英国新闻听力

Voting has just finished in the British general election and an exit poll released in the last few moments indicates that the Conservatives will win but will not have an overall majority in parliament. Reporting live from Westminster is our political correspondent Rob Watson.

The exit polls suggest the Conservatives will be the largest party in the new parliament, but they will fall short of an overall majority by about 19 seats. The polls suggest heavy losses for the governing Labor¹ Party, but perhaps only modest gains for the Liberal Democrats³ despite the excitement surrounding their campaign. Of course all polls have a small margin⁴ of error, which could be significant in a tight election like this. There could also be different voting patterns around the country, so the actual results will need to be watched carefully. Certainly the voting comes after one of the most unpredictable and close-fought campaigns in many years, which has seen a genuine three-horse race between the three main parties after 13 years of Labor government.

There's no indication yet of turnout but there are reports of long queues at polling stations in some areas. Voters in the constituency of the Liberal Democrat² leader Nick Clegg waited for as long as three hours to vote. In another constituency in the north of England, voters were still queuing half an hour before the polling station was due to close.

The Greek parliament has voted decisively in favor of drastic spending cuts in exchange for international financial rescue package. The vote came a day after violent protests against the austerity measures. From Athens, Duncan Kennedy reports.

In the parliamentary debate before the vote, the Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou said that if the measures were not passed, Greece could go bankrupt. He said the cuts to pensions, increased taxes, and pay freezes were necessary to secure a massive bailout from the IMF and European governments. But the reforms have proved deeply unpopular with Greeks, and were behind the riots in Athens yesterday which left three people dead. Unions have promised more demonstrations⁵ to try to block the measures. The events in Greece have been closely followed around Europe and in international currency markets.

Stocks in New York have suffered their worst losses in a single day since April of last year because of investor⁶ concerns over the debt crisis in Greece. At one point during the day, the Dow Jones Index lost close to 9% of its value. Caroline Hepker reports from New York.

The Dow Jones index of stocks, which tracks America's top 30 companies, plunged⁷ almost a thousand points on Thursday afternoon before recovering some of the losses just minutes later. Investors⁸ sold off shares in huge volumes, suddenly gripped by fears about the Greek economic crisis. The worry is that austerity measures there will hold back the Eurozone economy recovery and therefore hurt the US.

The funeral has been held in Nigeria of the late president Umaru Yar'Adua, who died on Wednesday after a long illness. Tens of thousands of people attended the ceremony in the northern city of Katsina, the capital of Mr. Yar'Adua’s home state.

An Argentine pilot has arrived in Buenos Aires following his extradition⁹ from Spain to face charges on alleged¹⁰ human rights abuses under military rule between 1976 and 1983. Julio Alberto Poch, who holds dual¹¹ Argentine and Dutch nationality, is accused of having flown planes that were used to dump opponents of the military government into the sea. Mr Poch denies having participated in the so-called death flights.

The United States Coast Guards working to contain a massive oil slick in the Gulf¹² of Mexico say oil sheen has started washing ashore¹³ on an island off the coast of Louisiana. The oil company BP has begun placing a giant funnel¹⁴ on the leaking sunken oil well to harvest the spill as Rajesh Mirchandani reports.

Even though the giant funnel is now at the site of leaking oil well, some 50 miles off the coast of Louisiana, it could be Monday at least before it's operational. The technology, though used before, has never been tried at such depth, 5000 feet down. Oil has been spilling unstopped into the Gulf of Mexico for 17 days. The slick covers thousands of square miles and is edging towards the land. Already scientists say oil is in the food chain here. Local tour operators are reporting cancellations and fishing fleets are unable to work in affected¹⁵ waters.

A new study has found that all non-African people are part Neanderthal. Scientists have compared the genetic¹⁶ makeup¹⁷ of modern humans with that of our closest ancient relatives. They found evidence that, contrary to popular belief, the earliest humans mated with the Neanderthals they encountered as they emerged from Africa. The research was published in the journal Science.

1 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

2 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

3 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

5 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

6 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

7 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

8 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

9 extradition   

n.引渡（逃犯）

参考例句：

• The smuggler is in prison tonight,awaiting extradition to Britain.这名走私犯今晚在监狱，等待引渡到英国。
• He began to trouble concerning the extradition laws.他开始费尽心思地去想关于引渡法的问题。

10 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

11 dual   

adj.双的；二重的，二元的

参考例句：

• The people's Republic of China does not recognize dual nationality for any Chinese national.中华人民共和国不承认中国公民具有双重国籍。
• He has dual role as composer and conductor.他兼作曲家及指挥的双重身分。

12 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

13 ashore   

adv.在(向)岸上，上岸

参考例句：

• The children got ashore before the tide came in.涨潮前，孩子们就上岸了。
• He laid hold of the rope and pulled the boat ashore.他抓住绳子拉船靠岸。

14 funnel   

n.漏斗；烟囱；v.汇集

参考例句：

• He poured the petrol into the car through a funnel.他用一个漏斗把汽油灌入汽车。
• I like the ship with a yellow funnel.我喜欢那条有黄烟囱的船。

15 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。

16 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

17 makeup   

n.组织；性格；化装品

参考例句：

• Those who failed the exam take a makeup exam.这次考试不及格的人必须参加补考。
• Do you think her beauty could makeup for her stupidity?你认为她的美丽能弥补她的愚蠢吗？