英国新闻听力 卡萨布兰卡大火 媲美GPS的伽利略

 

A fire in the Moroccan city of Casablanca has killed 55 people and injured 12 others. The fire broke out on the ground floor of a mattress¹ factory and was so fierce that it tool firefighters many hours to get inside. It's not yet clear what caused the blaze. The Moroccan Interior Minister Chakib Benmoussa said he was opening an investigation² into to the disaster.

"We consider this a disaster because the number of victims. At this point of time we have 55 confirmed dead, most of them are workers in this building. Some people succeed in escaping after the fire broke out but many people were trapped and perished in the fire."

The European Galileo Project that hopes to rival the American satellite navigation system GPS has launched the spacecraft to test some of its new technologies. The European craft has lifted off from Kazakhstan on a Russian Soyuz rocket. One of its main amis is to monitor the behaviour in space of the atomic clocks, the precise timing³ underpins⁴ sat-nav applications. Galileo is designed to more than double existing GPS coverage

1 mattress   

n.床垫，床褥

参考例句：

• The straw mattress needs to be aired.草垫子该晾一晾了。
• The new mattress I bought sags in the middle.我买的新床垫中间陷了下去。

2 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。

3 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。

4 underpins   

n.基础材料( underpin的名词复数 )；基础结构；（学说、理论等的）基础；（人的）腿v.用砖石结构等从下面支撑（墙等）( underpin的第三人称单数 )；加固（墙等）的基础；为（论据、主张等）打下基础；加强

参考例句：

• A powerful sense of mission underpins everything he does. 一种强烈的使命感支撑他所做的一切。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His presence at the crime underpins the case against him. 案子发生时他在场对他更不利。 来自辞典例句