英国新闻听力 84

BBC News with Marian Marshall.

Russia says it will resume gas supplies through Ukraine to Europe where hundreds of thousands of people have been left without heat in freezing temperatures. The state-run energy company Gazprom said supplies would resume on Tuesday morning if there were no obstacles. From Brussels, Oana Lungescu reports.

The EU Energy Commissioner¹, Andris Piebalgs, said he'd received guarantees that gas could reach European consumers through Ukraine within 24 hours. If not, he warned, the EU would be able to say who is responsible as over 20 observers are starting to monitor the flow of the gas. But the underlying² cause of the crisis, Russia's price dispute with Ukraine remains³ to be solved and Europe is only starting to draw the lessons.

President Bush says the most urgent threat facing his successor Barack Obama is a potential terrorist attack on the United States rather than the current economic crisis. Mr. Bush said there were still some people who wanted to inflict⁴ damage on America. Kevin Connolly reports from Washington.

For a man at the pinnacle⁵ of American power, George Bush could sometimes seem a little tongue-tied and unreflective in office. But even some of his critics have been struck by the graciousness with which he is handing on power to Barack Obama. At his final news conference, he emphasized repeatedly that he wanted Mr. Obama to succeed, and insisted his own record as a strong one, even though he leaves America in recession, in debt and at war on two fronts. He acknowledged mistakes and disappointments, such as not finding weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and prematurely⁶ declaring mission accomplished⁷ there.

The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has told Israel and the Palestinian movement Hamas that fighting in the Gaza Strip must stop now. He said too many people had died and there had been too much civilians⁸ suffering. Laura Trevelyan reports.

Mr Ban will begin a diplomatic tour of the Middle East, going to visit the leaders of Egypt, Israel, Syria and the Palestinian president in Ramallah. He will be pressing for an immediate⁹ ceasefire and he says demonstrating his concern for the innocent, Palestinians and Israelis. UN officials say Mr. Ban would not be meeting representatives of Hamas. The secretary general says he is not sure whether he will go to Gaza.

Israel has continued its air and ground offensive there and Hamas says it's been involved in fighting with Israeli troops in several districts. The UN Emergency Relief Coordinator¹⁰ John Holmes said more than 40% of those killed since the start of the Israeli offensive were women and children.

The electoral authorities in Israel have banned two of the three main Arab parties from taking part in next month's parliamentary elections. Members of the Central Elections Committee voted overwhelmingly in favor of disqualifying the parties which, they / alleged¹¹, were guilty of incitement¹² and support terrorism. forAn Israeli Arab member of parliament, Ahmad Tibi, denounced the move as racist¹³ and / said he would submit an appeal to Israel's Supreme¹⁴ Court.

World News from the BBC.

The Unites States has imposed sanctions on people and companies linked to the former head of Pakistan's nuclear program, Abdul Qadeer Khan. The State Department said 13 people and three private companies would be targeted . Mr. Khan has been under virtual house arrest/ since 2004 when he acknowledged being involved in the elicit¹⁵ nuclear technology trade.

The Italian Airline Alitalia has agreed to sell a 25% stake to one of its rivals Air France-KLM . Alitalia's new owners, a consortium of / Italian businessmen, said the deal was worth nearly 430 million dollars. Italy's former national airline filed for bankruptcy¹⁶ in August last year and is to relaunch itself on Tuesday with fewer routes.

The International Monetary¹⁷ Fund has approved a financial rescue package for Belarus to help it cope with the global financial crisis. The IMF said the first part of the 2.5-billion-dollar package would be available immediately. Here's Andrew Walker.

In a statement, the IMF's Managing Director, Dominique Strauss-Kahn. said that Belarus has been hit hard by the global crisis. Exports have been affected¹⁸ by falling demand from trading partners, and it's become more difficult to borrow abroad, that has led to a decline in the country's foreign exchange reserves. The financial crisis has prompted several IMF loans after a number of years in which its emergency assistance had not been needed. Since early November, Hungary, Ukraine, Iceland, Latvia and Pakistan have all had loans approved worth a total of 44 billion dollars.

Football's world governing body, FIFA, has named Cristiano Ronaldo as World Player of the Year. The Portugal and Manchester United winner won the English Premier¹⁹ League, Champions League and World Club Cup with United last year. He is the first player based in England to win the award. He faced competition from Fernando Torres, Xavi Hernandez, Lionel Messi and last year's winner, Kaka. The women's award went to the Brazilian Marta for the third year running.

BBC News.

1 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。

2 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

3 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。

4 inflict   

vt.(on)把…强加给，使遭受，使承担

参考例句：

• Don't inflict your ideas on me.不要把你的想法强加于我。
• Don't inflict damage on any person.不要伤害任何人。

5 pinnacle   

n.尖塔，尖顶，山峰；(喻)顶峰

参考例句：

• Now he is at the very pinnacle of his career.现在他正值事业中的顶峰时期。
• It represents the pinnacle of intellectual capability.它代表了智能的顶峰。

6 prematurely   

adv.过早地，贸然地

参考例句：

• She was born prematurely with poorly developed lungs. 她早产，肺部未发育健全。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His hair was prematurely white, but his busy eyebrows were still jet-black. 他的头发已经白了，不过两道浓眉还是乌黑乌黑的。 来自辞典例句

7 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

8 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。

9 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。

10 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

11 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

12 incitement   

激励； 刺激； 煽动； 激励物

参考例句：

• incitement to racial hatred 种族仇恨的挑起
• Interest is an incitement to study. 兴趣刺激学习。

13 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。

14 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

15 elicit   

v.引出,抽出,引起

参考例句：

• It was designed to elicit the best thinking within the government. 机构的设置是为了在政府内部集思广益。
• Don't try to elicit business secrets from me. I won't tell you anything. 你休想从我这里套问出我们的商业机密, 我什么都不会告诉你的。

16 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

17 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。

18 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。

19 premier   

adj.首要的；n.总理，首相

参考例句：

• The Irish Premier is paying an official visit to Britain.爱尔兰总理正在对英国进行正式访问。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。