英国新闻听力 100

An operation is under way in Colombia to release four hostages held by the left-wing FARC movement. Helicopters with Red Cross representatives on board flew to a prearranged spot in the jungle to collect the hostages. The rebels say they intend to free three police officers and a soldier who were captured last year. A journalist travelling with the relief mission said the military had delayed the handover, an accusation¹ strongly rejected by a Columbian official. Inirida Guarnizo, the mother of the hostage Walter Jose Lozano, said she had faith in her son's release.

"I heard the voice of God, that's why I told everybody, my friends, the media. Yes, I know it is him, and they would ask 'how do you know?', and I just knew my son was coming back. The Lord told me."

Israeli planes have bombed a Hamas target in the central part of the Gaza Strip hours after the Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told the army to prepare a severe response to continued Palestinian rocket fire. Reports described the target as an empty security headquarters, and said there were no casualties. Israeli planes are also reported to have bombed tunnel networks in southern Gaza. Bethany Bell reports from Jerusalem.

Israeli airstrikes are continuing over Gaza, as we speak. We understand from Palestinian sources that one of them hit a Gaza police station, the Gaza police station was empty, and we also understand that the Israelis have hit targets in Rafah in the south. And we understand that those targets include a number of tunnels, which, the Israelis say, were used to smuggle² weapons from Egypt into Gaza. Now what we understand from Palestinian sources is that there've been no casualties that people have moved away from these parts of Gaza, Rafah in particular, and also from the police station because they did fear that such strikes might happen.

The President of the Palestinian authority, Mahmoud Abbas, has ruled out reconciliation³ talks with Hamas, unless it recognizes the PLO as the sole representative of the Palestinian people. Mr. Abbas accused Hamas of putting the lives and aspirations⁴ of Palestinians at risk. Last week, the exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal dismissed the PLO, which is dominated by Mr. Abbas's faction⁵, Fatah, as absolute calling for a new national authority. From Cairo, Yolande Knell⁶ reports.

President Abbas made his angry comments at a hospital in Cairo, after meeting patients injured in the conflict in Gaza. He accused Hamas of putting the lives of Palestinians and their aspirations for an independent Palestinian state at risk. There has been a rift⁷ between Fatah and Hamas, the two main Palestinian factions⁸ since Hamas took control of Gaza by force in mid⁹ 2007. A recent proposal from the Hamas leadership to replace the Palestine Liberation Organization dominated by Mr. Abbas and the groups loyal to him has deepened the divide.

World News from the BBC.

Iceland's newly appointed coalition¹⁰ government has set out its plan to rescue the country from financial ruin. The Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir said her priority would be to replace the central bank board which fails to prevent the collapse¹¹ of the country's banking¹² system. She said she'd asked a parliamentary committee to look into joining the European Union.

The Russian President Dmitri Medvedev has welcomed the enthronement of a new leader of the country's Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill. Mr. Medvedev, who attended the ceremony along with the Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, said he hoped it would create new conditions for dialogue between church and state. Patriarch Kirill said his priority was to promote the church to young people.

African leaders meeting in Addis Ababa for the African Union Summit have discussed whether to call officially for the lifting of sanctions against Zimbabwe, as President Robert Mugabe prepares to share power with his opposition¹³ rivals in a unity¹⁴ government. The leaders said the measure would help to ease the humanitarian¹⁵ situation in Zimbabwe. The Malawian President, Dr. Bingu wa Mutharika, told the BBC that sanctions were no longer needed.

"There would be no point in continuing with the sanctions if indeed an agreement has been reached to go forward. The reason behind it no longer exists. And one hopes that the international community will move quickly to prepare a package for Zimbabwe, so that, you know, we can then see progress in that part of the world."

As fighting continues between the army and Tamil Tiger rebels in northern Sri Lanka, there are reports that a hospital has been hit by shellfire. The International Committee of the Red Cross says two people were killed when shells landed in the compound of the hospital. It lies in an enclave where rebel fighters are holding out in the midst of many tens of thousands of civilians¹⁶.

1 accusation   

n.控告，指责，谴责

参考例句：

• I was furious at his making such an accusation.我对他的这种责备非常气愤。
• She knew that no one would believe her accusation.她知道没人会相信她的指控。

2 smuggle   

vt.私运；vi.走私

参考例句：

• Friends managed to smuggle him secretly out of the country.朋友们想方设法将他秘密送出国了。
• She has managed to smuggle out the antiques without getting caught.她成功将古董走私出境，没有被逮捕。

3 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

4 aspirations   

强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 )； 志向； 发送气音； 发 h 音

参考例句：

• I didn't realize you had political aspirations. 我没有意识到你有政治上的抱负。
• The new treaty embodies the aspirations of most nonaligned countries. 新条约体现了大多数不结盟国家的愿望。

5 faction   

n.宗派，小集团；派别；派系斗争

参考例句：

• Faction and self-interest appear to be the norm.派系之争和自私自利看来非常普遍。
• I now understood clearly that I was caught between the king and the Bunam's faction.我现在完全明白自己已陷入困境，在国王与布纳姆集团之间左右为难。

6 knell   

n.丧钟声；v.敲丧钟

参考例句：

• That is the death knell of the British Empire.这是不列颠帝国的丧钟。
• At first he thought it was a death knell.起初，他以为是死亡的丧钟敲响了。

7 rift   

n.裂口，隙缝，切口；v.裂开，割开，渗入

参考例句：

• He was anxious to mend the rift between the two men.他急于弥合这两个人之间的裂痕。
• The sun appeared through a rift in the clouds.太阳从云层间隙中冒出来。

8 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别

9 mid   

adj.中央的，中间的

参考例句：

• Our mid-term exam is pending.我们就要期中考试了。
• He switched over to teaching in mid-career.他在而立之年转入教学工作。

10 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

11 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。

12 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

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 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。

15 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。

16 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。