英国新闻听力 75

BBC News with Nick Kelly.

Israeli troops have entered the Gaza Strip in what their government says is an operation to take control of the areas Palestinian militants¹ used to launch rockets into Israel. Witnesses say armed vehicles crossed into northern Gaza in at least three places supported by helicopters. Both Israel and Hamas say clashes were taking place. Tim Franks reports from Jerusalem.

The ground offensive began with a barrage² of artillery³ thumping⁴ into the areas to the north and the east of the Gaza Strip. Within a few hours, columns of Israeli armed vehicles crossed into Gaza at what appeared to be four separate points. They were backed by helicopters and with warnings from the Israeli Defense⁵ Minister Ehud Barak that Israel’s campaign will not, as he put it ,“be easy or short”. The Israeli prime minister spokesman insisted that Israel had no desire to stage a full reoccupation of the Gaza Strip. He said that Israel did not withdraw its civilians⁷ and its military in 2005 in order to return in the New Year in 2009.

An Israeli army spokesman said the aim was to deliver a harsh blow to Hamas so it would loose the motivation to carry on new rocket attacks. Hamas fighters say they were engaging Israeli troops who they said would pay a heavy price. The BBC’s Rushdi Abu Alouf is in Gaza.

We could hear from here not far from the north fighting. It’s going on Israeli the artillery fired on the Israeli, Apache (a helicopter) are flying over our heads and sending rockets between time to time to cover the troops on the ground. The Hamas source so far is talking about blowing up Israeli tanks in the north and killing⁸ and injuring a number of Israeli soldiers. So far, we have no independent a source who can tell us the truth in the north because it’s very dangerous area and we keep hearing the news from Hamas Sources and from the Israeli army.

Meanwhile, the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has called for an immediate⁹ halt to the Israeli ground assault in Gaza. Matthias Price sent this report from the UN in New York.

The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon spoke⁶ earlier with Israel’s prime minister. He conveyed his extreme concern and disappointment about the Israeli ground operation into Gaza. Mr. Ban said he is convinced that this escalation¹⁰ will increase the suffering of Gaza civilians. He called for an immediate end to the ground operation. He asked that Israel do all it can to ensure the protection of civilians. He also stated that the developments of the last 24 hours make it even more difficult to find a diplomatic solution to the conflict.

The UN Security Council is due to hold an emergency meeting on the crisis about now. France called the Israeli ground offensive a dangerous escalation and Britain said it would cause alarm and dismay. But the Czech Republic, the current president of the European Union said it considered Israel’s operation to be more defensive¹² in nature than offensive.

World News from the BBC

The presidential election in Ghana has been won narrowly by the opposition¹³ candidate John Atta Mills. The Ghana’s Electoral Commission said that after final delayed vote in one constituency, the governing party candidate Nana Akufo-Addo had lost by less than half a percentage point. Our correspondent Will Ross reports from the capital Accra.

As soon as the chair of Ghana’s Electoral Commission declared John Atta Mills, the president-elect, his supporters started dancing in the streets wearing the white, black red and green party colors. Nana Akufo-Addo said he had congratulated his rival, but his party was considering challenging the final result in court. It has been a divisive election, but on a continent plagued by chaotic¹⁴ polls, Ghana is still setting a good example.

A French Foreign Ministry¹⁵ official has arrived in Guinea where he’s meeting the group of junior soldiers who seized power in the country nearly two weeks ago. He is the first senior Western diplomat¹¹ to go to Guinea since the coup¹⁶ which took place within hours of the death of the country’s long-term President Lansana Conte. That coup has been internationally condemned¹⁷ and Guinea was suspended from the African Union.

In the American state of Arizona, a 12-year-old boy has been found guilty of murdering his mother. The judge ruled that prosecutors¹⁸ have proved that the boy acted intentionally¹⁹ and with premeditation when he shot his mother 8 times in a domestic argument. Prosecutors have wanted the child to be trialed as an adult. Under Arizona law, he can be detained only until he becomes 18. He’s due to be sentenced later this month.

And the Russian state gas company Gazprom says it will take its Ukrainian counterpart to court to ensure gas supplies for Europe. Ukraine had warned that technical problems might disrupt the flow of gas through pipelines²⁰ across its territory. Russia and Ukraine are in dispute over unpaid²¹ bills and the price of gas. Four EU countries have already reported false in their supplies.

And that’s the latest, BBC News.

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 barrage   

n.火力网，弹幕

参考例句：

• The attack jumped off under cover of a barrage.进攻在炮火的掩护下开始了。
• The fierce artillery barrage destroyed the most part of the city in a few minutes.猛烈的炮火几分钟内便毁灭了这座城市的大部分地区。

3 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

4 thumping   

adj.重大的，巨大的；重击的；尺码大的；极好的adv.极端地；非常地v.重击(thump的现在分词)；狠打；怦怦地跳；全力支持

参考例句：

• Her heart was thumping with emotion. 她激动得心怦怦直跳。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He was thumping the keys of the piano. 他用力弹钢琴。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

6 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

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 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

10 escalation   

n.扩大，增加

参考例句：

• The threat of nuclear escalation remains. 核升级的威胁仍旧存在。 来自辞典例句
• Escalation is thus an aspect of deterrence and of crisis management. 因此逐步升级是威慑和危机处理的一个方面。 来自辞典例句

11 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

12 defensive   

adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的

参考例句：

• Their questions about the money put her on the defensive.他们问到钱的问题，使她警觉起来。
• The Government hastily organized defensive measures against the raids.政府急忙布置了防卫措施抵御空袭。

13 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。

14 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。

15 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

16 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

17 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。

18 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。

19 intentionally   

ad.故意地，有意地

参考例句：

• I didn't say it intentionally. 我是无心说的。
• The local authority ruled that he had made himself intentionally homeless and was therefore not entitled to be rehoused. 当地政府裁定他是有意居无定所，因此没有资格再获得提供住房。

20 pipelines   

管道( pipeline的名词复数 )； 输油管道； 在考虑（或规划、准备） 中； 在酿中

参考例句：

• The oil is carried to the oil refinery by pipelines. 石油通过输油管输送到炼油厂。
• The oil carried in pipelines. 石油用管道输送。

21 unpaid   

adj.未付款的，无报酬的

参考例句：

• Doctors work excessive unpaid overtime.医生过度加班却无报酬。
• He's doing a month's unpaid work experience with an engineering firm.他正在一家工程公司无偿工作一个月以获得工作经验。