英国新闻听力 105

President Barack Obama has described the latest unemployment figures in the United States as devastating¹. They show that nearly 600,000 jobs disappeared in January, boosting the monthly unemployment rate to 7.6%. It's the thirteenth month in a row that jobs have been lost. Here's our economics correspondent Andrew Walker.

Over the last year, the number of people unemployed² has risen by four million and the unemployment rate by 2.7%, half of the decline in the number who do have jobs occurred in the last three months, they appeared when the credit crisis intensified³ following the failure of the investment bank Lehman Brothers. In January, there were heavy job losses in manufacturing, construction and private sector⁴ services. President Obama sees the figures as indicating the need for Congress to approve his economic stimulus⁵ proposals quickly.

The United Nations has stopped all of its aid shipments into Gaza following two occasions when food and supplies were taken by Hamas which controls the territory. The UN says it'll not import any more aid until all the seized supplies are given back and Hamas gives credible⁶ assurances that such incidents won't happen again. Aleem Maqbool reports from Gaza City.

In the latest incident, the United Nations says ten truckloads of rice and flour were taken shortly after they crossed into Gaza. Earlier in the week, it says thousands of blankets were confiscated⁷ at gunpoint. Hamas has issued a statement, saying the goods were taken by mistake and they will be returned. But recently, it has expressed anger at the fact that aid agencies don't coordinate⁸ with Hamas, and it's previously⁹ said it wants all financial donations to be distributed through its administration.

Prosecutors¹⁰ in Turkey say they are investigating whether the leaders of Israel could be prosecuted¹¹ for alleged¹² crimes against humanity over the recent Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip. The chief prosecutor's office in Ankara said it was acting¹³ on a complaint filed by a Turkish human rights organization. The group has accused Israeli political and military leaders of committing genocide, torture and crimes against humanity, and demanded that they may be detained if they enter Turkey.

The Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has issued an emergency decree to prevent the family of a woman who's been in a vegetative state for 17 years from having her feeding tubes disconnected. The move came after the father of the woman, Elunana Englaro, won a protracted¹⁴ court battle giving him the right to instruct an Italian hospital to allow her to die. The Italian President, Georgio Napolitano, has refused to sign the decree, saying it's unconstitutional. But Mr. Berlusconi said he will summon Parliament to force the measure through.

Should the head of state take on the responsibility for this life? Decide and persevere¹⁵ in his decision not to sign this decree. We will immediately invite the Parliament to meet in an emergency session to approve within two or three days, a law that contains this decree.

This is Michael Poles with the latest world news from the BBC World Service.

The United Nations says at least 30, 000 people in southern Darfur have fled their homes over the past few days because of a fighting near two localities, Muhajaria and Shearia. The joint¹⁶ UN-African Union peacekeeping mission has described the recent clashes as the most violent in Darfur in more than two years.

A magistrate¹⁷ in Zimbabwe has thrown out a case against a key opposition¹⁸ figure after state lawyers failed to provide a trial date. The magistrate cast doubt on the treason charges brought against Tendai Biti, the Secretary General of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, and ruled that he'd been improperly¹⁹ arrested. Mr. Biti welcomed the ruling, saying that the upcoming inauguration²⁰ of an MDC prime minister would spell the end for President Mugabe.

"We are entering into a new phase in our history as a political party, next week on Wednesday is the inauguration of the prime minister. We'll go in there and use this government to change the suffering of our people, and to make sure that we finish the unfinished business of our struggle which is to the remove the dictatorship, to remove Robert Mugabe. "

There have been sharp exchanges between the leaders of Russia and European Union after their first high-level talks since relations were strained over the interruptions to Russian gas supplies to Europe. The European Commission President, Jose Manuel Barroso, said he'd raised concerns over a spate²¹ of recent killings²³ of journalists and human rights activists²⁴ in Russia. In response, an angry Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, accused the EU of what he called human rights abuses within its own territory.

Reports from Russia say that a large part of the country's fleet of fighter planes remained grounded two months after a MiG-29 crashed in Siberia, killing²² its pilot. A military panel is looking into the cause of the crash and an air force spokesman said the ban on MiG-29 flights would remain until the investigation²⁵ was complete. Russia is thought to have nearly 300 of the planes which represent just under half its fighter strength.

And that is the latest BBC News.

Glossary²⁶

truckload: A truckload of goods or people is the amount of them that a truck can carry.

decree: A decree is an official order or decision, especially one made by the ruler of a country.

protracted: Something, usually something unpleasant, that is protracted lasts a long time, especially longer than usual or longer than you hoped.

cast doubt on: to make something seem less certain, good, or real

strained: If relations between people are strained, those people do not like or trust each other.

a spate of : a spate of things, especially unpleasant things, is a large number of them that happen or appear within a short period of time.

magistrate: a magistrate is an official who acts as a judge in law courts which deal with minor²⁷ crimes or disputes.

1 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

2 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

3 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

5 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。

6 credible   

adj.可信任的，可靠的

参考例句：

• The news report is hardly credible.这则新闻报道令人难以置信。
• Is there a credible alternative to the nuclear deterrent?是否有可以取代核威慑力量的可靠办法？

7 confiscated   

没收，充公( confiscate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Their land was confiscated after the war. 他们的土地在战后被没收。
• The customs officer confiscated the smuggled goods. 海关官员没收了走私品。

8 coordinate   

adj.同等的，协调的；n.同等者；vt.协作，协调

参考例句：

• You must coordinate what you said with what you did.你必须使你的言行一致。
• Maybe we can coordinate the relation of them.或许我们可以调和他们之间的关系。

9 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

10 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。

11 prosecuted   

a.被起诉的

参考例句：

• The editors are being prosecuted for obscenity. 编辑因刊载污秽文字而被起诉。
• The company was prosecuted for breaching the Health and Safety Act. 这家公司被控违反《卫生安全条例》。

12 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

13 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。

14 protracted   

adj.拖延的；延长的v.拖延“protract”的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The war was protracted for four years. 战争拖延了四年。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We won victory through protracted struggle. 经过长期的斗争，我们取得了胜利。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 persevere   

v.坚持，坚忍，不屈不挠

参考例句：

• They are determined to persevere in the fight.他们决心坚持战斗。
• It is strength of character enabled him to persevere.他那坚强的性格使他能够坚持不懈。

16 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

17 magistrate   

n.地方行政官，地方法官，治安官

参考例句：

• The magistrate committed him to prison for a month.法官判处他一个月监禁。
• John was fined 1000 dollars by the magistrate.约翰被地方法官罚款1000美元。

18 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。

19 improperly   

不正确地，不适当地

参考例句：

• Of course it was acting improperly. 这样做就是不对嘛！
• He is trying to improperly influence a witness. 他在试图误导证人。

20 inauguration   

n.开幕、就职典礼

参考例句：

• The inauguration of a President of the United States takes place on January 20.美国总统的就职典礼于一月二十日举行。
• Three celebrated tenors sang at the president's inauguration.3位著名的男高音歌手在总统就职仪式上演唱。

21 spate   

n.泛滥，洪水，突然的一阵

参考例句：

• Police are investigating a spate of burglaries in the area.警察正在调查这一地区发生的大量盗窃案。
• Refugees crossed the border in full spate.难民大量地越过了边境。

22 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。

23 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

24 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

25 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。

26 glossary   

n.注释词表；术语汇编

参考例句：

• The text is supplemented by an adequate glossary.正文附有一个详细的词汇表。
• For convenience,we have also provided a glossary in an appendix.为了方便，我们在附录中也提供了术语表。

27 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。