英语听力精选进阶版 13875（在线收听）

BBC Learning English 

Words in the News  

11 July 2012 

Disney in North Korea? 

Transcript: 

Is this what springs to mind when you think of North Korea?  

It's an unorthodox cultural celebration for a country better known for parading 

its missile might. 

These images from North Korean TV suggest Kim Jong-un may want to carve out 

a different image to his predecessors.    

They've eased restrictions on some Western brands and these Disney characters. 

It comes as officials pay their respects to the country's former leaders. 

Vocabulary: 

springs to mind  

is your immediate thought  

unorthodox 

unusual 

might 

power or strength 

eased 

relaxed (a rule or law) 

pay their respects 

honour someone or something (e.g. the dead)  

Exercise: 

Use one of the words or phrases below to complete each of these sentences from 

BBC news reports.  

Note that you may have to change the form of a word to complete the sentence 

correctly. 

springs to mind / unorthodox / might / eased / pay their respects 

1. China's securities regulator has sought ______ entry rules for foreign 

investors, the latest step in its bid to open up the financial market. 

2. Mr Orban has alarmed Hungary's foreign partners with his ______economic 

policies, particularly a public battle with his own central bank. 

3. The dark red berets of the Ethiopian army are back in Baidoa. At the airstrip, 

there was plenty of military _______ on display: hulking tanks, heavy artillery 

and dozens of alert troops.  

4. Writing on the council's website, the mayor of Lisburn, William Leathem, said: 

"For those of us who have worked or served in our own professions for many 

years, we understand the enormity of time that 60 years' service brings and we 

wish to express our thanks and ___________ to Her Majesty. 

5. Mention Canada, and images of mounties, maple syrup or possibly Montreal 

are most likely to __________. But the country is sitting on the second-largest 

oil reserves in the world. 

Answers:  

1. China's securities regulator has sought to ease entry rules for foreign 

investors, the latest step in its bid to open up the financial market. 

Source:  China seeks to relax entry rules for foreign investors 

2. Mr Orban has alarmed Hungary's foreign partners with his unorthodox 

economic policies, particularly a public battle with his own central bank. 

Source:  Profile: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban 

3. The dark red berets of the Ethiopian army are back in Baidoa. At the airstrip, 

there was plenty of military might on display: hulking tanks, heavy artillery and 

dozens of alert troops. 

Source:  Somalia conflict: Visiting al-Shabab fallen stronghold 

4. Writing on the council's website, the mayor of Lisburn, William Leathem, said: 

"For those of us who have worked or served in our own professions for many 

years, we understand the enormity of time that 60 years' service brings and we 

wish to express our thanks and pay our respects to Her Majesty. 

Source:  Diamond Jubilee: 21-gun salute at Hillsborough 

5. Mention Canada, and images of mounties, maple syrup or possibly Montreal 

are most likely to spring to mind. But the country is sitting on the second-largest oil reserves in the world. 

Source:  Oil politics: Canada's role in the energy world