VOA标准英语2015--2014年最受关注的新闻

 

Top News Stories of 2014 2014年最受关注的新闻

Spread of Ebola

The Ebola crisis began in the West African nations of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The World Health Organization reported that more than 20,000 people likely have been infected. Thousands of children lost their parents to the disease and millions more no longer attend school.

The virus gained worldwide notice when international healthcare workers in West Africa became infected and returned home for treatment. The spread of Ebola led to worldwide efforts to develop new vaccines¹. The international community raised money and workers to contain the epidemic². However, about 8,000 people have died from Ebola so far and health officials expect many more deaths.

Fear of flying

In early March, Malaysia Airlines flight 370 disappeared from radar³. The plane carried 239 people. It was flying from Beijing to Kuala Lumpur. Nine months later, the plane remains⁴ lost despite an extensive search from the South China Sea to the Indian Ocean.

In July, Malaysia Airlines suffered another tragedy.  A missile hit Flight 17 as it flew over Ukraine. All 298 passengers and crew were killed in the attack and crash that followed.

A few days later, a TransAsia Airways⁵ plane crashed in bad weather in Taiwan. Forty-eight people were killed. The next day, July 24, there was another deadly plane crash. An Air Algerie flight crashed in northern Mali killing⁶ all 116 people on the plane.

The year ended with the deadly crash of AirAsia Indonesia flight 8501 into the Java Sea. All 162 passengers and crew are believed to have been killed.

Conflict in Ukraine

Pro-European activists⁷ in Ukraine made major gains this year with the ousting⁸ of the country’s pro-Russian leader Viktor Yanukovych and the election of current President Petro Poroshenko. However, in late March, Russia annexed⁹ the Crimea area of eastern Ukraine. The U.S. and many European nations objected to the move. Separatist groups continue to fight Ukrainian government forces in eastern Ukraine. Russia is providing arms to the separatists.

The U.S., European Union and other governments ordered economic restrictions¹⁰ against Russia for its actions in eastern Ukraine. The sanctions, along with falling oil prices, have led to severe economic problems in Russia.

The conflict in Ukraine continues.

Worst year ever for children

The United Nations Children’s Fund says 2014 has been the worst year ever for children in areas affected¹¹ by conflict. UNICEF estimates 230 million children live in countries and areas where armed groups are fighting.

In April, more than 270 girls and women were kidnapped from a school in Nigeria. The militant¹² Islamist group Boko Haram claimed responsibility. The group released a video recording¹³ of its leader, Abubakar Shekau. In the video, he says, “I abducted¹⁴ your girls…By Allah, I will sell them in the marketplace.”

On December 16, the Pakistani Taliban attacked a school in Peshawar. Over several hours, seven gunmen executed 132 children and at least nine adults. Pakistani security forces stopped the attack. All the gunmen were killed.

Children were also victims of poverty and the violent illegal drug trade in Latin America. Throughout 2014, more than 50,000 children fled to the United States through Mexico. They traveled without their parents or other adults. The children are from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. 

Not all tragedies involving children were related to conflict, however. In South Korea on April 16, a passenger boat sank in the Yellow Sea as it travelled from Incheon to Jeju. At least 250 school children on the boat were killed. About fifty adults also drowned.

Rise of the Islamic State

In June, the militant group that calls itself the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant or ISIL took control of Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city. A day later, the group captured Tikrit, the hometown of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. Later the group captured two more towns in the eastern province of Diyala.

The militants¹⁵ then began calling their group the Islamic State. They seized large areas of northern Syria and Iraq. The areas contained several oil fields. The oil wealth has helped the group pay for its operations.

In August, President Obama ordered airstrikes against the Islamic State as the militant group threatened to take over Kurdish-controlled territory. The group answered by releasing a video showing its execution of an American reporter.

The Islamic State threatened more such killings¹⁶. It has since executed another American reporter, Steven Sotloff, and French aid worker Abdul-Rahman Kassig. IS released videos of both beheadings.

China’s conflict with its neighbors

In May, tensions increased between China and Vietnam when China deployed¹⁷ oil-drilling equipment to the South China Sea. Both countries claim the waters. China and Vietnam clashed at sea as anti-Chinese protests turned deadly in Vietnam.

China said its claims to the sea date back 2,000 years. It claimed to be the first nation to “discover, name and explore” islands under dispute among China, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam. China also has said repeatedly that it has the right to ignore legal cases on issues related to sea borders.

In other news...

Three Israeli teenagers were kidnapped and killed in June. Israel retaliated¹⁸ by attacking Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, first with missiles and then with ground forces. At least 2,000 Palestinians died.

Activists held weeks of demonstrations¹⁹ across the United States to protest police killings of African-Americans. The protests began after a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri shot and killed an unarmed black teenager. Later, another officer in New York choked to death an unarmed black man. Protests increased after grand juries decided²⁰ against charging either officer with a crime.

The events led to nationwide discussion and debate about the state of race relations in America.

I’m Christopher Cruise.

What do you think of this list? Are there stories on it that you believe should not have been on it? Are there stories that are not on it that you think should be? What are your top stories of the year? And what do you think the top stories of 2015 will be? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the comments section.

1 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

2 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

3 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。

4 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。

5 AIRWAYS   

航空公司

参考例句：

• The giant jets that increasingly dominate the world's airways. 越来越称雄于世界航线的巨型喷气机。
• At one point the company bought from Nippon Airways a 727 jet. 有一次公司从日本航空公司买了一架727型喷气机。

6 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

7 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》

8 ousting   

驱逐( oust的现在分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• The resulting financial chaos led to the ousting of Bristol-Myers' s boss. 随后引发的财政混乱导致了百时美施贵宝的总裁下台。
• The ousting of the president has drawn widespread criticism across Latin America and the wider world. 洪都拉斯总统被驱逐时间引起拉丁美洲甚至全世界的广泛批评。

9 annexed   

[法] 附加的，附属的

参考例句：

• Germany annexed Austria in 1938. 1938年德国吞并了奥地利。
• The outlying villages were formally annexed by the town last year. 那些偏远的村庄于去年正式被并入该镇。

10 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

11 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。

12 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。

13 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

14 abducted   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that she was abducted. 侦探尚未排除她被绑架的可能性。
• The kid was abducted at the gate of kindergarten. 那小孩在幼儿园大门口被绑架走了。

15 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

16 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

17 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

18 retaliated   

v.报复，反击( retaliate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• When he once teased her for her inexperience, she retaliated. 有一次，他讥讽她没有经验，她便反唇相讥。 来自辞典例句
• The terrorists retaliated by killing three policemen. 恐怖分子以杀死三名警察相报复。 来自辞典例句

19 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。

20 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。