英国新闻听力 73

BBC News with Michael Poles.

A leader of the Islamist Movement Hamas who’d argued for suicide bombings against Israelis has been killed by an Israeli air strike against Gaza. Nizar Rayyan’s house was bombed in the first lead of attack on Hamas leader in nearly a week of Israeli air raids. At least 10 other people, including some of Nizar Rayyan’s wives and children were killed. Mushir al-Masri, a spokesman for Hamas condemned¹ the action and warned of great consequences for Israel.

This is a serious development inside the violence, criminality and terrorism against the sons of the Palestinian people. Targeting an entire square and houses in a clear manner is a despicable crime.

The Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni has ruled out the prospect² of ceasefire to allow aid into Gaza. Speaking in Paris where she met the President Sarkozy, Mrs. Livni said there was no humanitarian³ crisis in Gaza. She said Israeli campaign was weakening Hamas by destroying its infrastructure⁴. A spokeswoman for the Israeli military Major Avital Leibovitz said rocket attacks by Hamas were decreasing.

The average capability⁵ of Hamas is to launch something like 200 rockets a day. And currently the number has decreased to something between 40 and 80 a day. Now it’s not a complete crippling however. It’s weakening their capability. But this is only the sixth day, you know, these things take time and this is very premature⁶ to a sense of great success.

The governing party in Ghana has said it’d boycotted⁷ the vote on Friday in the one constituency which hasn’t yet voted in the presidential election. A party official said the atmosphere in the Tain constituency where voting has been delayed was not conducive⁸ to a free and fair election. The out coming Tain could decide who will be Ghana’s next president. Will Ross reports from Ghana’s capital Accra.

The governing party’s Nana Akufo-Addo cannot realistically win enough votes on Friday to overturn a narrow lead held by John Atta Mills of the Opposition⁹. The governing NPP party is now boycotting¹⁰ the vote, saying it would not be free and fair. It’s headed to the courts to try to stop the election from going ahead. Both sides have alleged¹¹ vote rigging during this keenly fought contest. Facing defeat by a narrow margin¹², senior NPP officials are meeting and observers of the election suggest the party is now split on whether Nana Akufo-Addo should accept the defeat.

The veteran South African politician Helen Suzman has died. She was 91. For many years, she was the only outspoken¹³ opponent of party in South Africa’s all-white parliament. She was only of the few politicians to visit and befriend Nelson Mandela while he was in jail and secured to improve conditions for political prisoners. The governing African National Congress said she had been a thorn in the fresh of apartheid. The leader of the official Opposition Helen Zille said Mrs. Suzman had been a giant in the history of South Africa’s march to democracy.

World News from the BBC.

Cuba has been marking the 50th anniversary of its revolution but without the presence of the man who led it Fidel Castro. Now 82, he has not appeared in public since undergoing a surgery more than two years ago. Fidel Castro who handed over the presidency¹⁴ to his younger brother Raul nearly a year ago sent a message of greeting to the Cuban people. Raul Castro said on state television that Cuban should feel pride of having endured American sanctions.

Russia has assured European Union countries that they have nothing to fear from its moved to cut off gas supplies to Ukraine over a payment dispute. The state energy company Gazprom said it had actually increased the volume of gas flowing to the EU. From Moscow // reports.

Russia’s latest shutdown of gas supplies to Ukraine has once again shown just how depend the whole of Europe now is on Russian energy. Three years ago, an almost identical cut-off led to gas shortages as far away as France. This year Europe is lucky. A mild winter means there are more gas supplies in reserve. And so far Ukraine has stuck to its promise, not to disrupt flows across its territory to Europe.

Britain has joined Portugal in pressing other European countries to take in prisoners from the American detention¹⁵ center at Guantánamo Bay to help President-elect Barak Obama close the camp after he takes office. Some of the 250 remaining inmates¹⁶ to been kid to release but there is concerns that they couldn’t face prosecution¹⁷ if they return to their home countries.

The Vatican says it will no longer automatically adopt Italian law as its own. The Pope has decided¹⁸ that from New Year’s Day, the Vatican authorities will first examine the Italian laws before deciding whether to adopt them. A leading Vatican lawyer said there were too many new laws and they were unstable¹⁹ and frequently at odds²⁰ with principles of Catholic Church. Experts believe the Vatican is trying to assert its legal independence in areas such a civil union.

1 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。

2 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

3 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

4 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

5 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。

6 premature   

adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的

参考例句：

• It is yet premature to predict the possible outcome of the dialogue.预言这次对话可能有什么结果为时尚早。
• The premature baby is doing well.那个早产的婴儿很健康。

7 boycotted   

抵制，拒绝参加( boycott的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Athletes from several countries boycotted the Olympic Games. 有好几国的运动员抵制奥林匹克运动会。
• The opposition party earlier boycotted the Diet agenda, demanding Miyaji's resignation. 反对党曾杯葛国会议程，要宫路下台。

8 conducive   

adj.有益的，有助的

参考例句：

• This is a more conducive atmosphere for studying.这样的氛围更有利于学习。
• Exercise is conducive to good health.体育锻炼有助于增强体质。

9 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。

10 boycotting   

抵制，拒绝参加( boycott的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• They're boycotting the shop because the people there are on strike. 他们抵制那家商店，因为那里的店员在罢工。
• The main opposition parties are boycotting the elections. 主要反对党都抵制此次选举。

11 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

12 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。

13 outspoken   

adj.直言无讳的，坦率的，坦白无隐的

参考例句：

• He was outspoken in his criticism.他在批评中直言不讳。
• She is an outspoken critic of the school system in this city.她是这座城市里学校制度的坦率的批评者。

14 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

15 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

16 inmates   

n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• One of the inmates has escaped. 被收容的人中有一个逃跑了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The inmates were moved to an undisclosed location. 监狱里的囚犯被转移到一个秘密处所。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

18 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。

19 unstable   

adj.不稳定的，易变的

参考例句：

• This bookcase is too unstable to hold so many books.这书橱很不结实，装不了这么多书。
• The patient's condition was unstable.那患者的病情不稳定。

20 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？