英国新闻听力 78

BBC News with Aleem Maqbool.

The United Nations says at least 30 people have been killed in an Israeli artillery¹ attack near one of its schools in the Gaza Strip, the second in its many days. The Building had been a refuge for hundreds of people fleeing the fighting. The UN described the situation after the attack as horrific and demanded an independent investigation² into the incident which happened at Jabaliya in northern Gaza. Ben Brown reports from the Israeli Gaza border.

The Israeli attack on the UN run school may be the biggest single loss of civilian³ life so far in Gaza since this crisis began. The Israelis say that Hamas militants⁵ were firing from the school, using it as cover. But the UN are furious with Israel and insist they had given the Israelis GPS coordinates⁶ for all their buildings in Gaza precisely⁷ to avoid a tragedy such as this. According to the United Nations, at least 30 Palestinians died at the school and 55 were wounded, many of them children. They have been seeking shelter after fleeing from their homes.

Israel said the attack was in response to a Palestinian mob from the school grounds, The Israeli Prime Minister spokesman Mark Regev put the blame on the militant⁴ group Hamas.

"We do know that there was a Hamas operative in the institution that they were using institution for military purposes we know they are amongst the casualties, there were military operatives of Hamas, we even have specific names. I think this is an incident which shows clearly how Hamas operates, they have very few qualms⁸ so that taking over UN institution, which is supposed to be neutral, for military purposes, they have no qualms about using civilians⁹ I understand the refugees as human shields.

Meanwhile Israeli forces have pushed further south on the Gaza strip and clashed with Hamas militants near Gaza city.

The Venezuelan government has expelled the Israeli ambassador and drawn¹⁰ other embassy staff in protest of the attacks in the Gaza strip. The move comes a day after the Venezuelan president strongly criticized the Israeli government, calling the offensive in the Palestinian territory “a genocide” against innocent civilians.

As the dispute between Russian and Ukraine over gas deliveries for Europe worsens, 7 Eastern European and Balkan’s countries have reported a complete halt to their supplies from Russia. Further West, Germany, France and Italy have reported a decrease in their supplies. As cold weather grips the continent, the European Union has called the shut down completely unacceptable. The Deputy chief executive of the Russian gas firm Gazprom Alexander Medvedev blamed Ukraine for the dispute.

"Unfortunately last night we witnessed events that are unprecedented¹¹ in the history of international gas market. At 2:30 Central European Time, the Ukrainian side unilaterally shut down three main pipelines¹² supplying gas for western and central Europe. As a result of this action, we don't have the physical ability to supply gas to Europe. "

World news from the BBC.

The new Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been sworn in at a ceremony in Dhaka. The event marked an end to 2 years of rule by army-backed government and return to democracy for Bangladesh. From Dhaka, Mark Dummett reports.

Sheikh Hasina has become Bangladesh's Prime Minister for the second time. But this is without doubt the greatest moment of her long career. Her Awami League and its allies won a massive victory in last week's elections, securing more than 250 seats out of a possible 300, the largest party and the last parliament the Bangladesh Nationalist Party former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia was crushed and so was its ally, the main religious party Jamaat-e-Islami.

The man who has been chosen to fill the vacancy¹³ to the United States senate left by the president-elect Barack Obama has been turned away on the grounds that his credentials¹⁴ are incomplete. The chosen candidate Roland Burris, a prominent African American has been strongly opposed in his home state of Illinois because of a scandal surrounding the man who appointed him, the state Governor Rod Blagojevich, the governor is facing charges of trying to sell the seat to the highest bidder¹⁵. Mr. Blagojevich denies any wrongdoing.

The family of one of Germany's richest businessmen Adolf Merckle say he has committed suicide, investigators¹⁶ said he has been hit by a train near his home at Ulm at southwest of the country. Mr. Merckle, who was 74, lost a fortune in October in an ill-fated gamble, the share price of the German car maker¹⁷ Volkswagen would drop instead it quadrupled.

The Ethiopian Parliament has passed a bill imposing¹⁸ heavy restrictions¹⁹ on aid agencies, all foreign agencies are banned from a number of areas including human rights, equality, conflict resolution and the rights of children. The new law also bans any local group that received more than 10% of its funding from abroad from work in these areas.

1 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。

2 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

3 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

4 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

5 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。

6 coordinates   

n.相配之衣物；坐标( coordinate的名词复数 )；（颜色协调的）配套服装；[复数]女套服；同等重要的人（或物）v.使协调，使调和( coordinate的第三人称单数 )；协调；协同；成为同等

参考例句：

• The town coordinates on this map are 695037. 该镇在这幅地图上的坐标是695037。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

8 qualms   

n.不安；内疚

参考例句：

• He felt no qualms about borrowing money from friends.他没有对于从朋友那里借钱感到不安。
• He has no qualms about lying.他撒谎毫不内疚。

9 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。

10 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

11 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

12 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。

13 vacancy   

n.（旅馆的）空位，空房，（职务的）空缺

参考例句：

• Her going on maternity leave will create a temporary vacancy.她休产假时将会有一个临时空缺。
• The vacancy of her expression made me doubt if she was listening.她茫然的神情让我怀疑她是否在听。

14 credentials   

n.证明，资格，证明书，证件

参考例句：

• He has long credentials of diplomatic service.他的外交工作资历很深。
• Both candidates for the job have excellent credentials.此项工作的两个求职者都非常符合资格。

15 bidder   

n.(拍卖时的)出价人，报价人，投标人

参考例句：

• TV franchises will be auctioned to the highest bidder.电视特许经营权将拍卖给出价最高的投标人。
• The bidder withdrew his bid after submission of his bid.投标者在投标之后撤销了投标书。

16 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

18 imposing   

adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的

参考例句：

• The fortress is an imposing building.这座城堡是一座宏伟的建筑。
• He has lost his imposing appearance.他已失去堂堂仪表。

19 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制