英国新闻听力 71

BBC News with Neil Nunes.

A concerted diplomatic drive is getting into gear to bring an end to four days of Israeli airstrikes on Gaza and Palestinian rocket attacks against Israel. The Middle-East Diplomatic Quartet made of the United Nations, the United States, Russia and the European Union has called for an immediate¹ ceasefire. Marie Okabe is a United Nation spokeswoman.

The Quartet principals called for an immediate ceasefire that would be fully² respected. They called on all parties to address the serious humanitarian³ and economic needs in Gaza and to take necessary measures to ensure the continuous provision of humanitarian supplies. They agreed on the urgent need for Israelis and Palestinians to continue on the road to peace. They intend to remain in close touch.

Despite the diplomatic moves, both sides continued their onslaught unabated. Israel, The Israeli forces continued to target installations run by Hamas, saying it will take whatever action was needed to protect its citizens from attack by Palestinian rockets. According to the Palestinians, more than 380 have been killed since the assault began on Saturday. Hamas has responded with more rocket fire, in all, four Israelis have been killed. And humanitarian agencies working inside Gaza say they are finding it is almost impossible to operate amid the Israeli airstrikes and emergency supplies have all but run out.

An investigation⁴ by the US Space Agency, NASA into the deaths of the crew of the space shuttle Columbia nearly six years ago has put forward a series of safety recommendations. However it had acknowledged that nothing could have saved the seven astronauts when the shuttle disintegrated⁵ as it re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere. From Washington, here is Andy Gallagher.

The report found that the crew knew for as long as 41 seconds that they didn’t have control of the orbit before investigators⁶ think they were knocked unconscious. It also concluded that their seat restraints, suits and helmets did not work well. NASA also found that the astronauts did not have the necessary training that may have increased their chances of survival. The tragedy happened on the 28th mission for the Columbia and is thought to be the most comprehensive investigation ever carried out into a shuttle accident.

The American President-elect Barack Obama says Democratic Party senators should reject the latest name put forward by the governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich, to replace Mr. Obama in the Senate. Mr. Blagojevich who’s facing charges of trying to auction⁷ Mr. Obama’s seat to the highest bidder⁸, defied pressure and appointed a former state attorney general of Illinois, Roland Burris.

He has had a long and distinguished⁹ career, serving the people of Illinois. He will be a great United States senator. Please don’t allow the allegations against me to taint¹⁰ this good and honest man.

World News from the BBC.

House prices in the Unites States have fallen by 18% in one year, the sharpest drop since records began. Figures released by the market analysts¹¹ Standard and Poor show that house prices in 20 metropolitan¹² areas declined by 2.2% in the month of October alone.

The Ukrainian government says its state gas company has paid off 1.5 billion dollar debt to Russia to avert¹³ a threatened cut in supplies from New Year’s Day. The government issued decree and instructed the company Naftogaz to borrow the money from banks in order to pay the Russian gas monopoly Gazprom. Russia says it is owned more than 2 billion dollars. Paul Leg has this report.

In a decree issued by the Ukrainian government, the state gas company Naftogaz has been ordered to borrow 2 billion dollars from state banks in order to meet Russia’s demands. The Russian gas monopoly Gazprom has refused to budge¹⁴ format¹⁵ position; unless the debt is repaid in full, there could be no basis for a new contract for supplies in 2009, in effect, threatening to cut off deliveries from New Year’s Day.

The United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has condemned¹⁶ what he described as the appalling¹⁷ atrocities¹⁸ allegedly carried out by Lord’s Resistance Army rebels in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo over the past few days. Mr. Ban demanded that the LRA respect the rules of international humanitarian law and he repeated his support for measures taken by Uganda, Congo and Sudan against the rebels. More than 400 people have been killed in the attacks.

The election commission in Ghana has decided¹⁹ to postpone²⁰ the announcement of the result of Sunday’s presidential run-off election while it investigates allegations of the malpractice on both sides. Less than 1% of the vote separated the two candidates. John Atta-Mills of the opposition²¹ has 50.13% of the vote. Nana Akufo-Addo has 49.87%.

1 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。

2 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

3 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。

4 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。

5 disintegrated   

v.（使）破裂[分裂，粉碎]，（使）崩溃( disintegrate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The plane disintegrated as it fell into the sea. 飞机坠入大海时解体了。
• The box was so old;it just disintegrated when I picked it up. 那箱子太破旧了，我刚一提就散了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 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》

7 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。

8 bidder   

n.(拍卖时的)出价人，报价人，投标人

参考例句：

• TV franchises will be auctioned to the highest bidder.电视特许经营权将拍卖给出价最高的投标人。
• The bidder withdrew his bid after submission of his bid.投标者在投标之后撤销了投标书。

9 distinguished   

adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的

参考例句：

• Elephants are distinguished from other animals by their long noses.大象以其长长的鼻子显示出与其他动物的不同。
• A banquet was given in honor of the distinguished guests.宴会是为了向贵宾们致敬而举行的。

10 taint   

n.污点；感染；腐坏；v.使感染；污染

参考例句：

• Everything possible should be done to free them from the economic taint.应尽可能把他们从经济的腐蚀中解脱出来。
• Moral taint has spread among young people.道德的败坏在年轻人之间蔓延。

11 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

12 metropolitan   

adj.大城市的，大都会的

参考例句：

• Metropolitan buildings become taller than ever.大城市的建筑变得比以前更高。
• Metropolitan residents are used to fast rhythm.大都市的居民习惯于快节奏。

13 avert   

v.防止，避免；转移(目光、注意力等)

参考例句：

• He managed to avert suspicion.他设法避嫌。
• I would do what I could to avert it.我会尽力去避免发生这种情况。

14 budge   

v.移动一点儿；改变立场

参考例句：

• We tried to lift the rock but it wouldn't budge.我们试图把大石头抬起来，但它连动都没动一下。
• She wouldn't budge on the issue.她在这个问题上不肯让步。

15 format   

n.设计，版式；[计算机]格式，DOS命令:格式化(磁盘)，用于空盘或使用过的磁盘建立新空盘来存储数据；v.使格式化，设计，安排

参考例句：

• Please format this floppy disc.请将这张软盘格式化。
• The format of the figure is very tasteful.该图表的格式很雅致。

16 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

17 appalling   

adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的

参考例句：

• The search was hampered by appalling weather conditions.恶劣的天气妨碍了搜寻工作。
• Nothing can extenuate such appalling behaviour.这种骇人听闻的行径罪无可恕。

18 atrocities   

n.邪恶，暴行( atrocity的名词复数 )；滔天大罪

参考例句：

• They were guilty of the most barbarous and inhuman atrocities. 他们犯有最野蛮、最灭绝人性的残暴罪行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The enemy's atrocities made one boil with anger. 敌人的暴行令人发指。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

19 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。

20 postpone   

v.延期，推迟

参考例句：

• I shall postpone making a decision till I learn full particulars.在未获悉详情之前我得从缓作出决定。
• She decided to postpone the converastion for that evening.她决定当天晚上把谈话搁一搁。

21 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。