英国新闻听力 德国总理默克尔寻求第四任期

The German chancellor¹ Angela Merkel has confirmed that she will seek a fourth term in office in next year's election, bringing months of speculation² to an end. She told her CDU party it will be a tough challenge at the time of the stark³ polarization in society and promised battle for democratic values.

Voting has ended in a primary election in France to choose a presidential candidate for the centre right opposition⁴ party the Republicans. There has been a very hard turnout. The moderate former prime minister Alain Jupp and two more right wingers Nicolas Sarkozy and Franois Fillon appeared to be leading contenders.

The US president-elect Donald Trump⁵ is meeting more potential members of his cabinet in his golf club in New Jersy. One of those who is considered as general James Martins, who is a leading contender to become the next secretary of defense⁶.

President Obama has briefly⁷ met president Putin on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Peru for the first time since the election of Donald Trump. The White House said Mr Obama had urged Mr Putin to try to diminish the violence in Syria.

As fighting continues for controlling the Northern Syrian city Aleppo, the government in Demascus has rejected the latest the United Nations’ truce⁸ proposal. The Syrian Foreign Minister has opposed the plan, under which Eastern Aleppo would remain under rebel control as jihadist fighters withdrew.

Voting is taking place in Haiti to elect president, more than two dozen candidates survive to succeed the former president Michel Martelly who left office in Feburary. It's concerned that last month's devastating⁹ hurricane could weaken turnout.

Officials and activists¹⁰ in Lybia say that a deadly clash between tribes has been set off by a pet monkey. Reports say a monkey belonging to members of one tribe attacked a group of school girls belonging to another, sparking four days of fighting.

德国总理安格拉·默克尔(Angela Merkel)证实她将在明年的选举中寻求第四任期，连续数月的猜测宣告终结。她告诉她所属的基督教民主联盟(CDU)，在社会两极化的时刻，这将是一个艰巨的挑战，她承诺为民主价值观而战。

法国中右翼反对党派共和党总统候选人初选投票工作结束。投票率非常低。温和派前总理阿兰·朱佩(Alain Jupp)，两位右翼分子尼古拉·萨科齐(Nicolas Sarkozy)和弗朗索瓦·菲永(Francois Fillon)暂时领先。

美国新当选总统唐纳德·特朗普在新泽西高尔夫俱乐部会见了更多可能成为内阁成员的人选。正在考虑的一人就是有望成为下任国防部长的詹姆斯·马丁(James Martins)将军。

在秘鲁举行的APEC会议期间，奥巴马总统与普京总统短暂会晤，这是自唐纳德·特朗普当选总统以来的首次。白宫表示，奥巴马曾敦促普京努力消除叙利亚暴力。

随着控制叙利亚北部城市阿勒颇的战斗继续，大马士革政府否决了联合国提出的最新停战协议。叙利亚前外交部长反对圣战战士撤退时阿勒颇东部将继续由叛军控制的计划。

海地选举总统的投票工作正在进行，总统米歇尔·马尔泰利(Michel Martelly)于2月份离职，20多名候选人展开角逐。人们担忧上月灾难性的飓风将影响投票率。

利比亚官员和积极分子表示，两个部落之间的致命冲突是由一只宠物猴子引起的。报道称，属于其中一个部落的一只猴子袭击了另一个部落的一些女生，导致长达四天的打斗。

1 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

2 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

3 stark   

adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
• He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。

4 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

5 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

6 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。

7 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

8 truce   

n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束

参考例句：

• The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。
• She had thought of flying out to breathe the fresh air in an interval of truce.她想跑出去呼吸一下休战期间的新鲜空气。

9 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

10 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》