高级英语听力 lesson 31

Mozambique's President Samora Machel has been killed in a plane crash on South Africa's eastern border. Machel and twenty-eight others died in the crash during a thunderstorm last night. Ten survived. They were returning home from a weekend summit of African leaders in Zambia. Machel was fifty-three. He led Mozambique to independence and had been President since 1975.


General Motors announced today it is selling its assets in South Africa. G.M. Chairman Roger Smith said the recession in South Africa and a lack of progress in ending apartheid has created what he called an increasingly difficult business environment. Smith said GM South African operations had been losing money for several years. GM's Opel and Isuzu subsidiaries will be sold to a group headed by local South African management.


The Reagan Administration today reacted angrily to the Soviet¹ expulsion of five American diplomats² from the Soviet Union yesterday. NPR's Jim Angle has details. "White Home spokesman Larry Speakes called it an unjustified action based on unfounded allegations. 'We are upset, outraged³, and chagrined,' he said. At the State Department, spokesman Charles Redman said the US has made its views of the expulsions clear to Soviet officials in Moscow. 'We did protest that action. In doing so, we made the point that this action is totally without justification⁴ and cannot help but have a detrimental⁵ effect on our relations.' Administration officials said the expulsion was clearly a retaliation⁶ for the US expulsion of twenty-five diplomats at the Soviet mission to the UN. That was part of a three-year reduction in the Soviet UN staff demanded by the administration. Officials would not comment on whether the five Americans were intelligence officers, but insist that they had done nothing improper⁷, meaning they were not caught in any act of espionage⁸. Some administration officials believe this is a test of wills between the US and the Soviet Union over what kind of intelligence presence each side will allow. 'In any case,' said one official, 'the Soviet action is illegitimate and shouldn't go without a response.' I'm Jim Angle in Washington."


The citizens of the troubled African nation of Mozambique are in shock tonight and waiting to hear who will be leading their country in the coming months. The leader of that southern African country Samora Machel died last night as his plane apparently⁹ attempted a crash landing inside South Africa just half a mile from the Mozambican border. Twenty-eight others also died in the crash. The death of Machel and the location of the crash have raised serious questions about South Africa's possible role in the crash, and about the future stability of the region. NPR's John Madison has more from Johannesburg.
President Machel died within a few minutes drive from the place that he and South African President P.W. Botha made famous, Nkomati, the village that gave its name to a historic nonaggression pact¹⁰ between the white minority government and its black Marxist neighbor in 1984. twenty-eight people are believed to have died in the crash last night. Only ten survived; all but one are in serious condition. Bodies were strewn around the plateau on which the President's jet appears to have tried to make a forced landing. In the wreckage¹¹, only the tail of the fuselage is identifiable as the remains¹² of an airplane. Most of the dead were senior members of Machel's government, and one was Zaire's Ambassador to Mozambique. With news of the crash, suspicion was immediately cast on South Africa. The war of words between the two has escalated¹⁴ in recent weeks bringing relations to an all-time low since the Nkomati Accord was signed two years ago. The timing¹⁵ of the tragedy could hardly have been worse for regional stability. The past two weeks have seen escalating¹⁶ South Africa charges and threats against Mozambique. On October 6, a land mine exploded in South Africa near the border, injuring six South African soldiers. Two days later South Africa's Defense¹⁷ Minister warned Machel that South Africa would fight with everything at its disposal. He pointedly¹⁹ said Machel held the fate of Nkomati Accord in his hands. Then ten days ago, South Africa announced it was barring Mozambique's sixty-three thousand workers from South Africa, thus cutting off Mozambique's main supply of foreign exchange. South Africa's outlawed²⁰ African National Congress today blamed South Africa for being directly of indirectly²¹ responsible for the crash. They pointed¹⁸ out that South Africa has backed the Mozambique resistance movement of Ronomo, which was currently conducting a military offense²² against the Mozambique government. They said either South Africa or Renamo caused the crash. Renamo, for its part, denied this responsibility but made no bones about its pleasure at Machel's demise²³. "The death of President Machel removes the main obstacle to peace," a spokesman for Ronomo in Lisbon said. "And he was personally running a war against us. We are happy to hear of his death." The anti-apartheid United Democratic Party Front spokesman Murphy Moroby said the South African government would have to prove it was not involved. The South African government says international investigators²⁴ are welcome to assist in the investigation²⁵. Whatever caused the crash, leaders in the region are scrambling²⁶ to understand its consequences. Machel was a charismatic leader, who brought his country to independence in 1975. And there is no obvious successor. Mozambique is one of the weakest of South Africa's immediate¹³ neighbors. And there are questions about whether Machel's ruling party FRELIMO can remain in power without him. I'm John Madison in Johannesburg.


In New York City's Lincoln Center this week, applause and just a few boos for this year's New York Film Festival. In its twenty-four year history, the festival has played host to the American premiers²⁷ of such films as The Last Picture Show , Last Tango in Paris and Chariots of Fire . It has also given an exposure to hundreds of foreign and low-budget movies which might otherwise have gone unnoticed in this country. This year's schedule includes both obscure films and movies which seem destined²⁸ for commercial success. Film critic Bob Mondello has been in attendance this week and he says, "A more accurate title for the event might have been 'the New York Film Critics' Festival.'"
"Critics don't usually travel in packs. There are three hundred of us at this thing, and everybody is watching the film at once. And it's a kind of strange to be hearing them reacting as human beings rather than seeing these things in individuals screenings."
"Do the critics then get to talk with the people who actually made the film? Is that the point of the festival?"
"Well, that's kind of it. I think the most interesting thing should be those interviews afterwards. But critics are not, by nature, social beings sometimes. And when they're sitting down in a large group, you kind of ... you're torn between wanting to ask some probing questions and ask something really silly. And sometimes the questions they ask are very strange. For instance, David Burn of Talking Heads, the rock group, has made a movie called True Stories . Now, it's his first picture. He might conceivably have some interesting things to say about music and movies. He might conceivable have some interesting things to say about being a newcomer to movie-making. But for some reason, someone asked him about a scene where some of his actors get dipped in chocolate. So he ended up doing a couple of minutes on something that's not really his field, a substance called bentonite."
"It has the chemical consistency³⁰ of chocolate, but it's a lot cheaper and it'll flow without being heated up. So you don't scald yourself when you jump into it. It's a curious liqueur that was ... They use if they pump it down into ... when they drill for oil, and it brings up the loose grave and things, because it's heavier than rock. It's also used to thicken the filling in jelly donuts."
"Now, that's probably more than you ever thought you'd want to know about that particular aspect of film-making."
"It's nice to have that technical not. David Burn had the film When Talking Had Stopping Making Sense ,the documentary, a couple of years ago. He had a lot to do with the production of that. Does this one, which apparently is a feature film, does it work? What are the reviews?"
"Well, I'm not ... the film hasn't actually opened anywhere yet. We're ... the critics saw it the other day. It's pretty good. It's kind of a goofy picture. It's set in a small town called Burgell, Texas, which doesn't actually exist. And they're having a celebration of specialness. And I think only David Burn would come up with ideas like having a fashion show that features a suit made out of Astroturf which is kind of fun."
"How many films at the Festival?"
"There are twenty-four and a bunch of shorts. Actually, the only thing I saw that got hissed³¹ ... the audience reaction when you're sitting with a lot of critics can be very interesting, and everyone hissed one called Girls in Suits , which was a sort of My Dinner with Andre , I guess you could call it. It was two women talking about their affairs for twenty minutes, and it was excruciating, I thought."
"One of the films at the festival I'm looking forward to seeing when it comes around the country is Round Midnight , a film done with saxophone player Dexter Gordon, an American who's been living in Paris for many years."
"Yea, and it's likely to be the real toast of the Festival. It's the one thing about which no one can think of anything negative to say. It is a beautiful motion picture. It's made by Bertrand Tavernier, who is just an extraordinary film-maker. And in this particular instance, it's, you know, Dexter Gordon's first film role, his first acting²⁹ role, really. And he's ... it's very interesting to see him. I mean he hasn't ... You're used to hearing him play the saxophone, but you've almost never heard him speak. Let's just play a clip from it, so that you have some idea. He's a saxophonist who is killing³² himself with drink. And this is sort of the morning after one of those days.
—Never, never again, man. Don't cry for me. Never again, Franz.
—What else can I do when you are killing yourself?
—I'll stop.
—Stop?
—I promise.
—Al, you never stopped before.
—I never promised anybody before.
"What's really interesting is seeing him in person too, because while he's talking—he was there at a press conference afterwards—and while he's talking, he moves his fingers in the air as if he were fingering his instrument. It's fascinating thing, because he's clearly improvising³³ his answers, and he also does that sometimes in the film. It's, it's just fascinating to see. I think that's one of the reasons that the Festival is so interesting if you're a critic."
"So Round Midnight looks good. Also rare reviews so far for the Kathleen Turner film Peggie Sue Got Married , which will close, I understand the Festival on Sunday. Can you tell us from what you've seen there, are the next few months of American movie-going going to be worthwhile?"
"Oh, boy. I wish I could tell from just the films at the Festival. If only ... you see, a lot of these are not terribly commercial pictures. The ones that are, like Peggie Sue Got Married —I think that's going to be a hit in the same sort of way that The Big Chill , which opened the festival a couple of years ago, was. And there are a few others like that, like Menage by Bertrand Blier which looks to be a big foreign film, and Sid and Nancy has a commercial chance. That's about Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols. So there's a possibility. It's really hard to judge from a film festival, though. These are not, for the most part, which you call mainstream³⁴ films. As a matter of fact, that's the point of having them in the festival—to try and give them a chance with the public and get the awareness³⁵ up."
"But a few great winners to see, anyway. Thanks, Bob Mondello, talking with us in New York."

1 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

2 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 outraged   

a.震惊的，义愤填膺的

参考例句：

• Members of Parliament were outraged by the news of the assassination. 议会议员们被这暗杀的消息激怒了。
• He was outraged by their behavior. 他们的行为使他感到愤慨。

4 justification   

n.正当的理由；辩解的理由

参考例句：

• There's no justification for dividing the company into smaller units. 没有理由把公司划分成小单位。
• In the young there is a justification for this feeling. 在年轻人中有这种感觉是有理由的。

5 detrimental   

adj.损害的，造成伤害的

参考例句：

• We know that heat treatment is detrimental to milk.我们知道加热对牛奶是不利的。
• He wouldn't accept that smoking was detrimental to health.他不相信吸烟有害健康。

6 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》

7 improper   

adj.不适当的，不合适的，不正确的，不合礼仪的

参考例句：

• Short trousers are improper at a dance.舞会上穿短裤不成体统。
• Laughing and joking are improper at a funeral.葬礼时大笑和开玩笑是不合适的。

8 espionage   

n.间谍行为，谍报活动

参考例句：

• The authorities have arrested several people suspected of espionage.官方已经逮捕了几个涉嫌从事间谍活动的人。
• Neither was there any hint of espionage in Hanley's early life.汉利的早期生活也毫无进行间谍活动的迹象。

9 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

10 pact   

n.合同，条约，公约，协定

参考例句：

• The two opposition parties made an electoral pact.那两个反对党订了一个有关选举的协定。
• The trade pact between those two countries came to an end.那两国的通商协定宣告结束。

11 wreckage   

n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏

参考例句：

• They hauled him clear of the wreckage.他们把他从形骸中拖出来。
• New states were born out of the wreckage of old colonial empires.新生国家从老殖民帝国的废墟中诞生。

12 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。

13 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。

14 escalated   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The fighting escalated into a full-scale war. 这场交战逐步扩大为全面战争。
• The demonstration escalated into a pitched battle with the police. 示威逐步升级，演变成了一场同警察的混战。

15 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

16 escalating   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的现在分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The cost of living is escalating. 生活费用在迅速上涨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cost of living is escalating in the country. 这个国家的生活费用在上涨。 来自辞典例句

17 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。

18 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

19 pointedly   

adv.尖地，明显地

参考例句：

• She yawned and looked pointedly at her watch. 她打了个哈欠，又刻意地看了看手表。
• The demand for an apology was pointedly refused. 让对方道歉的要求遭到了断然拒绝。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 outlawed   

宣布…为不合法（outlaw的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Most states have outlawed the use of marijuana. 大多数州都宣布使用大麻为非法行为。
• I hope the sale of tobacco will be outlawed someday. 我希望有朝一日烟草制品会禁止销售。

21 indirectly   

adv.间接地，不直接了当地

参考例句：

• I heard the news indirectly.这消息我是间接听来的。
• They were approached indirectly through an intermediary.通过一位中间人，他们进行了间接接触。

22 offense   

n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪

参考例句：

• I hope you will not take any offense at my words. 对我讲的话请别见怪。
• His words gave great offense to everybody present.他的发言冲犯了在场的所有人。

23 demise   

n.死亡；v.让渡，遗赠，转让

参考例句：

• He praised the union's aims but predicted its early demise.他赞扬协会的目标，但预期这一协会很快会消亡。
• The war brought about the industry's sudden demise.战争道致这个行业就这么突然垮了。

24 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

25 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。

26 scrambling   

v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Scrambling up her hair, she darted out of the house. 她匆忙扎起头发，冲出房去。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• She is scrambling eggs. 她正在炒蛋。 来自《简明英汉词典》

27 premiers   

n.总理，首相( premier的名词复数 )；首席官员，

参考例句：

• The Vice- Premiers and State Councillors assist the Premier in his work. 副总理、国务委员协助总理工作。 来自汉英非文学 - 中国宪法
• The Premier, Vice-Premiers and State Councillors shall serve no more than two consecutive terms. 总理、副总理、国务委员连续任职不得超过两届。 来自汉英非文学 - 中国宪法

28 destined   

adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的

参考例句：

• It was destined that they would marry.他们结婚是缘分。
• The shipment is destined for America.这批货物将运往美国。

29 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。

30 consistency   

n.一贯性，前后一致，稳定性；(液体的)浓度

参考例句：

• Your behaviour lacks consistency.你的行为缺乏一贯性。
• We appreciate the consistency and stability in China and in Chinese politics.我们赞赏中国及其政策的连续性和稳定性。

31 hissed   

发嘶嘶声( hiss的过去式和过去分词 )； 发嘘声表示反对

参考例句：

• Have you ever been hissed at in the middle of a speech? 你在演讲中有没有被嘘过？
• The iron hissed as it pressed the wet cloth. 熨斗压在湿布上时发出了嘶嘶声。

32 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。

33 improvising   

即兴创作（improvise的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• I knew he was improvising, an old habit of his. 我知道他是在即兴发挥，这是他的老习惯。
• A few lecturers have been improvising to catch up. 部分讲师被临时抽调以救急。

34 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

35 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。