英国新闻听力 95

Spain's largest bank, the Santander Group, says it'll pay back 1. 8 billion dollars to clients who bought into one of its funds that was exposed to the multi-billion-dollar fraud, allegedly run by the American financier Bernard Madoff. The bank proposes to offer a number of private clients the opportunity to exchange their investments in its Optimal¹ Strategic US Equity² Fund for other securities. From Madrid, Greg Wood reports.

Spain's biggest bank says it's offering 100% compensation to clients who lost their money after investing with Bernard Madoff. Santander says the total compensation will come to the value of more than 1. 5 billion US dollars. In a statement, the bank says it's taken this decision in view of the exceptional circumstances. Mr. Madoff is accused of running a fraudulent multi-billion-dollar scheme that wiped out many investors³. On Monday Spanish lawyers filed a lawsuit⁴ in Florida against Santander, claiming the bank did not do enough to prevent losses from the funds invested with Mr. Madoff.

Israel carried out an air attack in the Gaza Strip and sent tanks and bulldozers across the border after defense⁵ officials said an Israeli soldier was killed by Palestinian militants⁷. Palestinian reports said heavy fighting had been going on in southern Gaza and many people had fled their homes. Aleem Macqbool reports from Gaza City.

Israeli forces have now withdrawn⁸ after having been back in action in Gaza, but said they would return if they were attacked. On Tuesday, they were. An explosion on the Israeli side of the border killed one soldier and injured three others. Gazans living close by said the response came swiftly. Israeli troops, tanks, and helicopter gunships were deployed⁹. Doctors say a Palestinian farmer in Gaza was killed. A militant⁶ was also injured in an air strike.

The Russian Orthodox Church has elected a new leader to succeed Patriarch Alexy who died last month. His Metropolitan¹⁰ Krill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, the favorite in the contest, who had been acting¹¹ as the interim¹² head. In a newspaper interview before the vote, the new patriarch said the church could play a greater role in daily life including education.

The prize-winning American writer John Updike has died. He was 76. Literary critics labeled him as the chronicler of his generation, who explored issues such as sex, divorce and post-war life in the US with an erudite and evocative style. His publisher said he died of lung cancer. From New York, Matthew Price.

It was Updike who wrote The Witches of Eastwick which was later turned into a movie. But in literary circles perhaps his best-known work was the Rabbit series. He won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1982 for the third novel in the series Rabbit Is Rich. Updike once described his subject matter as the American small town Protestant middle class. Many of his writings chronicle the sexual and marital¹³ habits in the American suburbs.

World News from the BBC.

More than 30 people in Madagascar have been killed in separate looting incidents as violent anti-government demonstrations¹⁴ continue on the island. Firefighters say they've found 25 charred¹⁵ bodies in the remains¹⁶ of a department store in the capital Antananarivo. It's thought they may have been looters, trapped in the burning shop when the roof fell in. Police also found the bodies of six people who were crushed when a warehouse¹⁷ was looted. The disturbance¹⁸ was triggered by a political dispute between the opposition¹⁹ mayor of Antananarivo and Madagascan president.

The International Red Cross says a major humanitarian²⁰ crisis is unfolding in northern Sri Lanka, as government forces continue fighting the Tamil Tiger rebels. The head of its South Asia operations Jacques de Maio said hundreds of civilians²¹ have been killed and the situation is precarious²² for the quarter of a million people, who he said, were trapped.

"They find themselves simply under fire, and highly vulnerable. Access to medical care is almost non-existent at this point. They are in need of food, they are in need of a shelter and most of all, they are in need of security. "

Mr. de Maio said /the/ requests to bring out 200 seriously injured civilians had been denied and they were now close to death.

President Obama has gone to Congress to urge Republicans in both Houses to support his 825-billion-dollar stimulus²³ package. Republicans agree that the stimulus is needed but say that Mr. Obama wants to spend too much and not cut taxes enough. Congress is said to vote on the package on Wednesday.

A man in Los Angeles who recently lost his job appears to have shot dead his five young children and his wife before killing²⁴ himself. The bodies were found on Tuesday in a house in the South Los Angeles suburb of Wilmington. The man is believed to have committed suicide after calling a local broadcaster, and sending a fax about problems at work. The broadcaster then alerted the police.

1 optimal   

adj.最适宜的；最理想的；最令人满意的

参考例句：

• What is the optimal mix of private and public property rights in natural resources?私人和国家的自然资源产权的最适宜的组合是什么？
• Optimal path planning is a key link for the sailing contest.帆船最优行驶路径规划是帆船比赛取胜的关键环节。

2 equity   

n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票

参考例句：

• They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
• To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。

3 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

4 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

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 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。

7 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。

8 withdrawn   

vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出

参考例句：

• Our force has been withdrawn from the danger area.我们的军队已从危险地区撤出。
• All foreign troops should be withdrawn to their own countries.一切外国军队都应撤回本国去。

9 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

10 metropolitan   

adj.大城市的，大都会的

参考例句：

• Metropolitan buildings become taller than ever.大城市的建筑变得比以前更高。
• Metropolitan residents are used to fast rhythm.大都市的居民习惯于快节奏。

11 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

12 interim   

adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间

参考例句：

• The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
• It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。

13 marital   

adj.婚姻的，夫妻的

参考例句：

• Her son had no marital problems.她的儿子没有婚姻问题。
• I regret getting involved with my daughter's marital problems;all its done is to bring trouble about my ears.我后悔干涉我女儿的婚姻问题, 现在我所做的一切将给我带来无穷的烦恼。

14 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

15 charred   

v.把…烧成炭( char的过去式)；烧焦

参考例句：

• the charred remains of a burnt-out car 被烧焦的轿车残骸
• The intensity of the explosion is recorded on the charred tree trunks. 那些烧焦的树干表明爆炸的强烈。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

17 warehouse   

n.仓库；vt.存入仓库

参考例句：

• We freighted the goods to the warehouse by truck.我们用卡车把货物运到仓库。
• The manager wants to clear off the old stocks in the warehouse.经理想把仓库里积压的存货处理掉。

18 disturbance   

n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调

参考例句：

• He is suffering an emotional disturbance.他的情绪受到了困扰。
• You can work in here without any disturbance.在这儿你可不受任何干扰地工作。

19 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。

20 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。

21 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。

22 precarious   

adj.不安定的，靠不住的；根据不足的

参考例句：

• Our financial situation had become precarious.我们的财务状况已变得不稳定了。
• He earned a precarious living as an artist.作为一个艺术家，他过得是朝不保夕的生活。

23 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

24 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。