英国新闻听力 74

BBC News with John Jason.

The United Nations says the Israel military has stepped down its offensive against the leadership of Hamas organization in Gaza, targeting the homes of about 25 Hamas officials in its latest air strikes. The UN says most of those in the firing land were warned that they were about to be hit. In response, Palestinian militants¹ fired more than 60 rockets into southern Israel. Matthew Price reports from UN headquarters in New York.

The UN says the week-long bombardment of Gaza has worsened the humanitarian² crisis there.In all it says up to 421 people may have been killed and more than 2,000 injured.

But it says it can not confirm those figures. For 18 months, the crowded coastal³ strip has been largely sealed off from the world. Israel has tightly controlled movement to and from Gaza ever since Hamas, the elected leaders seized military control of the territory.

In his first public address since the start of Israeli bombardment, the exile leader of Hamas Khaled Meshaal has warned against any Israeli ground offensive. Mr. Meshaal, who is based in Damascus, says a black destiny awaits Israeli forces if they invade the Gaza Strip. “Gaza will throw you into the sea of defeat, failure and bankruptcy⁴. As for you, the soldiers of the enemy, whose commanders are preparing you to into Gaza in a landing invasion, you must know that black destiny is waiting for you and you will be either killed, injured or imprisoned⁵.”

Iraqi police say suicide bomber⁶ blew himself after a meeting of Sunni Arab tribal⁷ leaders southern of Baghdad, killing⁸ up to 30 people. About 100 others were injured. A security spokesman says the attacker was a relative of the host and had been able to enter the house through the back door.

The first commercial fight between Europe and Iraq in at least 17 years has landed at Baghdad airport. The Swedish-based company that operates the plane says it expects to fly to the Iraqi capital once a week. The Iraqi national carrier, Iraq Airways⁹ says it hopes start flying routes to Europe within month.

European contry is beginning to feel the effects of Russian’s decision to cut gas supplies to Ukraine despite earlier Russian assurances that it wouldn’t affect them. The Czech presidency¹⁰ of European Union has demanded that gas supplies resume immediately to EU member states following pressure drops in Romanian, Poland and Hungary. Ferran Tarradellas, the spokesman for the EU Energy Commissioner¹¹ said they will enclose consultation¹² with Russia and Ukraine to find out why gas supplies have been reduced. “ // the real concerns of this production of the pressure because they could be caused by different reasons and we are in close contact with Ukrainians. Some Russians don’t accept what the reasons are. I have to despite that we don’t have a clear picture of that, but our consultations¹³ continue.”

You are listening to the World News from the BBC .

Votes are being counted in the last constituency to go to the polls in Ghana’s presidential run-off election. The governing party boycotted¹⁴ Friday’s ballots¹⁵, saying conditions were not free and fair. The BBC correspondent in Accra says the government’s candidate Nana Akufo-Addo now has no realistic chance of winning the overall election having begun the day behind the opposition¹⁶ leader John Atta-Mills. President John Kufuor has urged both leaders to respect the outcome.

A Portuguese¹⁷ woman thought to be the oldest person in the world has died at the age of 115. Maria de Jesus was born in a deprived region of central Portugal in 1893. Rob Norris reports.

Maria de Jesus worked in the field from the age of 12 and never went to school. She remained unable to read or write for her entire life although she tried to start learning when she reached the age of 100. Her 84-year- old daughter who lived with her says she never took any medication and remained active until recently. She avoided meats and prefered to eat fish and vegetables. She enjoyed sun bathing on her porch and refused to go into an old people’s home. She outlived her husband by 57 years and had 6 children and 11 grandchildren.

The Sri Lankan government says its troops have captured the town of Kilinochchi from the Tamil Tigers rebels that had been held 10 years as the rebels’ military headquarters. President Mahinda Rajapaksa called it an unparallel victory shortly after a suicide bomber attacked the air force headquarters in the capital Colombo.

The Roman Catholic Church in Cuba says mass has been celebrated¹⁸ in prison for the time since the Cuban Revolution 50 years ago. Five bishops¹⁹ held mid-night Christmas mass for inmates²⁰ in jail across the country. It’s not known whether political prisoners were allowed to attend the services. Correspondent say inmates were allowed to receive pastor²¹ visits but priests had not previously²² been allowed to say mass.

1 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

2 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。

3 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

4 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

5 imprisoned   

下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was imprisoned for two concurrent terms of 30 months and 18 months. 他被判处30个月和18个月的监禁，合并执行。
• They were imprisoned for possession of drugs. 他们因拥有毒品而被监禁。

6 bomber   

n.轰炸机，投弹手，投掷炸弹者

参考例句：

• He flew a bomber during the war.他在战时驾驶轰炸机。
• Detectives hunting the London bombers will be keen to interview him.追查伦敦爆炸案凶犯的侦探们急于对他进行讯问。

7 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

8 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

9 AIRWAYS   

航空公司

参考例句：

• The giant jets that increasingly dominate the world's airways. 越来越称雄于世界航线的巨型喷气机。
• At one point the company bought from Nippon Airways a 727 jet. 有一次公司从日本航空公司买了一架727型喷气机。

10 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。

11 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

12 consultation   

n.咨询；商量；商议；会议

参考例句：

• The company has promised wide consultation on its expansion plans.该公司允诺就其扩展计划广泛征求意见。
• The scheme was developed in close consultation with the local community.该计划是在同当地社区密切磋商中逐渐形成的。

13 consultations   

n.磋商（会议）( consultation的名词复数 )；商讨会；协商会；查找

参考例句：

• Consultations can be arranged at other times by appointment. 磋商可以通过预约安排在其他时间。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Consultations are under way. 正在进行磋商。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

14 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。

15 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 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。

17 Portuguese   

n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语

参考例句：

• They styled their house in the Portuguese manner.他们仿照葡萄牙的风格设计自己的房子。
• Her family is Portuguese in origin.她的家族是葡萄牙血统。

18 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

19 bishops   

（基督教某些教派管辖大教区的）主教( bishop的名词复数 )； （国际象棋的）象

参考例句：

• Each player has two bishops at the start of the game. 棋赛开始时，每名棋手有两只象。
• "Only sheriffs and bishops and rich people and kings, and such like. “他劫富济贫，抢的都是郡长、主教、国王之类的富人。

20 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》

21 pastor   

n.牧师，牧人

参考例句：

• He was the son of a poor pastor.他是一个穷牧师的儿子。
• We have no pastor at present:the church is run by five deacons.我们目前没有牧师：教会的事是由五位执事管理的。

22 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。