英语听力精选进阶版 6150

A Look Back at 2008 回顾2008年

2008 will be remembered by the British people as a year of economic crisis. Things have steadily¹ worsened as the year has gone on with companies going into administration, job losses, falling house prices and the collapse² of banking³ institutions.

Britain is just one of the many victims of a wider global financial crisis and sadly the predictions for 2009 do not show any sign of improvement for the British economy.

2008 also sadly saw the worst earthquake in China in over 30 years. The Great Sichuan Earthquake registered 8 on the Richter scale and killed around 70,000 people in May, not to mention the tens of thousands who were injured or went missing.

On a happier note, China also hosted its first Olympic games this summer in Beijing. It was a very successful games with an amazing opening ceremony and a staggering 43 new world records and 132 new Olympic records set.

China topped the medals table with 51 gold medals and Great Britain had its most successful Olympics in over a century with 19 gold medals and 47 medals in total.

2008 will also be remembered in history as the year Barack Obama was elected as the first black President of the United States. This was particularly poignant⁴ in a country where black people were once slaves and where segregation⁵ existed as little as half a century ago between black and white people.

In the British world of entertainment, Madonna and Paul McCartney’s high-profile divorces were finalised.

Reality TV remained as popular as ever where celebrities⁶ learning to ice skate, ballroom⁷ dance and survive in the jungle dominated headlines.

TV talent shows also ruled the airwaves with 8 million people voting for Alexandra Burke to win the X Factor, Britain’s most famous talent contest. Her first single ‘Hallelujah’ has become this year’s biggest-selling UK song.

GLOSSARY 词汇表

economic crisis 经济危机

steadily worsened 逐步恶化

going into administration 被接管

banking institutions 金融机构

victims 受害者

show any sign of improvement 显示任何改进迹象

registered 登记

Richter scale 里氏

staggering 大量的

records 纪录

set 创造（纪录）

topped the medals table 名列奖牌榜首

poignant 强烈的，深刻的

slaves 奴隶

segregation （种族）隔离

half a century ago 半个世纪前

high-profile divorces 瞩目的离婚案

finalised 终结

dominated headlines 垄断报端

ruled the airwaves 垄断时空的

1 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

2 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。

3 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。

4 poignant   

adj.令人痛苦的，辛酸的，惨痛的

参考例句：

• His lyrics are as acerbic and poignant as they ever have been.他的歌词一如既往的犀利辛辣。
• It is especially poignant that he died on the day before his wedding.他在婚礼前一天去世了，这尤其令人悲恸。

5 segregation   

n.隔离，种族隔离

参考例句：

• Many school boards found segregation a hot potato in the early 1960s.在60年代初，许多学校部门都觉得按水平分班是一个棘手的问题。
• They were tired to death of segregation and of being kicked around.他们十分厌恶种族隔离和总是被人踢来踢去。

6 celebrities   

n.（尤指娱乐界的）名人( celebrity的名词复数 )；名流；名声；名誉

参考例句：

• He only invited A-list celebrities to his parties. 他只邀请头等名流参加他的聚会。
• a TV chat show full of B-list celebrities 由众多二流人物参加的电视访谈节目

7 ballroom   

n.舞厅

参考例句：

• The boss of the ballroom excused them the fee.舞厅老板给他们免费。
• I go ballroom dancing twice a week.我一个星期跳两次交际舞。