英国新闻听力 81

BBC news with Michael Poles.

Israeli fighter planes and helicopters have continued to attack targets in Gaza, despite a United Nations Security Council resolution which called for an immediate¹ and durable² ceasefire. From Jerusalem, here's Bethany Bell.

Gaza is being hit from the air, the ground and the sea with the Israeli jets, helicopters and battle tanks launching fresh strikes on the territory. Hamas militants³ have continued firing rockets into Israel. The Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says the military campaign will carry on. He said the UN resolution on the ceasefire was unworkable. He said it wouldn't be respected by what he called "murderous Palestinian groups". Hamas has also dismissed the resolution, saying it had not been consulted.

The UN High Commissioner⁴ of Human Rights Navi Pillay has said accusation⁵ of an incident involving Israeli soldiers in Gaza bear all the elements of a war crime. Ms. Pillay has called for an independent investigation⁶ of reports by the International Committee of the Red Cross, that the Israeli soldiers prevented help reach/ Israeli soldiers prevented help reaching some wounded children. A spokesman for the Israeli government said it would investigate the allegations thoroughly⁷.

The House of Representatives in the US state of Illinois has voted to impeach⁸ the State Governor Rod Blagojevich. He's been accused of abuse of office, including trying to sell the Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama. The vote paves the way for a trial in the State Senate on whether to remove him from office. Mr. Blagojevich called a news conference to deny he'd been involved in any criminal activity. He accused the House of trying to remove him because it opposed his social welfare programs. He said he had expected the move.

"What the House did today, they've been talking about doing for the last couple of years. so this is not something that's came as a complete surprise to me, it happened kind of fast, but again, I kind of expected, and part of the process that has essentially⁹ been the dynamic in Illinois since I was re-elected governor in November of 2006."

Somali pirates who hijacked¹⁰ a huge Saudi-owned oil tanker¹¹ off the coast of east Africa two months ago had been paid a ransom¹² for its release. The super-tanker--Sirius Star was hijacked with 25 crew on board, carrying a cargo¹³ of 100 million dollars of crude oil. Gordon Corera has more.

Maritime¹⁴ Groups based in the area said the last group of gunmen had departed the Sirius Star and its crew had sailed out to safe waters. According to coalition¹⁵ naval¹⁶ forces in Bahrain, a ransom payment in the container appears to have been parachuted from a plane to the pirates on board the vessel¹⁷. And although the total ransom paid is unknown, there are reports that 3 million dollars was delivered to a group on shore. The pirates supposedly then began arguing amongst themselves over how to distribute the cash. Somali pirates are still holding 16 other vessels¹⁸ and more than 300 crew members.

World news from the BBC.

A wildlife campaigner in Zimbabwe says members of the army are being given elephant meat for their rations¹⁹ because of a shortage in beef. A spokesman for the Zimbabwe Conservation Taskforce said soldiers have complained to him that elephant was the only meat they were receiving. He said army contract to supply beef had been cancelled because it was easier and cheaper to provide elephant.

Turkish police investigating an alleged²⁰ plot to overthrow²¹ the government of uncovered weapons and explosives buried in a forest. Documents seized from an arrested former senior police official led the authorities to a forest on the outskirt of the Turkish capital of Ankara, where they unearthed²² hand grenades, missile launches and bullets. Sarah Rainsford reports from Istanbul.

86 people are already on trial. This time, 3 with higher generals were detained as well as serving members of the military. That let some to speculate that this investigation may now be reaching the real masterminds of the plot. Others, though, are increasingly critical, accusing the religious conservative government of hijacking²³ the case to take revenge on its opponents. That's after a failed attempt to close the party down last year. Many of those people arrested are staunch secularists and local critics of the governing AK party.

New figures show that the United States lost more jobs in 2008 than in any years since 1945. The US economy shed just over 2.5 million jobs, a reflection of deepening recession of the world's largest economy. The President-elect Barack Obama said the figures showed the urgent need to confront what he called "a devastating²⁴ economic crisis that was getting harder to contain."

The American airplane manufacturer Boeing has announced it's to cut 4500 jobs from next month because of the global economic downturn. Staff in Washington State are expected to be the worst affected²⁵. Boeing Commercial Airplanes currently employs around 68,000 people in the United States.

And with that story, we come to the end of this bulletin of BBC news.

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 durable   

adj.持久的，耐久的

参考例句：

• This raincoat is made of very durable material.这件雨衣是用非常耐用的料子做的。
• They frequently require more major durable purchases.他们经常需要购买耐用消费品。

3 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。

4 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

5 accusation   

n.控告，指责，谴责

参考例句：

• I was furious at his making such an accusation.我对他的这种责备非常气愤。
• She knew that no one would believe her accusation.她知道没人会相信她的指控。

6 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。

7 thoroughly   

adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地

参考例句：

• The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
• The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。

8 impeach   

v.弹劾；检举

参考例句：

• We must impeach the judge for taking bribes.我们一定要检举法官收受贿赂。
• The committee decided to impeach the President.委员会决定弹劾总统。

9 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

10 hijacked   

劫持( hijack的过去式和过去分词 )； 绑架； 拦路抢劫； 操纵（会议等，以推销自己的意图）

参考例句：

• The plane was hijacked by two armed men on a flight from London to Rome. 飞机在从伦敦飞往罗马途中遭到两名持械男子劫持。
• The plane was hijacked soon after it took off. 那架飞机起飞后不久被劫持了。

11 tanker   

n.油轮

参考例句：

• The tanker took on 200,000 barrels of crude oil.油轮装载了二十万桶原油。
• Heavy seas had pounded the tanker into three parts.汹涌的巨浪把油轮撞成三载。

12 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。

13 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

14 maritime   

adj.海的，海事的，航海的，近海的，沿海的

参考例句：

• Many maritime people are fishermen.许多居于海滨的人是渔夫。
• The temperature change in winter is less in maritime areas.冬季沿海的温差较小。

15 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

16 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

17 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

18 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

19 rations   

定量( ration的名词复数 )； 配给量； 正常量； 合理的量

参考例句：

• They are provisioned with seven days' rations. 他们得到了7天的给养。
• The soldiers complained that they were getting short rations. 士兵们抱怨他们得到的配给不够数。

20 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

21 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

22 unearthed   

出土的（考古）

参考例句：

• Many unearthed cultural relics are set forth in the exhibition hall. 展览馆里陈列着许多出土文物。
• Some utensils were in a state of decay when they were unearthed. 有些器皿在出土时已经残破。

23 hijacking   

n. 劫持, 抢劫 动词hijack的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• I have been told about the hijacking . 我已听说了那次劫机事件。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 口语
• They are taking measures to guarantee against the occurrence of hijacking. 他们正采取措施防止劫机事件的发生。

24 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

25 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。