英国新闻听力 118

United Nations officials say that Palestinian Hamas movement which controls the Gaza Strip delivered a letter to the American Senator John Kerry while he was visiting the territory. The head of the UN relief agency in Gaza said the letter was addressed to President Obama. Mr. Kerry and two members of Congress who accompanied him were the most senior US officials to visit Gaza since Hamas seized control there almost two years ago. One of the congressmen, Brian Baird, said they did not seek any contact with Hamas.

"We were focusing on the humanitarian¹ crisis, witnessing that first-hand and sharing our experiences, and also frankly² conveying to the Palestinian people and the international community that members of Congress are deeply concerned about what has been happening and are committed to trying to provide relief in the short run and solutions in the long run."

The Texan financier, Allen Stanford, who is alleged³ to have committed massive fraud, has been located in the United States. He's been served with civil legal papers by the financial authorities. From Washington, Richard Lister reports.

The FBI says its agents met Allen Stanford in Richmond, Virginia, and gave him the documents relating to the civil case against him. The FBI spokesman Richard Kolko says the agency was acting⁴ at the request of the Securities and Exchange Commission, which earlier this week, accused Mr. Stanford of defrauding⁵ investors⁶ of more than eight billion dollars, using his bank in Antigua. The SEC says he lured⁷ investors with certificates of deposit, guaranteeing artificially high interest rates for investors based on a fraudulent investment strategy.

The United Nations nuclear agency says it has found additional particles of uranium in samples taken from the site of an alleged nuclear facility in Syria. It was bombed by Israel in September, 2007. Syria denied the site was a nuclear reactor⁸ and alleged the traces of uranium found there came from Israeli missiles. But the UN agency said the probability of the uranium coming from missiles was low.

Switzerland's biggest bank, UBS, has said it will not supply the American authorities with the details of over 50,000 US citizens believed to have bank accounts in Switzerland. UBS earlier agreed to pay the US government 780 million dollars after admitting some of its staff helped these clients to set up secret accounts. From Bern, Imogen Foulkes.

Like many governments battling the current financial crisis, Washington doesn't want a penny of possible tax revenue to escape. It believes billions may be sitting in Swiss banks. UBS says it won't hand over the information. Tax fraud may be a reason to lift banking⁹ secrecy¹⁰ under Swiss law, failing to declare a taxable income is not, but the pressure on Switzerland to relax its fiercely protected banking secrecy is now enormous.

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The organization that monitors media freedom in Europe says Russia's failure to solve the murders of journalists such as Anna Politkovskaya, amounts to a human rights crisis. The comment by a spokesman for the OSCE follows the acquittal of three men accused of involvement in the murder of the investigative reporter, who is a critic of the Kremlin. The spokesman said those on trial were not the masterminds or even the actual killers¹¹. Ms. Politkovskaya was murdered outside her Moscow apartment in 2006.

The United States and Canada are to work together to develop clean energy to help combat climate change. President Obama and the Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said this would involve investing in new technology, including in carbon capture and storage. They also highlighted the need to improve their countries' electricity grids¹² to help supply homes with clean energy. President Obama said the measures were critically important.

"How we produce and use energy is fundamental to our economic recovery, but also our security in our planet, and we know that we can't afford to tackle these issues in isolation¹³. And that's why we're updating our collaboration¹⁴ on energy to meet the needs of the 21st century."

The Argentine government has given a Roman Catholic bishop¹⁵ who denied the full extent of the Holocaust¹⁶ ten days to leave the country or face expulsion. It said that Bishop Richard Williamson had repeatedly breached¹⁷ the terms of the visa that allowed him to live and work in the country.

The Czech President Vaclav Klaus has compared the European Union to a Soviet¹⁸ style dictatorship in a speech to the European Parliament in Brussels. Mr. Klaus branded the EU and its institutions undemocratic and elitist. He said anyone who, as he put it, dare to think differently about greater European integration¹⁹ face being labeled an enemy. His speech was cheered by some parliamentarians, but about 40 others walked out. The Czech Republic currently holds the EU's rotating presidency²⁰.

1 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。

2 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

3 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

4 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。

5 defrauding   

v.诈取，骗取( defraud的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Second is the actor regards defrauding of the wealth as object. 第二，行为人以骗取钱财为目的。 来自互联网
• Therefore, DELL has the motive and economic purpose of intentionally defrauding the Chinese consumers. 因此，戴尔公司存在故意欺诈中国消费者的动机和经济目的。 来自互联网

6 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

7 lured   

吸引，引诱（lure的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The child was lured into a car but managed to escape. 那小孩被诱骗上了车，但又设法逃掉了。
• Lured by the lust of gold,the pioneers pushed onward. 开拓者在黄金的诱惑下，继续奋力向前。

8 reactor   

n.反应器；反应堆

参考例句：

• The atomic reactor generates enormous amounts of thermal energy.原子反应堆发出大量的热能。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules.在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

9 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。

10 secrecy   

n.秘密，保密，隐蔽

参考例句：

• All the researchers on the project are sworn to secrecy.该项目的所有研究人员都按要求起誓保守秘密。
• Complete secrecy surrounded the meeting.会议在绝对机密的环境中进行。

11 killers   

凶手( killer的名词复数 )； 消灭…者； 致命物； 极难的事

参考例句：

• He remained steadfast in his determination to bring the killers to justice. 他要将杀人凶手绳之以法的决心一直没有动摇。
• They were professional killers who did in John. 杀死约翰的这些人是职业杀手。

12 grids   

n.格子( grid的名词复数 )；地图上的坐标方格；（输电线路、天然气管道等的）系统网络；（汽车比赛）赛车起跑线

参考例句：

• Typical framed structures are beams, grids, plane and space frames or trusses. 典型构架结构为梁、格栅、平面的和空间的框架或桁架。 来自辞典例句
• The machines deliver trimmed grids for use or stock. 这种机器铸出修整过的板栅，以供使用或储存。 来自辞典例句

13 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。

14 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。

15 bishop   

n.主教，（国际象棋）象

参考例句：

• He was a bishop who was held in reverence by all.他是一位被大家都尊敬的主教。
• Two years after his death the bishop was canonised.主教逝世两年后被正式封为圣者。

16 holocaust   

n.大破坏；大屠杀

参考例句：

• The Auschwitz concentration camp always remind the world of the holocaust.奥辛威茨集中营总是让世人想起大屠杀。
• Ahmadinejad is denying the holocaust because he's as brutal as Hitler was.内贾德否认大屠杀，因为他像希特勒一样残忍。

17 breached   

攻破( breach的现在分词 )； 破坏，违反

参考例句：

• These commitments have already been breached. 这些承诺已遭背弃。
• Our tanks have breached the enemy defences. 我方坦克车突破了敌人的防线。

18 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

19 integration   

n.一体化，联合，结合

参考例句：

• We are working to bring about closer political integration in the EU.我们正在努力实现欧盟內部更加紧密的政治一体化。
• This was the greatest event in the annals of European integration.这是欧洲统一史上最重大的事件。

20 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。