英国新闻听力 125

The Obama administration is to drop one of the key phrases used by President Bush in what he called his 'war on terror', and will no longer describe the inmates¹ of the Guantanamo Bay detention² center as enemy combatants. Jonathan Beale reports from Washington.

The decision to drop the term 'enemy combatant' marks another clear break with the past for Barack Obama. The term was adopted by President Bush to justify³ holding alleged⁴ terrorist suspects indefinitely and without trial. By calling them enemy combatants, the Bush administration argued that they were not prisoners of war, international laws like the Geneva Conventions, therefore did not automatically apply. The decision to drop the term is deeply symbolic⁵, but it also sets a new standard to continue holding detainees at Guantanamo Bay. It's Congress, not the President, who now authorize⁶ their detention.

The United States has assured China its one trillion dollars worth of investment in the United States is safe. President Obama's chief economic advisor⁷ Larry Summers said Washington would be what he called "sound stewards⁸". The Chinese Premier⁹ Wen Jiabao has earlier called on Washington to ensure its response to the slowdown did not endanger China's investments.

Swiss financial institutions are to reveal customers' details to foreign law enforcement agencies, but only if the foreign government has concrete evidence of tax evasion¹⁰. The Swiss government has been under pressure from countries, including the United States, Germany and France, which want information about alleged tax evaders. Imogen Foulkes reports from Bern.

The meeting of G20 finance ministers threatening to put Switzerland on a black list of tax havens¹¹, the Swiss government had to act. A black list could have led to sanctions not just against the Swiss banks, but against Swiss industry too. The decision to cooperate on tax evasion cases is all about damage limitation. It's a superficially small, but hugely important change in Swiss banking¹² regulations. With its introduction, a long-standing Swiss tradition has become history.

Italy's Foreign Ministry¹³ and the medical charity Medecins Sans Frontiers says three foreign aid workers, who were abducted¹⁴ in Darfur on Wednesday, have been set free. This report from David Willey in Rome.

An Italian doctor, a Canadian nurse and a French administrator¹⁵ who work for the Belgian branch of Medecins Sans Frontiers in Darfur were taken hostage together with two Sudanese staff last Wednesday. They were seized near the northern Darfur town of Saraf Umra. Kostas Moschochoritis, the head of the MSF medical charity in Italy, said that no money was paid for the release of the aid workers. The Sudanese staff had already been set free, he said.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil says he will focus on the shortage of global credit and the threat of protectionism when he meets President Obama at the White House on Saturday. President Lula said money had disappeared and he wanted to discuss how to reestablish credit around the world.

Lawyers for the fraudulent American financier Bernard Madoff have appealed against the judge's decision to revoke¹⁶ his ten-million-dollar bail¹⁷ and send him to prison. The papers were filed with a federal appeals court a day after Mr. Madoff pleaded guilty to swindling investors¹⁸ of billions of dollars, the biggest fraud in Wall Street's history.

The government in Sri Lanka has rejected a UN report which says it could be guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the conflict in the northeast of the country. The UN high commissioner¹⁹ for human rights also accused the rebel Tamil Tigers of similar abuses. The Sri Lankan minister for human rights said the UN's information was unsubstantiated. From Colombo, here is Anbarasan Ethirajan.

The unusually strong message from the UN has taken the Sri Lankan authorities by surprise. It comes at a time when government forces say they have launched a final offensive to defeat the Tamil Tigers in the northeast. The UN statement said according to credible²⁰ sources, more than 2,800 civilians²¹ may have been killed and 7,000 others wounded in the fighting over the last two months. Hundreds of children are believed to have died, Mr. Pillay said and more than 1,000 injured. Sri Lankan officials have challenged Mr. Pillay's claims.

The Italian city of Verona is to hire out one of the world’s most romantic venues²² for weddings---the balcony reputed to be the setting for the famous scene in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Brides and grooms²³ will be able to take their civil vows²⁴ in either the room with the balcony or the courtyard below at a cost of around $800 for Verona residents.

1 inmates   

n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• One of the inmates has escaped. 被收容的人中有一个逃跑了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The inmates were moved to an undisclosed location. 监狱里的囚犯被转移到一个秘密处所。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

3 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？

4 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

5 symbolic   

adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的

参考例句：

• It is symbolic of the fighting spirit of modern womanhood.它象征着现代妇女的战斗精神。
• The Christian ceremony of baptism is a symbolic act.基督教的洗礼仪式是一种象征性的做法。

6 authorize   

v.授权，委任；批准，认可

参考例句：

• He said that he needed to get his supervisor to authorize my refund.他说必须让主管人员批准我的退款。
• Only the President could authorize the use of the atomic bomb.只有总统才能授权使用原子弹。

7 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

8 stewards   

（轮船、飞机等的）乘务员( steward的名词复数 )； （俱乐部、旅馆、工会等的）管理员； （大型活动的）组织者； （私人家中的）管家

参考例句：

• The stewards all wore armbands. 乘务员都戴了臂章。
• The stewards will inspect the course to see if racing is possible. 那些干事将检视赛马场看是否适宜比赛。

9 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。

10 evasion   

n.逃避，偷漏(税)

参考例句：

• The movie star is in prison for tax evasion.那位影星因为逃税而坐牢。
• The act was passed as a safeguard against tax evasion.这项法案旨在防止逃税行为。

11 havens   

n.港口，安全地方( haven的名词复数 )v.港口，安全地方( haven的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Your twenty havens would back out at the last minute anyhow. 你那二十个避难所到了最后一分钟也要不认帐。 来自辞典例句
• Using offshore havens to avoid taxes and investor protections. 使用海面的港口避免税和投资者保护。 来自互联网

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 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

14 abducted   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that she was abducted. 侦探尚未排除她被绑架的可能性。
• The kid was abducted at the gate of kindergarten. 那小孩在幼儿园大门口被绑架走了。

15 administrator   

n.经营管理者，行政官员

参考例句：

• The role of administrator absorbed much of Ben's energy.行政职务耗掉本很多精力。
• He has proved himself capable as administrator.他表现出管理才能。

16 revoke   

v.废除，取消，撤回

参考例句：

• The university may revoke my diploma.大学可能吊销我的毕业证书。
• The government revoked her husband's license to operate migrant labor crews.政府撤销了她丈夫管理外来打工人群的许可证。

17 bail   

v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人

参考例句：

• One of the prisoner's friends offered to bail him out.犯人的一个朋友答应保释他出来。
• She has been granted conditional bail.她被准予有条件保释。

18 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

19 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

20 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？

21 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。

22 venues   

n.聚集地点( venue的名词复数 )；会场；（尤指）体育比赛场所；犯罪地点

参考例句：

• The band will be playing at 20 different venues on their UK tour. 这个乐队在英国巡回演出期间将在20个不同的地点演出。
• Farmers market corner, 800 meters long, 60 meters wide livestock trading venues. 农牧市场东北角，有长800米，宽60米的牲畜交易场地。 来自互联网

23 grooms   

n.新郎( groom的名词复数 )；马夫v.照料或梳洗（马等）( groom的第三人称单数 )；使做好准备；训练；（给动物）擦洗

参考例句：

• Plender end Wilcox became joint grooms of the chambers. 普伦德和威尔科克斯成为共同的贴身侍从。 来自辞典例句
• Egypt: Families, rather than grooms, propose to the bride. 埃及：在埃及，由新郎的家人，而不是新郎本人，向新娘求婚。 来自互联网

24 vows   

誓言( vow的名词复数 )； 郑重宣布，许愿

参考例句：

• Matrimonial vows are to show the faithfulness of the new couple. 婚誓体现了新婚夫妇对婚姻的忠诚。
• The nun took strait vows. 那位修女立下严格的誓愿。