英语听力精选进阶版 7385

In his first interview since protests began over a week ago, the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has told the American broadcaster ABC that he would step down now but fears chaos¹ if he does so. He said he would never run away from Egypt and that he would die on Egyptian soil. He gave his interview unrecorded to Christiane Amanpour from ABC, who sent this report.I've just come from the presidential palace in Cairo, where I had a meeting for about 30 minutes with President Mubarak. It's the first time a journalist has seen him since these protests erupted. I asked him whether he would step down. He said that he would when his term was up, but that if he did so now, even though he said he would like to resign today, there would be chaos and "the Muslim Brotherhood² would take over". When I asked him about the violence that had taken place against the protesters in Liberation Square, he said "I was very unhappy about yesterday. I do not want to see Egyptians fighting each other."

While tens of thousands of protesters have remained in central Cairo after dark, and although there was relative calm in Liberation or Tahrir Square, running battles were taking place nearby. Kevin Connolly has been watching the day's events.

It's becoming grimly familiar to Egyptians, but it was still shocking to them. As day gave way to night here, Tahrir Square was a battleground again. To the tired demonstrators huddled³ under fluttering protest banners, holding the square has become an act of huge symbolic⁴ importance. The pro-Mubarak gangs, who roam the surrounding streets, attacking foreigners and intimidating⁵ the opposition⁶ demonstrators, are still fighting to dislodge them. When gunfire is heard, it's assumed to be the army firing warning shots. It still seems clear that the high command hopes to occupy some sort of middle ground if it can. In the end, though, they may be ordered to clear the square.

The unrest hasn't been limited to the capital Cairo. Wyre Davies is in Egypt's second largest city Alexandria.

The protests here have been nowhere near as violent in recent days as those we've seen down in Cairo. The pro-Mubarak supporters have not been able to muster⁷ in enough numbers to pose a significant challenge to the anti-government protesters. Nonetheless, the situation is incredibly tense here in this city of five million people. It's getting increasingly difficult to work as a foreign journalist here as anger and tension from all sides, not just at the political crisis, but also because of the worsening economic situation here.

The United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain have condemned⁸ what they said was an unacceptable campaign of intimidation⁹ against journalists covering the unrest in Egypt. Dozens of foreign reporters have been arrested, beaten or had their equipment seized.

World News from the BBC

The Algerian state news agency has quoted President Bouteflika as saying state of emergency laws in place for almost two decades will be lifted in the very near future. He reportedly said protests would now be permitted everywhere except in the capital Algiers.

The world's longest-running trade dispute has come to an end after the European Parliament approved a deal to cut import tariffs¹⁰ on Latin American bananas. Chris Morris reports from Brussels.

For 20 years, the European Union has been accused of violating world trade rules. It's been importing bananas from African, Caribbean and Pacific countries duty-free while imposing¹¹ heavy duties on bananas coming from other countries, notably¹² those in Latin America. The EU has long argued that it's trying to protect small producers in former colonies at the expense of 

Latin American bananas, most of which are produced by multinational¹³ companies from the United States. But the law is the law, and the Europeans have now agreed that the tariffs must come down. The banana war is over.

Rescue workers in northeastern Australia are fanning out across a huge area to assess damage after a devastating¹⁴ cyclone¹⁵ battered¹⁶ towns around the city of Cairns. Bill Shannon is the mayor of Cassowary Coast. He told the BBC about the destruction in the town of Tully.

"Buildings down, telegraph poles snapped everywhere, [an] enormous amount of damage. We've been in and going to some evacuation places where people are living without power, without water, even without light, and we are organising those things to be in turn, and these people are living in these evacuation centres because their own homes have been damaged."

The government of Brazil is to provide free medicines for everyone suffering from diabetes¹⁷ and high blood pressure. President Dilma Rousseff said the measure was part of her campaign to end extreme poverty. The health ministry¹⁸ says around 33 million Brazilians have high blood pressure and more than seven million have diabetes.

1 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

2 brotherhood   

n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊

参考例句：

• They broke up the brotherhood.他们断绝了兄弟关系。
• They live and work together in complete equality and brotherhood.他们完全平等和兄弟般地在一起生活和工作。

3 huddled   

挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• We huddled together for warmth. 我们挤在一块取暖。
• We huddled together to keep warm. 我们挤在一起来保暖。

4 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。

5 intimidating   

vt.恐吓，威胁( intimidate的现在分词)

参考例句：

• They were accused of intimidating people into voting for them. 他们被控胁迫选民投他们的票。
• This kind of questioning can be very intimidating to children. 这种问话的方式可能让孩子们非常害怕。

6 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。

7 muster   

v.集合，收集，鼓起，激起；n.集合，检阅，集合人员，点名册

参考例句：

• Go and muster all the men you can find.去集合所有你能找到的人。
• I had to muster my courage up to ask him that question.我必须鼓起勇气向他问那个问题。

8 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

9 intimidation   

n.恐吓，威胁

参考例句：

• The Opposition alleged voter intimidation by the army.反对党声称投票者受到军方的恐吓。
• The gang silenced witnesses by intimidation.恶帮用恐吓的手段使得证人不敢说话。

10 tariffs   

关税制度； 关税( tariff的名词复数 )； 关税表； （旅馆或饭店等的）收费表； 量刑标准

参考例句：

• British industry was sheltered from foreign competition by protective tariffs. 保护性关税使英国工业免受国际竞争影响。
• The new tariffs have put a stranglehold on trade. 新的关税制对开展贸易极为不利。

11 imposing   

adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的

参考例句：

• The fortress is an imposing building.这座城堡是一座宏伟的建筑。
• He has lost his imposing appearance.他已失去堂堂仪表。

12 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

13 multinational   

adj.多国的，多种国籍的；n.多国籍公司，跨国公司

参考例句：

• The firm was taken over by a multinational consulting firm.这家公司被一个跨国咨询公司收购。
• He analyzed the relationship between multinational corporations and under-developed countries.他分析了跨国公司和不发达国家之间的关系。

14 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。

15 cyclone   

n.旋风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• An exceptionally violent cyclone hit the town last night.昨晚异常猛烈的旋风吹袭了那个小镇。
• The cyclone brought misery to thousands of people.旋风给成千上万的人带来苦难。

16 battered   

adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损

参考例句：

• He drove up in a battered old car.他开着一辆又老又破的旧车。
• The world was brutally battered but it survived.这个世界遭受了惨重的创伤,但它还是生存下来了。

17 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

18 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。