪录后五分之一的价值，这就是所谓的熊市，分析家称很多投资者已经失去信心，正在卖掉股票来为自己的资金寻找更安全的地方。”

A watchdog in the United States has severely³ criticized the way more than 800 million dollarsspent by the Department of Defense⁴ in Afghanistan to boost economic development. Especiallyinvestigator general for Afghan reconstruction⁵ says the scheme's legacy⁶ was marred⁷ bypoorly planned ill-conceived projects.Here is Gary O’Donoghue.“This is the latest in a series of blistering⁸ criticisms which’ve accused the defense departmentof a scatter-gun approach to economic developments. Among the projects which has drawnan eye of the inspect general,is one which saw more than 6 million dollars spent to build upAfghanistan's cashmere industry around the city of Herat. Nine rare blond Italian goats wereimported, rumored⁹ cost around 50,000 dollars each and according to the inspect general thescheme was so poorly monitored that it can't be said for sure that the goats weren't justeaten. Contractor¹⁰ has hit back the allegations saying that the money created between 250 and350 jobs.”

美国一观察机构严厉批评阿富汗国防部将8亿多美元用于促进经济发展的方式，阿富汗重建特别监察长称重建项目的成果被计划不周的项目所破坏。嘉里·多诺修报道。“这是阿富汗国防部遭到的最新的严厉批评，该部被控采取低效率的办法来促进经济发展。其中一个引起监察长注意的项目是将600多万美元用于发展赫拉特市周围的羊绒产业。”他们进口了9头意大利金毛山羊，传闻称每头羊大约5万美元，据这位监察长说，这个项目没有得到监管，无法确定地说这些山羊不是被吃了。承包商反驳这一说法，称这笔资金创造了250到350个就业岗位。”

US astronomers¹¹ say they may have discovered a new planet in the solar system about 10times bigger than earth. The object is named planet 9. Jonathan Amos has more.“The idea that there might be a so-called planet-x moving in the distant reaches of the solarsystem has been dated for more than 100 years. It's fallen in and out of vogue¹², the latestclaim is based on the analysis of the movements of objects in the band of icy material orbitingmore than 3 billion miles away, known as the Kuiper belt. The only way these alignments¹³ can beexplained, said the Cal tech team, is for an object 10 times as massive as the earth is out theresomewhere moving perhaps 20 times as far away as Neptune¹⁴, the current most distantplanet.

美国宇航员称可能在太阳系发现一颗比地球大十倍的新行星，该行星被命名为“行星9”。乔纳森·阿莫斯报道。“100多年前科学家就猜测在太阳系的远处有这颗名为‘行星9’的行星，但这一说法比较模糊。最近的说法是基于对30多亿英里外柯伊伯带上运转的天体运动的分析。该研究团队称解释天体这种排列的唯一原因，就是在20倍于目前最远行星海王星距离的地方存在10倍于地球大小的物体。”

New figures in Brazil show a further rise in the number of babies born with abnormally smallheads. There have been nearly 3900 cases of microcephaly since October when the authoritiesfirst notice the surge. The disease has been linked to the Zika virus, which has carried bymosquitoes.

巴西最新数据显示患有小头症的新生儿数量继续增加，自10月份当局首次发现该问题以来已有近3900例小头症，该疾病与蚊子传播的Zika病毒有关。

1 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

2 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

3 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

4 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。

5 reconstruction   

n.重建，再现，复原

参考例句：

• The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后，该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
• In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期，技术决定一切。

6 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

7 marred   

adj. 被损毁, 污损的

参考例句：

• The game was marred by the behaviour of drunken fans. 喝醉了的球迷行为不轨，把比赛给搅了。
• Bad diction marred the effectiveness of his speech. 措词不当影响了他演说的效果。

8 blistering   

adj.酷热的；猛烈的；使起疱的；可恶的v.起水疱；起气泡；使受暴晒n.[涂料] 起泡

参考例句：

• The runners set off at a blistering pace. 赛跑运动员如脱缰野马般起跑了。
• This failure is known as preferential wetting and is responsible for blistering. 这种故障称为优先吸湿，是产生气泡的原因。 来自辞典例句

9 rumored   

adj.传说的，谣传的v.传闻( rumor的过去式和过去分词 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷

参考例句：

• It is rumored that he cheats on his wife. 据传他对他老婆不忠。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It was rumored that the white officer had been a Swede. 传说那个白人军官是个瑞典人。 来自辞典例句

10 contractor   

n.订约人，承包人，收缩肌

参考例句：

• The Tokyo contractor was asked to kick $ 6000 back as commission.那个东京的承包商被要求退还6000美元作为佣金。
• The style of house the contractor builds depends partly on the lay of the land.承包商所建房屋的式样，有几分要看地势而定。

11 astronomers   

n.天文学者，天文学家( astronomer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Astronomers can accurately foretell the date,time,and length of future eclipses. 天文学家能精确地预告未来日食月食的日期、时刻和时长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Astronomers used to ask why only Saturn has rings. 天文学家们过去一直感到奇怪，为什么只有土星有光环。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 Vogue   

n.时髦，时尚；adj.流行的

参考例句：

• Flowery carpets became the vogue.花卉地毯变成了时髦货。
• Short hair came back into vogue about ten years ago.大约十年前短发又开始流行起来了。

13 alignments   

排成直线( alignment的名词复数 )； （国家、团体间的）结盟

参考例句：

• Along some active faults we can see clear alignments of microearthquakes. 微震清晰地沿着某些活动断层排列着。
• The technique requires critical and difficult optical alignments. 这种技术要求严格，并且光学调整困难。

14 Neptune   

n.海王星

参考例句：

• Neptune is the furthest planet from the sun.海王星是离太阳最远的行星。
• Neptune turned out to be a dynamic,stormy world.海王星原来是个有生气、多风暴的世界。