VOA慢速英语20060429a

WORLD NEWS - 00:30 UTC, April 29, 2006By Voice of America

Broadcast: Saturday, April 29, 2006

鎰熻阿Spag Bolo鎻愪緵鐨勭簿鍑嗗箍鎾?惉鍐欑?!

And we come now to zero hours thirty Universal Time. In the news in this hour:

The International Atomic Energy Agency says Iran has failed to obey a United Nations' demand to suspend its uranium enrichment program. The IAEA reported the issue to the Security Council on Friday. The report called for a new measure to increase information about Iran's enrichment program. American and the European members of the Security Council have called for immediate¹ diplomatic action. Security Council members Russia and China opposed the action against Iran.

The United States army has charged an officer with involvement in harming prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. The army said on Friday that Lt. Col. Steven L. Jordan would face 12 separated charges including cruelty and interfering² with an investigation³. Colonel Gordon supervised questioning at the Abu Ghraib prison in 2003; he is the highest-level officer to face charges in connection with violations⁴ at the prison.

Protesters in Nepal say they will continue demonstrations⁵ until representatives are elected to write a new constitution. Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the parliament building in Katmandu on Friday as lawmakers met for the first time in four years. Members of parliament proposed a truce⁶ with rebels and elections for a constituent⁷ assembly. The acting⁸ speaker of parliament offered the proposals for the newly named Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala. He could not attend the meeting because of health problems. Parliament met after three weeks of protests against King Gyanendra.

A Sudanese rebel group has asked the African Union to extend the time limit to consider a peace agreement. Rebel leader Wahed al-Nour says his Sudan Liberation Movement needs more time. The time limit for the agreement is April 30th. Another Darfur rebel group the Justice and Equality Movement says it is waiting for an Arabic language version of the document, but the group says it hope to reach an agreement by Sunday.

In other news, the World Food Program says lack of money will force it to reduce food aid for an estimated 3,000,000 people in Darfur, the cuts are to begin next month.

Chinese President Hu Jintao has reached an oil exploration agreement with the Kenyan government; the deal was signed on Friday in Nairobi. The deal will let China's National Offshore⁹ Oil Corporation explore for oil in 6 areas of the Indian Ocean. The area covers more than 100,000 square kilometers. The visit to Kenya marks the end of Mr. Hu's one-week trip to Africa.

Earlier this week, Nigerian officials agreed to provide China with permission to drill for oil in Nigeria in exchange for a $4,000,000,000 investment in the Nigerian government.

You are listening to the news in VOA Special English.

A new report by the State Department says al-Qaeda remains¹⁰ the largest terror threat facing the United States. The report says that although the main leadership of al-Qaeda is weakened others within the group continue to support terror attacks. The report said there were 14,000 deaths linked to terrorism around the world last year; it said most of those deaths were in Iraq.

President Bush says he want to result the issue on Iran's nuclear program peacefully. Mr. Bush made the comment during a meeting with Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev in Washington. Before meeting, President Aliyev said he would not take part in any military action against Iran. The two leaders discussed energy issues. Mr. Aliyev expressed thanks for American help in developing Azerbaijan's oil industry. Human rights activists¹¹ have called on Mr. Bush to discuss reported human rights violations in Azerbaijan.

French president Jacques Chirac has proposed that a World Bank program pay workers for the Palestinian authority. Mr Chirac made the proposal during talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Paris. President Chirac said France will offer the proposal at the next meeting of the group known as the Middle East Peace Quartet; the group's members are the European Union, Russia, the United Nations, and the United States.

And demonstrations and boycotts¹² are being planned for May 1st to protest proposed restrictions¹³ on foreign workers living illegally in the United States. Organizers are calling on supporters to stay home from work or to wear white on May 1st. Organizers say they expect 1,000,000 people to take part. A number of demonstrations in many parts of the country have taken place in the past month. The protests were in response to a proposed bill in congress that would punish illegal immigrants and those who employ them.

And so briefly¹⁴ now here again is the major news of this hour. The International Atomic Energy Agency says Iran has failed to obey a United Nations Security Council demand to suspend its uranium enrichment program. The United States army has charged an officer with involvement in harming prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. And protesters in Nepal say they will continue demonstrations until elections are held. So ends the news in VOA Special English.

1 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

2 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。

3 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

4 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

5 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。

6 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。

7 constituent   

n.选民；成分，组分；adj.组成的，构成的

参考例句：

• Sugar is the main constituent of candy.食糖是糖果的主要成分。
• Fibre is a natural constituent of a healthy diet.纤维是健康饮食的天然组成部分。

8 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

9 offshore   

adj.海面的，吹向海面的；adv.向海面

参考例句：

• A big program of oil exploration has begun offshore.一个大规模的石油勘探计划正在近海展开。
• A gentle current carried them slowly offshore.和缓的潮流慢慢地把他们带离了海岸。

10 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

11 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 boycotts   

（对某事物的）抵制( boycott的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Their methods included boycotts and court action, supplemented by'sit-ins". 他们的主要方法包括联合抵制、法庭起诉，还附带进行静坐抗议。
• Are boycotts for other purposes illegal? 至于用于其它目的的联合抵制行动是否也是非法的呢？

13 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

14 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。