英国新闻听力 108

President Obama has held his first public rally outside Washington since taking office. He used it to call on the US Congress to approve his 800-billion-dollar economic stimulus¹ plan immediately. From Washington, James Coomarasamy.

With his economic stimulus bill proving a harder sell than expected, President Obama is taking his message directly to the American people. Speaking in Elkhart, Indiana, a town with an unemployment rate twice the national average, he outlined how different parts of the bill would stimulate² the economy, and he promised transparency in how the money would be spent. Republicans and some Democrats³ in Congress are balking⁵ at the size and scope of a bill that would pump more than 800 billion dollars of public money into the economy.

The Italian coma⁶ patient whose fate provoked a political row has died in hospital. The death of Eluana Englaro was announced in the Italian Senate where politicians were debating a law that would have forced doctors to continue feeding her. President Giorgio Napolitano had refused to sign a decree issued by the Italian cabinet which had ordered doctors to continue providing life support for Ms. Englaro. Duncan Kennedy reports from Rome.

The news that Eluana has died came from Italy’s health minister. Her doctors had suspended her feeding tubes on Friday. Eluana, who is 38, had been in a vegetative state since 1992 following a car crash. Italy’s highest court ruled doctors could stop feeding her. But the Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, last week ordered them to carry on. Mr. Berlusconi said he had heard news of her death with profound pain. He said he was sorry the government was not able to save her life.

Thousands of Australian firefighters are still trying to control more than a dozen wildfires that brought devastation⁷ to southeastern parts of the country. Nearly 170 people are known to have died so far. Police and soldiers are still searching for bodies in burned-out towns and villages. The senior Constable⁸ of Victoria Police, Wayne Wilson, said identifying the burned bodies would be a lengthy⁹ task.

"Because of the ferocity of the fire, and the, unfortunately the damage done to the people, identification is gonna be a key issue here. And we have what we call disaster victim identification teams. They will be used foremost in this investigation¹⁰ into identifying the people, for the coroner, and obviously there'll be a coroner's inquest in due course, so it's very early days in what's gonna be a long, a very prolonged investigation."

US military official in Iraq says a suicide car bombing in the northern city of Mosul has killed four American soldiers. The US military says three of the soldiers died instantly when the bomb exploded near their vehicle. The other soldier and an Iraqi interpreter died of their wounds later.

You are listening to world news from the BBC in London.

With just hours to go before voting gets under way in Israel’s general election, opinion polls have indicated that the result remains¹¹ too close to predict. From Jerusalem, Bethany Bell.

Israel’s politicians have been now making a final push for votes. For much of the campaign, the frontrunner was Benjamin Netanyahu. But the last polls before the election suggested it could be a close race between him and Tzipi Livni from Kadima. But even if Ms. Livini does pull ahead of Mr. Netanyahu, pollsters say right-wing parties are likely to dominate the Knesset and she could struggle to form a coalition¹². Following the recent conflict in Gaza, many Israelis say security is what counts. Many say they don’t trust the peace process or the Palestinians.

France has been put on storm alert to the all Paris airports are shut to flights until Tuesday morning. The national carrier, Air France, has had to cancel more than 200 flights. Forecasters say the entire west and north of France could be badly hit with winds predicted to reach up to 140 kilometers an hour.

The celebrated¹³ Cape¹⁴ Verdean singer, Cesaria Evora, has been awarded France’s highest civilian¹⁵ honour, the Legion d'Honneur. The French culture minister presented the award to the singer who is known as the "barefoot diva". Cesaria Evora is credited with bringing the musical style of Cape Verde, known as "morna" to an international audience.

The English Premier¹⁶ League Football club Chelsea have sacked their manager Luiz Felipe Scolari. The team, one of the richest in the world, have dropped to fourth place in the league after a series of disappointing performances. Scolari took over at Chelsea last June after a spell as manager of the Portuguese¹⁷ national side. Chelsea enjoyed an increased success after being bought by the Russian billionaire, Roman Abramovich, in 2003 but have not won the Premier League since 2006.

Glossary¹⁸

balk⁴: If you balk at something, you definitely do not want to do it or to let it happen.

coma: Someone who is in a coma is in a state of deep unconsciousness.

in a vegetative state: If someone is in a vegetative state, they are unable to move, think or speak, and their condition is not likely to improve.

ferocity: The ferocity of something is its fierce or violent nature.

in due course: If you say that something will happen or take place in due course, you mean that you cannot make it happen any quicker and it will happen when the time is right for it.

coroner: A coroner is an official who is responsible for investigating the deaths of people who have died in a sudden, violent or unusual way.

pull ahead of : In a race or contest, if you pull ahead of or pull away from an opponent, you gradually increase the amount by which you are ahead of them.

pollster: A pollster is a person or organization who asks large numbers of people questions to find out their opinions on particular subjects.

Knesset: the Israeli parliament

spell: A spell of a particular activity is a short period of time during which this type of activity occurs.

1 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。

2 stimulate   

vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋

参考例句：

• Your encouragement will stimulate me to further efforts.你的鼓励会激发我进一步努力。
• Success will stimulate the people for fresh efforts.成功能鼓舞人们去作新的努力。

3 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 balk   

n.大方木料；v.妨碍；不愿前进或从事某事

参考例句：

• We get strong indications that his agent would balk at that request.我们得到的强烈暗示是他的经纪人会回避那个要求。
• He shored up the wall with a thick balk of wood.他用一根粗大的木头把墙撑住。

5 balking   

n.慢行，阻行v.畏缩不前，犹豫( balk的现在分词 )；（指马）不肯跑

参考例句：

• He picked up a stone and let fly at the balking dog. 他捡起一块石头朝那狂吠的狗扔去。 来自互联网
• Democrats won't pass the plan without votes from rank-and-file Republicans andof-and-file Republicans were reportedly balking. 没有普通共和党议员的支持，民主党人无法通过这项方案——到周四晚间，据悉那些普通共和党人在阻挡（该计划）。 来自互联网

6 coma   

n.昏迷，昏迷状态

参考例句：

• The patient rallied from the coma.病人从昏迷中苏醒过来。
• She went into a coma after swallowing a whole bottle of sleeping pills.她吃了一整瓶安眠药后就昏迷过去了。

7 devastation   

n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤

参考例句：

• The bomb caused widespread devastation. 炸弹造成大面积破坏。
• There was devastation on every side. 到处都是破坏的创伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 constable   

n.(英国)警察，警官

参考例句：

• The constable conducted the suspect to the police station.警官把嫌疑犯带到派出所。
• The constable kept his temper,and would not be provoked.那警察压制着自己的怒气，不肯冒起火来。

9 lengthy   

adj.漫长的，冗长的

参考例句：

• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
• The professor wrote a lengthy book on Napoleon.教授写了一部有关拿破仑的巨著。

10 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。

11 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。

12 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。

13 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

14 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

15 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。

16 premier   

adj.首要的；n.总理，首相

参考例句：

• The Irish Premier is paying an official visit to Britain.爱尔兰总理正在对英国进行正式访问。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。

17 Portuguese   

n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语

参考例句：

• They styled their house in the Portuguese manner.他们仿照葡萄牙的风格设计自己的房子。
• Her family is Portuguese in origin.她的家族是葡萄牙血统。

18 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。