英国新闻听力 世界最昂贵邮票成功拍卖

British cabinet ministers who are visiting Kabul have played down differences that had appeared to be growing between the Foreign Secretary William Hague and the Defense¹ Secretary Liam Fox over the future British's role in Afghanistan. From Kabul, here is Mark Dummett.

Following a day of meetings in Kabul, the ministers were keen to stress that they would be working closely together to tackle what William Hague has described as Britain's most urgent foreign policy priority. The International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell said it wasn’t possible to put a cigarette paper between his views, for example, and those of the Defense Secretary Liam Fox who had argued in a newspaper interview that Britain should move away from nation building and focus more narrowly on Britain security interests. Here in Kabul, Dr Fox was keen to play down those comments. In his newspaper interview, Liam Fox also said he wants to see if there was any chance of bringing the troops back home any faster than planned. But William Hague said it wouldn't be possible to set any kind of date.

NATO says insurgents³ have attacked its main military base in southern Afghanistan. A NATO spokesman told the BBC that Kandahar airfield⁴ had come under rocket and mortar⁵ fire. He said several NATO personnel had been wounded, but that the attack was now over. On Wednesday, the coalition's main military base at Bagram near Kabul was attacked by militants⁶.

Survivors⁷ of a plane crash in southern India have suggested the plane seemed to hit something as it prepared to land, then caught fire and broke into pieces. Officials say there'd been no distress⁸ signal from the pilot. 166 people were on board, only eight survived. Sanjoy Majumder reports.

Officials say the aircraft, a Boeing 737, landed midway on the runway, located on top of the hill and was unable to stop. It skidded⁹ off the runway and crashed into a heavily wooded gorge¹⁰ below. Incredibly, some people were thrown clear of the wreckage¹¹ and were able to survive. Although it was raining at the time, aviation officials say it was not enough to make things difficult for the pilot, and there was no indication from the cockpit of something going wrong. All attention is on recovering the black box data recorder to establish what might have happened.

Israel has vowed¹² to use its navy to prevent nine ships from reaching the Gaza Strip where they are hoping to break an Israeli blockade by sea. Jonathan Head watched one of the ships leaving port in Istanbul.

The crowd of several hundred well-wishers waving large Palestinian flags braved the wet weather to send off the largest of the ships from a wharf¹³ on the Bosphorous. Most were from strongly religious communities in Turkey, but there were activists¹⁴ from many other Muslim countries who contributed to the 10,000 tons of building materials and medical supplies on board. Around 500 activists are traveling with the ships. Eight previous attempts have failed to break the blockade of Gaza. Israeli authorities have made it clear they’ll not allow this one through either.

The mothers of three young Americans detained in Iran since last July have returned to the United States after being allowed to meet them. Soon after arriving In Tehran on Wednesday, the mothers had appealed for the release of the three - Sarah Shourd, her partner Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, saying they had entered Iran accidentally while hiking in northern Iraq. The Iranian government has accused the three Americans of spying.

A court in Chile has sent back to prison a Pakistani man who was arrested at the United States embassy earlier this month after allegedly testing positive for explosives. The court said Mauhannas Saif ur Rehnab Khan was “a danger to society” and revoked¹⁵ his probation¹⁶. Mr Mauhannas, who insists he is innocent, is accused of entering the embassy with traces of explosives on his hands and possessions when he went there to discuss a visa.

The world's most expensive stamp, Treskilling Yellow of Sweden, has been sold at auction¹⁷ for an undisclosed sum. James Reed has more.

The Treskilling Yellow owes its extraordinary value to its exceptional rarity. It's believed to be the only surviving misprint of an 1855 three shilling stamp that was supposed to be green. The sale at a private auction house in Geneva was shrouded¹⁸ in secrecy¹⁹. But it's thought the stamp fetched at least the 2.5 million dollars it’s sold for in 1996. That would confirm its reputation as the world's most valuable object by weight. The auctioneer said the buyer saw the stamp as a solid investment in turbulent economic times. Certainly, wealth does not get much more portable.

That was James Reed reporting.

And finally, the Italian football team Inter² Milan has claimed its first European Cup for 45 years by beating Bayern Munich of Germany 2-nil in the final in Madrid. Both goals were scored by the Argentine striker Diego Milito. The win gave Inter Milan an unprecedented²⁰ treble in one season - the Italian League Cup and the European Cup.

正在出访喀布尔的英国内阁大臣淡化了外交大臣威廉·黑格(William Hague)和国防大臣福克斯(Liam Fox)针对未来英国在阿富汗的作用方面不断增长的分歧。喀布尔，Mark Dummett报道。

在喀布尔举行了一天的会晤之后，大臣们急切强调，他们将在应对威廉·黑格所说的英国最紧迫的外交政策方面密切合作。国际开发大臣米歇尔(Andrew Mitchell)表示，他的观点和国防大臣福克斯(Liam Fox)的观点是不可调和的。福克斯在一次报纸采访中曾经表示，英国应该将注意力从国民建设更多的转移到英国的安全利益方面。在喀布尔，福克斯(Liam Fox)极力淡化那些评论。在报纸采访中，福克斯(Liam Fox)还说，他希望看一下是否有机会让英国军队比原定计划提早回国。但是外交大臣威廉·黑格(William Hague)表示不可能设定具体的日期。

北约表示，叛军袭击了驻阿富汗南部主要的军事基地。北约一名发言人告诉BBC，坎大哈飞机场遭遇了火箭弹和迫击炮袭击。他说，几名北约工作人员受伤，但是现在袭击已经结束。周三，北约军事联盟在喀布尔附近的巴格拉姆(Bagram)空军基地也遭遇好战分子袭击。

印度南部坠机事件幸存者称，飞机在准备着陆时撞到什么东西，然后起火，爆炸成碎片。相关官员表示，飞行员并没有任何麻烦的迹象。机上共有166人，只有8人生还。Sanjoy Majumder报道。

官员称，这家波音737飞机在跑道中途着陆，处于山顶，难以停止。后来，飞机滑出跑道，撞上下面一个树林茂密的峡谷。难以置信的是，一些人被抛出残骸，奇迹般生还。尽管当时在下雨，航空官员表示，没有足够证据来刁难飞行员。座舱也没有迹象显示出现任何失误。所有的注意力都转移到寻找回黑匣子来鉴定所发生的状况。

以色列发誓使用海军来阻止九艘船只进入加沙地带，突破以色列海上封锁线。Jonathan Head在伊斯坦布尔目睹了其中一艘船只离开港口。

几百名充满良好祝愿的人勇敢面对潮湿的天气，挥舞着巨大的巴勒斯坦国旗欢送最大的船只离开博斯普鲁斯码头。其中大部分人来自土耳其宗教意识很强的社区，但是也有来自其他穆斯林国家的积极分子，他们也为10,000吨的建造材料和船上的医疗物资做出了贡献。大约500名积极分子与船只同行。此前的八次尝试都未能突破加沙地带的封锁。以色列当局已经明确表示，他们也绝不允许这艘船只穿越封锁线。

自去年七月份以来被囚禁在伊朗的三名年轻美国人的母亲在获准与他们见面之后回到美国。周三，抵达德黑兰之后不久，这些母亲马上要求将这三人释放，这三人包括Shourd，她的搭档Shane Bauer和Josh Fattal。他们说，他们是在伊拉克北部徒步旅行时意外进入伊朗边境。伊朗政府指控这三名美国人实施间谍行动。

本月初，一名巴基斯坦男子在美国大使馆内炸药检测呈阳性被捕，智利法庭将他送回监狱。法庭表示，Mauhannas Saif ur Rehnab Khan“是社会的危险”，取消了缓刑。Mauhannas坚称他是无辜的。Mauhannas被指控进入大使馆商讨签证事宜时，双手和所携带物品上带有痕量炸药。

世界上最昂贵的邮票，瑞典的“黄色3先令”成功拍卖，但是未披露拍卖价格。James Reed报道更详细内容。“黄色3先令”由于极其稀有而价值连城。该三先令邮票原本应该是绿色，但是1855年出现了黄色的错版。据称，这是最后一枚幸存的黄色三先令邮票。

在日内瓦私人拍卖所上的交易价格严格保密。但是民间猜测这枚邮票的拍卖价格是少是1996年的价格，250万美元，这将再次印证它是世界上按照重量最贵重的物品的称号。拍卖商表示，购买者认为，在经济动荡的时代，购买邮票是一种可靠的投资。当然，财富则没有如此便捷。James Reed报道。

最后，意大利足球队国际米兰在马德里举行的决赛中以2:0击败了德国拜仁慕尼黑之后，赢得了45年来首次欧洲杯。两个进球均由阿根廷前锋Diego Milito完成。这次胜利使国际米兰创造了前所未有的一个赛季前所未有的成绩——意大利联赛杯和欧洲杯。

1 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

2 inter   

v.埋葬

参考例句：

• They interred their dear comrade in the arms.他们埋葬了他们亲爱的战友。
• The man who died in that accident has been interred.在那次事故中死的那个人已经被埋葬了。

3 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

4 airfield   

n.飞机场

参考例句：

• The foreign guests were motored from the airfield to the hotel.用车把外宾从机场送到旅馆。
• The airfield was seized by enemy troops.机场被敌军占领。

5 mortar   

n.灰浆，灰泥；迫击炮；v.把…用灰浆涂接合

参考例句：

• The mason flushed the joint with mortar.泥工用灰浆把接缝处嵌平。
• The sound of mortar fire seemed to be closing in.迫击炮的吼声似乎正在逼近。

6 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

7 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

8 distress   

n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛

参考例句：

• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
• Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。

9 skidded   

v.（通常指车辆） 侧滑( skid的过去式和过去分词 )；打滑；滑行；（住在）贫民区

参考例句：

• The car skidded and hit a lamp post. 那辆汽车打滑撞上了路灯杆。
• The car skidded and overturned. 汽车打滑翻倒了。

10 gorge   

n.咽喉，胃，暴食，山峡；v.塞饱，狼吞虎咽地吃

参考例句：

• East of the gorge leveled out.峡谷东面地势变得平坦起来。
• It made my gorge rise to hear the news.这消息令我作呕。

11 wreckage   

n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏

参考例句：

• They hauled him clear of the wreckage.他们把他从形骸中拖出来。
• New states were born out of the wreckage of old colonial empires.新生国家从老殖民帝国的废墟中诞生。

12 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

13 wharf   

n.码头，停泊处

参考例句：

• We fetch up at the wharf exactly on time.我们准时到达码头。
• We reached the wharf gasping for breath.我们气喘吁吁地抵达了码头。

14 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》

15 revoked   

adj.[法]取消的v.撤销，取消，废除( revoke的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• It may be revoked if the check is later dishonoured. 以后如支票被拒绝支付，结算可以撤销。 来自辞典例句
• A will is revoked expressly. 遗嘱可以通过明示推翻。 来自辞典例句

16 probation   

n.缓刑(期)，(以观后效的)察看；试用(期)

参考例句：

• The judge did not jail the young man,but put him on probation for a year.法官没有把那个年轻人关进监狱，而且将他缓刑察看一年。
• His salary was raised by 800 yuan after his probation.试用期满以后，他的工资增加了800元。

17 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。

18 shrouded   

v.隐瞒( shroud的过去式和过去分词 )；保密

参考例句：

• The hills were shrouded in mist . 这些小山被笼罩在薄雾之中。
• The towers were shrouded in mist. 城楼被蒙上薄雾。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 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。

20 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。