英国新闻听力 布朗宣布辞去工党领袖职务

The British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has announced that he intends to stand down as leader of the Labour Party within months. Mr Brown said he had no desire to stay in his post longer than was needed to form a stable government following last week's inconclusive general election.

"I therefore intend to ask the Labour Party to set in train the processes needed for its own leadership election. I would hope that it would be completed in time for the new leader to be in post by the time of the Labour Party conference. I will play no part in that contest, I will back no individual candidate."

Mr Brown also said the Labour was opening formal talks with the Liberal Democrats², who have been negotiating with the Conservative Party about a possible coalition³. The Liberal Democrat¹ Leader Nick Clegg said Mr Brown's announcement could be important for a smooth transition towards a new government.

A leading Conservative William Hague said the Liberal Democrats would be making a great mistake if they tried to construct the government with Labour, because it would not be stable. He said that his party was willing to give ground on a key Liberal Democrat demand and move towards a more representative voting system.

"In the interests of trying to create a stable, secure government, we will go the extra mile, and we will offer to the Liberal Democrats, in a coalition government, the holding of a referendum on the Alternative Vote system, so that the people of this country can decide what the best electoral system is for the future."

More than a hundred people have been killed across Iraq in the bloodiest⁴ day of the year so far. The worst violence was in the central town of Hilla where at least 45 people died when three bombs exploded near a clothing factory. Elsewhere seven people were killed by a car bomb in the southern city of Basra and seven security personnel were shot dead in apparently⁵ coordinated⁶ attacks in Bagdad.

President Obama has nominated his Solicitor-General Elena Kagan for a seat on the US Supreme⁷ Court. The court yields enormous power over American lives, as Mark Mardell reports from Washington.

This is a job for life from a court that interprets the American constitution’s impact on the country's law ruling on such hot topics as abortion⁸, guns and freedom of speech. 50-year-old Elena Kagan could influence the shape of America for decades to come. She worked in the Clinton White House and went on to become the very well-respected dean of Harvard Law School. The Senate has to approve this nomination⁹. Elena Kagan is a Liberal replacing a Liberal, but she might get a hard time simply because of the fractious political atmosphere at the moment. Republicans could focus on the fact she’s never been a judge and has a history of opposing the ban on gay people serving in the military.

The oil company BP says it's trying several new ways to stop the huge leak from a blown-out well in the Gulf¹⁰ of Mexico. It said it would try to place a small containment¹¹ box over the rupture¹² after efforts to install a larger device failed. BP has also been trying to thin the oil spill by using underwater chemical dispersants.

European stock markets have risen sharply after the announcement of a one-trillion-dollar international financial package aimed at defending the euro and stopping the debt crisis in Greece from spreading. There've been fears the crisis could spread to other European economies. Andrew Walker reports.

European stock markets have made large gains, 9% in the case of Paris. Bank shares have risen especially strongly. The European deal to provide loans to Europe countries if they need them is seemed as reducing the risk of those governments defaulting on their debts. The euro has also gained an interest rate on the debts of governments such as Greece and Portugal have fallen. The central banks began to buy those debts in the markets. There's also been an impact outside Europe, where there have been concerns about wider economic effects.

Share prices in the United States have also recovered strongly following the announcement of the package to defend the euro. The Dow Jones Index closed up nearly 4% on Monday following heavy losses last week.

The US-based Carter Center which monitored the elections in Sudan last month has described vote counting as chaotic¹³, non-transparent and vulnerable to manipulation. The organisation¹⁴ headed by the former US president Jimmy Carter said that he was concerned about the accuracy of preliminary results announced by the National Election Commission. The Sudanese authorities have admitted that a video posed on the Internet showing alleged¹⁵ ballot¹⁶ stuffing in last month elections was real and not a fabrication as they’d earlier claimed.

Prosecutors¹⁷ in Taiwan have brought criminal charges against a woman accused of forcing three female Muslim workers to eat pork after she hired them from Indonesia. They said the woman believed the pork would give the Indonesians more stamina¹⁸ for work and had threatened to cut their pay if they didn't obey. Eating pork is forbidden to Muslims for religious reasons. Human rights activists¹⁹ say the abuse of foreign workers remains²⁰ a serious problem in Taiwan.

英国首相戈登·布朗宣布，他将在几个月之内辞去工党领袖的职务。布朗表示，上周没有结果的大选之后，他无意担任该职务超过组建稳定的政府所需的时间。

“所以，我希望工党开启进行党内领袖选举所需的程序。我希望该程序能够及时完成，以便工党会议之前新的领袖能够就职。我不会参与竞争，不会支持任何候选人。”

布朗还表示，工党正与自民党展开正式对话。自民党正在与保守党商讨联合组阁的问题。自民党领袖克莱格表示，布朗的宣布对于顺利过渡到新政府是非常重要的。

前保守党领袖黑格(William Hague)表示，如果自民党试图与工党组建联合政府，他们将铸成大错，因为这样的政府是不会稳定的。他说，保守党在自民党关键的要求方面将作出让步，建立更加有代表性的投票体系。

“为了组建稳定，安全的政府，我们将作出进一步的努力，在联合政府中，我们将向自民党提议在选择性投票制的基础上举行全民公决，这样，英国民众就可以决定未来最好的选举制度。”

在今年以来最为血腥的一天，100多人在伊拉克遇难。最残忍的暴力发生在中部小镇希拉，三枚炸弹在一座制衣厂附近爆炸，造成至少45人死亡。在其他地方，南部城市巴士拉，7人因一起汽车炸弹爆炸死亡。在巴格达发生的很明显有组织的袭击中，7名安全人员被枪杀。

美国总统奥巴马提名美国联邦总律师艾琳娜·卡根(Elena Kagan)为填补最高法院大法院空缺的人选。最高法院的决定对美国民众的生活具有重大的影响力。Mark Mardell在华盛顿报道。

该职位将对美国宪法作出解释，这些解释将影响法律对堕胎，枪支和言论自由等热门话题的法律裁决。艾琳娜·卡根(Elena Kagan)将影响未来几十年美国的形势。她在克林顿政府时期任职，后来成为受人尊敬的哈佛法学院的院长。该提名还需参议院表决通过。艾琳娜·卡根(Elena Kagan)是一名自由主义者，但是由于目前复杂的政治环境，她可能面临非常艰难的时期。共和党人可能会紧紧抓住她从来未担任过法官和反对同性恋在军中服役的禁令这两点。

英国石油公司BP表示，他们正在尝试几种新的方法来防止墨西哥湾漏油钻井的大规模泄漏。该公司表示，如果安装大型设备的努力失败，他们将在钻井破裂处安置一个小型集装箱。BP还通过使用水面下化学分散剂来稀释漏油。

欧洲宣布提供1兆美元的国际金融资金来保护欧元，防止希腊债务危机扩散之后，欧洲股市大涨。市场曾经非常担忧希腊债务危机会扩散到欧元区其他国家。Andrew Walker报道。

欧洲股票市场出现大涨的形势，巴黎股价上升了9%。银行股的涨势最为强劲。欧洲在需要的情况下向欧元区国家提供贷款的协议似乎降低了这些政府拖欠债务的危险。由于希腊和葡萄牙等国债务减少，欧元的利率也出现上涨。中行银行已经开始在市场上购买这些债务。该宣布对欧洲以外原本担忧债务危机扩散的地区产生影响。

随着欧洲宣布保护欧元的计划，美国的股价也强力反弹。上周遭遇严重损失之后，本周一，道琼斯指数上涨了接近4%。

上周监控苏丹选举的美国卡特中心称计票过程非常混乱，不透明，操纵选票现象。该组织由美国前总统卡特领导。该组织称，卡特非常担忧全国选举委员会宣布的初步结果的真实性。苏丹当局承认，上传到互联网上的声称上月选举中存在舞弊的视频是真实的，并不是他们之前所说的捏造的。

台湾监控官对一名被指控迫使三名女性印尼穆斯林工作人员吃猪肉的女子提起刑事诉讼。他们说，这名女子认为猪肉能够使这些印尼人工作更有活力，并威胁说如果他们不照做将被削减薪水。由于宗教原因，穆斯林是禁止吃猪肉的。人权活动积极分子说，在台湾，虐待外国工作人员还是非常严重的问题。

1 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。

2 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》

3 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。

4 bloodiest   

adj.血污的( bloody的最高级 )；流血的；屠杀的；残忍的

参考例句：

• The Russians were going to suffer their bloodiest defeat of all before Berlin. 俄国人在柏林城下要遭到他们的最惨重的失败。 来自辞典例句
• It was perhaps the bloodiest hour in the history of warfare. 这也许是战争史上血腥味最浓的1个小时。 来自互联网

5 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

6 coordinated   

adj.协调的

参考例句：

• The sound has to be coordinated with the picture. 声音必须和画面协调一致。
• The numerous existing statutes are complicated and poorly coordinated. 目前繁多的法令既十分复杂又缺乏快调。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

7 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。

8 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

9 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

10 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。

11 containment   

n.阻止，遏制；容量

参考例句：

• Your list might include such things as cost containment,quality,or customer satisfaction.你的清单上应列有诸如成本控制、产品质量、客户满意程度等内容。
• Insularity and self-containment,it is argued,go hand in hand.他们争论说，心胸狭窄和自我封闭是并存的。

12 rupture   

n.破裂；(关系的)决裂；v.(使)破裂

参考例句：

• I can rupture a rule for a friend.我可以为朋友破一次例。
• The rupture of a blood vessel usually cause the mark of a bruise.血管的突然破裂往往会造成外伤的痕迹。

13 chaotic   

adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的

参考例句：

• Things have been getting chaotic in the office recently.最近办公室的情况越来越乱了。
• The traffic in the city was chaotic.这城市的交通糟透了。

14 organisation   

n.组织，安排，团体，有机休

参考例句：

• The method of his organisation work is worth commending.他的组织工作的方法值得称道。
• His application for membership of the organisation was rejected.他想要加入该组织的申请遭到了拒绝。

15 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

16 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

17 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

18 stamina   

n.体力；精力；耐力

参考例句：

• I lacked the stamina to run the whole length of the race.我没有跑完全程的耐力。
• Giving up smoking had a magical effect on his stamina.戒烟神奇地增强了他的体力。

19 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 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。