英国新闻听力 117

President Obama has announced a massive mortgage relief plan to try to prevent millions of American families losing their homes. The money, 275 billion dollars, is aimed at helping¹ borrowers, those who owe more on mortgages than their properties are now worth, and those [whose homes are] on the verge² of being repossessed. Mr. Obama said the plan was aimed at helping families who had "played by the rules", not rescuing the unscrupulous. Andy Gallagher reports.

President Obama told a gathered crowd in Arizona that the housing crisis threatens the American Dream. Millions of homeowners here already know that, but the president's promised to tackle the problem head-on, offering millions of people a lifeline before it's too late. Around five million so-called "responsible homeowners" will be allowed to refinance their houses. Another four million people will be able to enter a Homeowner Stability Initiative, aimed at reducing their monthly costs.

The leading Egyptian opposition³ figure, Ayman Nour, has been released after more than three years in prison. Mr. Nour was charged with forgery⁴ in 2005. His imprisonment⁵ was widely condemned⁶ as having been politically motivated. Speaking to the BBC after his release, Mr. Nour said he would continue to be involved in politics.

"I will carry on my role in political life as an Egyptian citizen, as someone who loves this country, as someone who believes in reform and change, as someone who stands against many things that are happening in Egypt."

Rebels in the Sudanese region of Darfur have accused government forces of attacking their positions just a day after the two sides signed an agreement towards ending their conflict. The Justice and Equality Movement said government aircraft bombed their fighters at the same time as ground forces clashed with rebels about 70 kilometers further northeast. There's been no word from the Sudanese government. Mark Doyle has more.

The man who led the rebel delegation⁷ to this week's confidence-building talks with the Sudanese government in Qatar, Dr. Jibril Ibrahim, said government planes had on Wednesday been bombing rebel-held areas east of the Jebel Marra mountains in the Darfur region. Dr. Ibrahim, speaking from Qatar, said he had been in touch with people in the field in Darfur. He named five locations near the Jebel Marra mountain range that he said had been hit including a camp for war-displaced people, known as the Fallujah camp, where he said five people had been killed in the government's aerial attacks.

The European Union envoy⁸ says that Russia and Georgia have agreed on proposals aimed at preventing conflicts six months after fighting each other over the Georgian breakaway region of South Ossetia. The envoy, Pierre Morel, said both sides had agreed to set up a hotline and to meet weekly to defuse tensions.

World News from the BBC.

Hundreds of people in Venezuela and the Caribbean island of Antigua have been queuing to withdraw their money from banks associated with the Texan financier, Allen Stanford, who's been accused of a massive fraud. Financial regulators insisted that the bank has sufficient reserves. From Caracas, Will Grant.

In an effort to reassure⁹ depositors, the head of the Venezuelan banking¹⁰ regulator, Edgar Hernandez, issued a statement saying that the Stanford Bank Venezuela was fine and that the situation was normal. “Stanford Bank Venezuela is a healthy bank,” he said, “without any type of problem.” The move comes as regulators tried to stave off a run on the retail¹¹ bank, after hundreds of people gathered outside the local branch of Stanford International Bank in an effort to retrieve¹² their savings¹³.

A judge in the US has frozen the assets of Mr. Stanford and his whereabouts are currently unknown.

Ecuador has expelled an American diplomat¹⁴, accusing him of interfering¹⁵ in police matters, the second US official to be expelled from the country in just over a week. A spokesman said that the decision was taken by the National Security Council after the first secretary at the US Embassy was accused of intervening in the decisions of a police unit.

Sweden has decided¹⁶ to play its Davis Cup tennis match against Israel next month behind closed doors for security reasons. The council in the host city Malmo, said it could not guarantee keeping fans safe from protests against Israel's military intervention¹⁷ in Gaza. The chairman of the Israel Tennis Federation¹⁸ said the organizers expected provocation¹⁹ by what he called troublemakers²⁰ who had nothing to do with the sport.

The Coast Guard in Scotland has confirmed to the BBC that all 18 people on board a helicopter which ditched into the North Sea off the coast of Scotland have been rescued. The passengers were found in two life rafts, and none of them has serious injuries. The helicopter came down as it approached an oil rig.

1 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

2 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。

3 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。

4 forgery   

n.伪造的文件等，赝品，伪造（行为）

参考例句：

• The painting was a forgery.这张画是赝品。
• He was sent to prison for forgery.他因伪造罪而被关进监狱。

5 imprisonment   

n.关押，监禁，坐牢

参考例句：

• His sentence was commuted from death to life imprisonment.他的判决由死刑减为无期徒刑。
• He was sentenced to one year's imprisonment for committing bigamy.他因为犯重婚罪被判入狱一年。

6 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。

7 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

8 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

9 reassure   

v.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently.这似乎使他放心一点，于是他更有信心地继续说了下去。
• The airline tried to reassure the customers that the planes were safe.航空公司尽力让乘客相信飞机是安全的。

10 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。

11 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

12 retrieve   

vt.重新得到，收回；挽回，补救；检索

参考例句：

• He was determined to retrieve his honor.他决心恢复名誉。
• The men were trying to retrieve weapons left when the army abandoned the island.士兵们正试图找回军队从该岛撤退时留下的武器。

13 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

14 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

15 interfering   

adj. 妨碍的 动词interfere的现在分词

参考例句：

• He's an interfering old busybody! 他老爱管闲事！
• I wish my mother would stop interfering and let me make my own decisions. 我希望我母亲不再干预，让我自己拿主意。

16 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。

17 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

18 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

19 provocation   

n.激怒，刺激，挑拨，挑衅的事物，激怒的原因

参考例句：

• He's got a fiery temper and flares up at the slightest provocation.他是火爆性子，一点就着。
• They did not react to this provocation.他们对这一挑衅未作反应。

20 troublemakers   

n.惹是生非者，捣乱者( troublemaker的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was employed to chuck out any troublemakers. 他受雇把捣乱者赶走。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She had automatically labelled the boys as troublemakers. 她不假思索地认定这些男孩子是捣蛋鬼。 来自《简明英汉词典》