英国新闻听力 83

BBC News with Sue Montgomery

The Israeli military has announced for the first time that reservists are operating in the Gaza Strip alongside regular Israeli troops. An army spokesman denied that this meant the next phase of the offensive had begun. Earlier, the Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, said Israel was near to achieving its net aims in the military campaign, but he said the offensive would continue.

"This is the time to translate our achievements, to reach our goals. Israel is close to achieving the objectives it set for itself though this demands patience, determination and effort in order to achieve the goals in a way that will change the security reality in the South and civilians² will feel safety and stability in the long run. We must not miss, in the last minute, what has been achieved in the united, unprecedented³ effort that revive the spirit of unity⁴ in the nation of Israel. "

Two Norwegian doctors who've been working in the Gaza Strip say health services are close to collapse⁵ because of Israel's military campaign. They say the main Gaza Hospital, Shifa, lack specialist doctors and basic medical equipment. They also said that half of their patients were civilians. One of them, Mads Gilbert, spoke¹ to the BBC.

" I've been to many wars, we were both in Beirut, Guinea, too//, but, I think we have concluded that we have never seen anything like this, lacking everything, all sorts of resources, manpower, beds, capacity of disposable oxygen masks, and it's just terrible. "

The United States President-elect Barack Obama says he'll get involved in trying to break the impasse⁶ in the Middle East as soon as he takes office. In an interview with US Television, Mr. Obama said he found the deaths of Palestinian and Israeli civilians heartbreaking and that made him much more determined⁷ to act.

"The reason is so important for the United States to be engaged and involved immediately, not waiting till the end of the term, is because working through the politics of this requires a third party that everybody has confidence, eh, wants to see a fair and just outcome. "

Mr. Obama also said he would seek broader engagement with Iran, suggesting that Iran represented one of the United States' biggest challenges.

The Iraqi authorities say they have captured the alleged⁸ leader of Ansar al-Sunna, one of the main Sunni Insurgent⁹ Groups that's been blamed for a string of bomb attacks. A military spokesman said the man identified as /Syiad , had links with some Iraqi politicians and received support from groups in neighboring countries which he didn't name. The spokesman said the insurgent leader was detained in December and was behind attacks including a bombing in Baghdad last year in which dozens of people died.

World News from the BBC.

The Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said an agreement negotiated yesterday to resume gas supplies to Europe via Ukraine is void. Mr. Medvedev said he had received a copy of the agreement signed by Ukraine on Sunday with an attached declaration that contradicted Russia's position. Traveling back from the Russian border, our Ukraine correspondent, Gabriel Gatehouse reports.

24 hours ago, it looked like there was a deal. After days of frantic¹⁰ shuttle diplomacy¹¹ from the European Union, both Russia and Ukraine had signed up to an agreement that allowed international observers to monitor the flow of natural gas from Russia to Europe via Ukraine. Now, though that deal appears to be off again, the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said that Ukraine added provisos to the agreement that were unacceptable to Moscow. It appears that these amendments¹² relate to the thorny¹³ questions of Ukraine's gas debt to Russia, and whether or not, Kiev had been siphoning off gas destined¹⁴ for European customers.

Some news just at hand. Reports from Brussels say that the European Union Commission Chief, Jose Manuel Barroso, and the Ukrainian Prime Minister, Yulia Tymoshenko, have agreed to address Russian concerns over the disagreement on gas supplies to Europe via Ukraine.

Austria has criticized Slovakia's decision to reopen one of its Soviet-era nuclear power reactors¹⁶ following the gas dispute between Russia and Ukraine. An Austrian government statement said the nuclear reactor¹⁵ was one of the most dangerous in Europe and its shutdown was key to Slovakia's entry into the EU and must be respected.

Reports from Turkey say a court has charged nine more suspects including a former Chief of Police in connection with an alleged plot to overthrow¹⁷ the government. State media said another four former senior military officers were detained on similar charges. It's part of an investigation¹⁸ which has already led to 86 people going on trial last October.

BBC News.

1 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。

2 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。

3 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。

4 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

5 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

6 impasse   

n.僵局；死路

参考例句：

• The government had reached an impasse.政府陷入绝境。
• Negotiations seemed to have reached an impasse.谈判似乎已经陷入僵局。

7 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

8 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

9 insurgent   

adj.叛乱的，起事的；n.叛乱分子

参考例句：

• Faruk says they are threatened both by insurgent and government forces.法鲁克说，他们受到暴乱分子和政府军队的双重威胁。
• The insurgent mob assembled at the gate of the city park.叛变的暴徒聚在市立公园的门口。

10 frantic   

adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的

参考例句：

• I've had a frantic rush to get my work done.我急急忙忙地赶完工作。
• He made frantic dash for the departing train.他发疯似地冲向正开出的火车。

11 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

12 amendments   

（法律、文件的）改动( amendment的名词复数 )； 修正案； 修改； （美国宪法的）修正案

参考例句：

• The committee does not adequately consult others when drafting amendments. 委员会在起草修正案时没有充分征求他人的意见。
• Please propose amendments and addenda to the first draft of the document. 请对这个文件的初稿提出修改和补充意见。

13 thorny   

adj.多刺的，棘手的

参考例句：

• The young captain is pondering over a thorny problem.年轻的上尉正在思考一个棘手的问题。
• The boys argued over the thorny points in the lesson.孩子们辩论功课中的难点。

14 destined   

adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的

参考例句：

• It was destined that they would marry.他们结婚是缘分。
• The shipment is destined for America.这批货物将运往美国。

15 reactor   

n.反应器；反应堆

参考例句：

• The atomic reactor generates enormous amounts of thermal energy.原子反应堆发出大量的热能。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules.在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

16 reactors   

起反应的人( reactor的名词复数 )； 反应装置； 原子炉； 核反应堆

参考例句：

• The TMI nuclear facility has two reactors. 三哩岛核设施有两个反应堆。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• The earliest production reactors necessarily used normal uranium as fuel. 最早为生产用的反应堆，必须使用普通铀作为燃料。

17 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

18 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。