英国新闻听力 08

BBC News with Sue Montgomery.

In a vote that stunned¹ Wall Street and the White House, the US House of Representatives has rejected the government's 700-billion-dollar rescue plan for the American financial system. More than two-thirds of Republicans and over a third of the Democrats³ in the House voted against the plan, ignoring appeals from President Bush to support it. From Washington, here's Virginie Vigeant.

Following three hours of tense debate in the House, the bill was defeated by 228 to 205. House Republicans said their decision to vote against the plans followed an attack by Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic Speaker of the House on President Bush's economic policies. The Democrat² Barney Frank, a key architect of the bill, hit back at those comments, urging all sides of the House to work together to push a bill through.

Speaking a short time ago, the US Treasury⁴ Secretary, Henry Paulson, said the government's plan to address the crisis facing the American financial sector⁵ was much too important to simply let fail. Mr. Paulson said he'd be working with congressional leaders to get something done as quickly as possible. He was asked what features a new plan would need to have.

"We had a plan that we’d worked very hard on that did the job, gave us the tools we needed to protect, the, the financial markets, to protect the American people. So where we go from here is something we’re gonna be working on with congressional leaders, because we, we, we need to get something done and we're gonna be working hard on it.

President Bush expressed his disappointment but said he would continue to work on a solution to the crisis.

“We put forth⁶ a plan that was big, because we got a big problem. Our strategy is to continue to address this economic situation head-on. And we will be working to develop a strategy that will enable us to continue to move forward. “

In New York, share prices plummeted⁷ as traders watched the US government's financial rescue package being rejected in Congress. Gred Wood reports.

The Dow Jones Averages closed more than 700 points lower, its biggest one-day points fall on record. This is a glimpse of a horrible future for the banks, where they have to come to terms with their own bad mortgage debts and their share prices are driven ever lower with more of them perhaps going out of business.

European stock markets also suffered heavy losses with shares in London and Paris closing more than 5% down. As the fallout from the financial crisis continues, the largest banking⁸ corporation in the United States, Citigroup, announced it was taking over the country's sixth biggest bank, Wachovia.

This is Sue Montgomery with the latest World News from the BBC.

Research carried out for the Brazilian government suggests that the Amazon Rainforest is being lost at an alarming rate. More than 750 square kilometers were destroyed last month. The country's environment minister blamed the rise partially⁹ on elections that are coming up, suggesting that local officials turned a blind eye to illegal logging so they can gain votes. However, the environmental group, Greenpeace, believes the rise is also related to the increase in global food prices with farmers wanting more land.

A senior American military commander has warned that militants¹⁰ pose a threat to Pakistan's very existence. General David Petraeus, who is recently appointed as the commander of US Central Command, said Pakistan had to deal with the problem. "You've heard the newly-elected President Zardari, you've heard the army Chief and others all recognize that this is in a sense an existential threat, this is a threat to Pakistan's very existence, and it is one with which they must deal. Now they can deal with it in a comprehensive manner, there will be Pakistani solutions to some of these and that's what they want. Our job should be to support them.

A group of European tourists and their guides seized by gunmen in southern Egypt ten days ago has arrived in Cairo after being freed by Egyptian commandos. Egyptian officials said about half of the kidnappers¹¹ were killed during the rescue operation.

A legal battle in Italy over the discovery of the perfectly¹² preserved mummified body of a hunter, who died 5, 000 years ago, has finally been settled. A German couple stumbled on the body 17 years ago in a snow-covered mountainous region of Italy. On Monday, the local Italian council finally acknowledged their claim to finders' fee, and agreed to pay more than 217, 000 dollars. However, the agreement came too late for one of the finders who died four years ago.

BBC News

1 stunned   

adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
• The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。

2 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

3 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

5 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

6 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

7 plummeted   

v.垂直落下，骤然跌落( plummet的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Share prices plummeted to an all-time low. 股票价格暴跌到历史最低点。
• A plane plummeted to earth. 一架飞机一头栽向地面。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

9 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。

10 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。

11 kidnappers   

n.拐子，绑匪( kidnapper的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They were freed yesterday by their kidnappers unharmed. 他们昨天被绑架者释放了，没有受到伤害。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The kidnappers had threatened to behead all four unless their jailed comrades were released. 帮匪们曾经威胁说如果印度方面不释放他们的同伙，他们就要将这四名人质全部斩首。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。