英国新闻听力 109

Votes are being counted in Israel's general election, a poll which could have a crucial effect on the Middle East peace process. Exit polls suggest that the centralist Kadima party led by Tzipi Livni is narrowly ahead of the centre-right Likud party led by the former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. From Kadima headquarters, Tim Franks.

At Kadima party headquarters, a gust¹ of delight and shock greeted the release of the exit polls. Those polls suggested that having been consistently behind in the surveys for months, Tzipi Livni had managed to garner² the support of enough people who didn't want her right-wing rival Benjamin Netanyahu to be prime minister. Despite the smiles here at Kadima headquarters, these are very early moments. The numbers could still change. And even if Tzipi Livni's Kadima party were to remain the largest, there is no guarantee that the Israeli president would call on her to try to form the next government if he believes she won't succeed. This does appear to be a remarkable³ comeback, that appearance may not last.

The Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon has announced an inquiry⁴ into damage to UN property in Gaza during Israel's recent offensive. From UN headquarters in New York, Laura Trevelyan.

During the three-week long Israeli offensive in Gaza, more than 40 people were killed by Israeli fire outside a UN school and a warehouse⁵ in the main UN compound was destroyed by Israeli shells. There were ten incidents in which UN property was damaged. Now Ban Ki-moon has announced an inquiry into what happened to be headed by Ian Martin, formerly⁶ the UN envoy⁷ to Nepal. Israel and the United Nations have a fraught⁸ relationship in Gaza. The world body's relief and works agency distributes aid to Palestinians, which leads Israeli officials to see the agency as biased⁹ and in favor of the Palestinians.

The US Treasury¹⁰ Secretary Timothy Geithner has unveiled a new government plan costing up to 1.5 trillion dollars aimed at reviving the country's stricken financial sector¹¹. Under the plan, an investment fund of public and private money will be set up to buy toxic¹² assets from ailing¹³ financial institutions. The US Federal Reserve will also provide more help for homeowners facing foreclosure. But Mr. Geithner warned that the plan was not an easy solution.

"I wanna be candid¹⁴. This strategy will cost money. It will involve risk and it will take time. But as costly¹⁵ as this effort may be, we know that the cost of a complete collapse¹⁶ of our financial system would be incalculable for families and for businesses and for our nation."

At the end of the day's trading on New York Stock Exchange, the Dow Jones share index fell, ending the session more than 4.5% lower.

The largest American carmaker General Motors says it's cutting 10,000 jobs or roughly one in seven of its workforce¹⁷. GM, the world's largest carmaker until it was overtaken by Toyota last year, says it will also cut pay by 10% for most of its remaining office workers in the US.

World News from the BBC.

Red Cross officials in Sri Lanka say at least 16 patients being treated in a makeshift hospital in the war-torn north of the country have been killed by heavy shelling as government forces continue their offensive against Tamil Tiger rebels. The patients at the facility near the coastal¹⁸ village of Putumattalan were among hundreds who had fled the last functioning hospital in the war zone after it came under repeated artillery¹⁹ fire.

Interpol has issued its biggest ever alert for terror suspects, the request of Saudi Arabia. The International Police Agency issued a worldwide appeal for help to find 85 people suspected of plotting attacks against Saudi targets. The list includes 83 Saudis and two Yemenis. It was released by Saudi officials last week.

Russia says it's ready to work with the United States on all bilateral²⁰ issues including disarmament. A spokeswoman for the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said the Kremlin welcomed what it had been hearing from the Obama administration about the future of US relations. On Monday, President Obama said the two countries should lead the way in preventing nuclear proliferation by restarting discussions on cutting their arsenals²¹ of nuclear weapons.

The Russian Football Association has given its approval for its national team coach Guus Hiddink to manage the English club Chelsea until the end of the season. Chelsea, one of the world's richest teams, have been talking to Hiddink since sacking their manager Luiz Felipe Scolari on Monday. Alex Capstick reports.

Guus Hiddink has become Chelsea's No. 1 target. The Dutchman has described it as an exceptional situation. He's committed to helping²² Russia try to qualify for next year's World Cup. But the chance to join Chelsea is tempting²³. "If it was any other club, " he said, "the answer would be no." But Guus Hiddink is a friend of Chelsea's Russian owner Roman Abramovich. He helped pave the way for Hiddink to take charge of the Russian national team, a job he would continue with should he strike a deal with Chelsea.

BBC.

Glossary²⁴

a gust of: If you feel a gust of emotion, you feel the meotion suddenly and intensely.

greet: to react to an action or news in a particular way

garner: If someone has garnered²⁵ something useful or valuable, they have gained it or collected it.

comeback: something makes a comeback, it becomes fashionable again

fraught: If you say that a situation or action is fraught, you mean that it is worrying or difficult.

candid: When you are candid about something or with someone, you speak honestly.

1 gust   

n.阵风，突然一阵（雨、烟等），（感情的）迸发

参考例句：

• A gust of wind blew the front door shut.一阵大风吹来，把前门关上了。
• A gust of happiness swept through her.一股幸福的暖流流遍她的全身。

2 garner   

v.收藏；取得

参考例句：

• He has garnered extensive support for his proposals.他的提议得到了广泛的支持。
• Squirrels garner nuts for the winter.松鼠为过冬储存松果。

3 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

4 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

5 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。

6 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

7 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

8 fraught   

adj.充满…的，伴有(危险等)的；忧虑的

参考例句：

• The coming months will be fraught with fateful decisions.未来数月将充满重大的决定。
• There's no need to look so fraught!用不着那么愁眉苦脸的！

9 biased   

a.有偏见的

参考例句：

• a school biased towards music and art 一所偏重音乐和艺术的学校
• The Methods: They employed were heavily biased in the gentry's favour. 他们采用的方法严重偏袒中上阶级。

10 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

11 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。

12 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

13 ailing   

v.生病

参考例句：

• They discussed the problems ailing the steel industry. 他们讨论了困扰钢铁工业的问题。
• She looked after her ailing father. 她照顾有病的父亲。

14 candid   

adj.公正的，正直的；坦率的

参考例句：

• I cannot but hope the candid reader will give some allowance for it.我只有希望公正的读者多少包涵一些。
• He is quite candid with his friends.他对朋友相当坦诚。

15 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

16 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。

17 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

18 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

19 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

20 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

21 arsenals   

n.兵工厂，军火库( arsenal的名词复数 )；任何事物的集成

参考例句：

• We possess-each of us-nuclear arsenals capable of annihilating humanity. 我们两国都拥有能够毁灭全人类的核武库。 来自辞典例句
• Arsenals are factories that produce weapons. 军工厂是生产武器的工厂。 来自互联网

22 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

23 tempting   

a.诱人的, 吸引人的

参考例句：

• It is tempting to idealize the past. 人都爱把过去的日子说得那么美好。
• It was a tempting offer. 这是个诱人的提议。

24 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。

25 garnered   

v.收集并（通常）贮藏（某物），取得，获得( garner的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Mr. Smith gradually garnered a national reputation as a financial expert. 史密斯先生逐渐赢得全国金融专家的声誉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He has garnered extensive support for his proposals. 他的提议得到了广泛的支持。 来自辞典例句