英国新闻听力 24

BBC News with Fiona McDonald.

An emergency meeting of the U. N. Security Council is taking place in New York amid increasing international appeals for a halt to the fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The U. N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the conflict was creating a catastrophic humanitarian¹ crisis. The French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said he supported the idea of dispatching 1,500 European Union troops to eastern Congo. Karen Allen in neighboring Kenya has more details.

U. N. peacekeepers, clearly overstretched, and outnumbered, are now positioned at the airport and other strategic points to try to restore calm as diplomatic appeals are made to boost their numbers. Tens of thousands of people fled Goma in cars, motorbikes and wooden carts just hours before the truce² was declared, certain that the rebels were on the verge³ of seizing the town. The Congolese army continues to claim that forces loyal to rebel leader Laurent Nkunda are being backed by Rwanda, something Rwanda strongly denies.

The U. S. Federal Reserve has cut its main interest rate by half a percent in its latest effort to ease the impact of the global financial crisis. The Fed said the economy appeared to have slowed markedly. Andrew Walker reports.

In a little over a year, the Fed's main policy rate has come down from five and a quarter percent to just one percent. The reason is the slowdown in U. S. economic growth driven by the credit crisis and problems in the country's housing market. In a statement, the Fed's policy-making committee emphasized the recent decline in consumer spending as one of the main factors behind the weakening economy. Many observers expect new figures due out on Thursday to show the economy contracted in the third quarter of this year. The rate cuts are not likely to get consumers spending freely again very soon. It's now very likely that the U. S and some other countries will go through a period in which household debt is reduced, which will mean less spending.

The Colombian government has sacked three generals and 22 other military officers after an investigation⁵ found evidence the army had been murdering innocent civilians⁶. Our Colombian correspondent Jeremy McDermott has more.

Young men have been disappearing from the southern Bogota district of Soacha. They had little in common except they were poor and usually unemployed⁷. Then their bodies appeared in Norte de Santander, an area sown with drug crops and home to illegal armies. They were presented by the military as killed in combat just days after their disappearances⁸. Investigations⁹ now suggest that the men were tricked with offers of employment, then murdered so that army officers could show results and be eligible¹⁰ for promotion¹¹.

The International Monetary¹² Fund has announced a new lending facility to help emerging market countries cope with the global financial crisis. Eligibility¹³ for access to the Fund will be restricted to the countries with what the IMF calls a track record of sound policies and sustainable debt burdens.

World News from the BBC.

Rescuers in Pakistan are carrying out a desperate search for survivors¹⁴ after a powerful earthquake killed at least 170 people in the southwestern province of Baluchistan. Aid has been brought in for the thousands left homeless although aftershocks and blocked roads have hampered¹⁵ the operation.

The U. S. presidential candidate Barack Obama is aiming to consolidate¹⁶ his lead in the opinion polls with a 30-minute advertisement which will be run on prime-time television. The advert¹⁷ is expected to feature typical Americans talking about the challenges they face with Mr. Obama explaining how he can help. Gavin Hewitt reports from North Carolina.

In these final days, Barack Obama is making his war chest count. Just before a clinch¹⁸ game in the World Series, he's running a 30-minute commercial. They haven't had a political ad that long for 16 years. It will run on most networks and will cost the Obama campaign over three million dollars. It will cause a short delay to the start of the baseball game which may irritate a few sports fans. The showing only underlines just how much money the Obama team has. It's estimated they have spent 213 million pounds on TV advertising¹⁹ during this campaign.

President Bush says he remains²⁰ confident that a security pact⁴ with Iraq will be agreed before the end of the year when the U. S. mandate²¹ for U. S. forces to operate in Iraq runs out. Mr. Bush said he would consider changes proposed by the Iraqi government but warned against alterations²² that risked undermining the draft agreement.

The Indian chess champion Viswanathan Anand has successfully defended his world title against the Russian challenger Vladimir Kramnik . Anand clinched²³ victory in Germany when he drew the eleventh match, giving him an unassailable lead in the best of 12 game series. He walks away with the first prize of more than three quarters of a million dollars.

BBC News.

1 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

2 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。

3 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

4 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。

5 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。

6 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

7 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

8 disappearances   

n.消失( disappearance的名词复数 )；丢失；失踪；失踪案

参考例句：

• Most disappearances are the result of the terrorist activity. 大多数的失踪案都是恐怖分子造成的。 来自辞典例句
• The espionage, the betrayals, the arrests, the tortures, the executions, the disappearances will never cease. 间谍活动、叛党卖国、逮捕拷打、处决灭迹，这种事情永远不会完。 来自英汉文学

9 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

10 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

11 promotion   

n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传

参考例句：

• The teacher conferred with the principal about Dick's promotion.教师与校长商谈了迪克的升级问题。
• The clerk was given a promotion and an increase in salary.那个职员升了级，加了薪。

12 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

13 eligibility   

n.合格，资格

参考例句：

• What are the eligibility requirements? 病人被选参加试验的要求是什么？ 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望
• Eligibility for HINARI access is based on gross national income (GNI). 进入HINARI获取计划是依据国民总收入来评定的。

14 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

15 hampered   

妨碍，束缚，限制( hamper的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The search was hampered by appalling weather conditions. 恶劣的天气妨碍了搜寻工作。
• So thought every harassed, hampered, respectable boy in St. Petersburg. 圣彼德堡镇的那些受折磨、受拘束的体面孩子们个个都是这么想的。

16 consolidate   

v.使加固，使加强；(把...)联为一体，合并

参考例句：

• The two banks will consolidate in July next year. 这两家银行明年7月将合并。
• The government hoped to consolidate ten states to form three new ones.政府希望把十个州合并成三个新的州。

17 advert   

vi.注意，留意，言及；n.广告

参考例句：

• The advert featured a dolphin swimming around a goldfish bowl.该广告的內容为一条在金鱼缸里游动的海豚。
• Please advert to the contents below.I believe you won't be disappointed.敬请留意后面的内容。相信您一定不会失望的。

18 clinch   

v.敲弯，钉牢；确定；扭住对方 [参]clench

参考例句：

• Clinch the boards together.用钉子把木板钉牢在一起。
• We don't accept us dollars,please Swiss francs to clinch a deal business.我方不收美元，请最好用瑞士法郎来成交生意。

19 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

20 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。

21 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

22 alterations   

n.改动( alteration的名词复数 )；更改；变化；改变

参考例句：

• Any alterations should be written in neatly to the left side. 改动部分应书写清晰，插在正文的左侧。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code. 基因突变是指DNA 密码的改变。 来自《简明英汉词典》

23 clinched   

v.（尤指两人）互相紧紧抱[扭]住( clinch的过去式和过去分词 )；解决（争端、交易），达成（协议）

参考例句：

• The two businessmen clinched the deal quickly. 两位生意人很快达成了协议。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Evidently this information clinched the matter. 显然，这一消息使问题得以最终解决。 来自辞典例句