Violence erupts at student protest in London

    LONDON, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- British university students Wednesday staged nationwide protests against planned tuition fee increases during which a police van was damaged in central London.
    Some protesters surrounded the van in Whitehall, smashing the windscreen with wooden poles and lines of police tried to hold back thousands of demonstrators.
    "There is a containment¹ on Whitehall to prevent further criminal damage and we will look to disperse² anyone being held as soon as we can," police said in a statement.
    In addition to London, students held demonstrations³ in Birmingham, Glasgow, Manchester, Liverpool, and elsewhere.
    More than 50,000 university students staged the first wave of rallies in central London on Nov. 10 to protest the planned rise of tuition fees. Some of the students attacked the headquarters of the ruling Conservative Party and clashed with police.
    Police said before the latest demonstrations that there would not be a repeat of the violence two weeks ago, when 60 people were arrested and dozens injured.
    British government confirmed that university undergraduate students will be charged tuition fees of up to 9,000 pounds (14,300 U.S. dollars) a year from 2012 from the current 3,290 pounds (5,200 U.S. dollars).
    According to the plan, graduates earning more than 21,000 pounds (33,200 U.S. dollars) per year start repaying their loans at 9 percent of their income at a real rate of interest, up from the current threshold of 15,000 pounds (23,700 U.S. dollars), with outstanding loans written off after 30 years.(本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑)

1 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。

2 disperse   

vi.使分散；使消失；vt.分散；驱散

参考例句：

• The cattle were swinging their tails to disperse the flies.那些牛甩动着尾巴驱赶苍蝇。
• The children disperse for the holidays.孩子们放假了。

3 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。