英语听力精选进阶版 9585

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Hi there, I'm Sonali from the BBC World News for Schools. It's Tuesday the 22nd of March. 

Coming up: 

Explosions ring out in Libya's capital. 

We bring you Cricket World Cup predictions. 

And F1 boss, Bernie Ecclestone wants fake rain at races. 

But first, this is the sound that people in Libya's capital, Tripoli heard throughout the night... 

CLIP: Explosion fx 

For the third night in a row international forces have carried out air strikes. They say they're trying to stop the leader, Colonel Gaddafi from killing¹ his own people, but the Libyan government says civilians² are dying. It's really hard to know exactly what is happening because journalists aren't being given the access they need to find out. 

Another part of the region has seen one of the heaviest air strikes in more than two years. Israel carried out a number of attacks on Gaza, an area where a lot of Palestinians live. Gaza officials say at least seventeen people had been injured, including seven children. The strikes come after a Palestinian militant³ group called Hamas fired mortars⁴ into southern Israel on Saturday. 

And after weeks of anti-government protests in Yemen, a number of the President's top officials have quit. But despite this, the President Ali Abdullah Saleh says people in Yemen are right behind him! 

Quick cricket update now - 8 teams are preparing for the knockout stages of the Cricket World Cup, which gets going tomorrow with Pakistan taking on the West Indies. Former England captain, Michael Vaughan's been giving his predictions on who might go all the way... 

CLIP: "Slightly favouring South Africa at the minute because they've got a rounded bowling⁵ attack, their batting seems to be firing. You can't rule out India being on home soil. They're going to have, obviously, a home quarter final, a home semi-final. England are real dark horses. I don't see New Zealand and I don't see Australia at this stage. Pakistan, you never know! But asking me where my tenner's going to go? I'm going to go South Africa." 

And we just had to bring you this next story! The head of Formula One, Bernie Ecclestone wants to have fake rain at races! He reckons it'll make them more exciting. What's more, Ecclestone says he's got loads of support for the idea... 

CLIP: "I thought maybe at the beginning it was a little bit crazy, but it's surprising how much support it's getting now, because no body will know exactly when it's going to happen - like when it rains. I think it will be, make a lot of entertainment." 

What will they think of next? 

As long as we're on weird⁶ stories, check this out! An American sumo wrestler⁷, weighing more than 180 kilos, reckons he's up for a world record after running an LA marathon. Kelly Gneiting, who was the last of 11,891 men to cross the finishing line, says he's the heaviest person ever to complete the race - even if it did take him nearly 10 hours. 

And today's question is all about marathons. We want to know what the official length of a full marathon is? Yesterday, we asked you which country has lost the football World Cup final the most times, and the answer is.....Germany! 

OK, that's all from the World News for Schools team. We're back tomorrow.