英语听力精选进阶版 7390

Thousands of protesters in Egypt demanding the immediate¹ resignation of President Hosni Mubarak have taken their protests beyond Cairo's Tahrir Square. Crowds have besieged² nearby government buildings including parliament and the cabinet office. Jon Leyne reports from Cairo.

Almost by the hour, the protesters are wearing down the government's power. Today, they expanded the area of the demonstration³ outside Tahrir Square. They moved into the streets surrounding the Egyptian parliament and government ministries⁴, bringing even more of the government and of Cairo to a halt. A large ugly caricature of President Mubarak was hung on the gates of parliament, and the security forces did nothing to stop them.

There's also been a series of strikes across the country. The protests turned violent in several areas. In Assiut, thousands of demonstrators stoned the governor's car.

The US homeland security secretary has warned that the threat of terrorism against the United States is in some ways at its highest level since the attacks of 11 September, 2001. Janet Napolitano said that as well as the danger poised⁵ by al-Qaeda, there were threats from people within the United States. She told a congressional committee attacks from that source would come with little or no warning. She said that she couldn't guarantee there would never be another terrorist attack.

The head of the world's largest mobile phone maker⁶ Nokia has painted a bleak⁷ picture of the company's fortunes. Details of what Stephen Elop had to say appeared in a leaked internal memo⁸, as Rory Cellan-Jones explains.

Stephen Elop compares Nokia to a man trapped on a burning North Sea oil platform, saying "We have multiple points of scorching⁹ heat that are fuelling a blazing fire around us." He says that three years after Apple launched its iPhone, "we still don't have a product that is close to their experience." Nokia invented what we now know as the smartphone, and the memo describes the news that the firm has now been overtaken in that market by Google's Android system as unbelievable.

A group representing the owners of much of the world's tanker¹⁰ fleet has warned that unless governments do more to combat Somali pirates, global oil supplies could face severe disruption. The warning follows the latest hijacking¹¹ of a supertanker in the Arabian Sea. It was heading for the US with $200m worth of oil. Here's Frank Gardner.

It's the length of three football pitches, and it's carrying nearly one fifth of America's daily crude oil imports. The capture by Somali pirates off Oman of the supertanker Irene SL means a bonanza¹² for them. The bargaining will soon begin to ransom¹³ the ship, its 25-strong crew and its two million barrels of oil. According to Joe Angelo for the International Association of Independent Tanker Owners, it's symptomatic of a growing crisis for the shipping¹⁴ industry.

World News from the BBC

Tribal¹⁵ leaders in Jordan have issued a rare public criticism of the royal family, adding to the pressure from protests inspired by the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt. Thirty-six leaders of tribes that had long been considered a mainstay of the monarchy¹⁶ signed a petition complaining about corruption¹⁷. They also criticised King Abdullah's wife Rania for lavish¹⁸ spending and interfering¹⁹ in politics.

A second autopsy²⁰ on the body of a Bangladeshi girl who died after being publicly whipped has found that she bled to death from multiple injuries. The 14-year-old Hena Begum had been accused of having an affair with a married man and was sentenced to 100 lashes²¹. Anbarasan Ethirajan reports from Bangladesh.

The deputy attorney general Altaf Hossain told the BBC according to the latest post-mortem report, the body of the girl had eight wounds and that she bled to death. He said the court was surprised to see that the two reports differed. The first autopsy done by local doctors at the district headquarter town of Shariatpur said the body had no marks or injuries. The doctors who carried out the initial investigation²² have been summoned to explain the findings in the High Court on Thursday.The Farc rebel group in Colombia has released the first of five hostages it had promised to free as a gesture of peace to the government. The hostage, a local politician, Marcos Baquero, was handed over at a secret location in the jungle after 19 months in captivity²³.

A Belgian MP is calling for a sex strike to push country's leaders to form a government. Talks between the Flemish and French-speaking parties on a coalition²⁴ have been deadlocked²⁵ since June, and Belgium is now close to the world record for failing to form a government after an election. The parliamentarian Marleen Temmerman is calling for the partners of those involved in the talks to withhold²⁶ sexual relations until a coalition is formed.

1 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

2 besieged   

包围，围困，围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Paris was besieged for four months and forced to surrender. 巴黎被围困了四个月后被迫投降。
• The community besieged the newspaper with letters about its recent editorial. 公众纷纷来信对报社新近发表的社论提出诘问，弄得报社应接不暇。

3 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

4 ministries   

（政府的）部( ministry的名词复数 )； 神职； 牧师职位； 神职任期

参考例句：

• Local authorities must refer everything to the central ministries. 地方管理机构应请示中央主管部门。
• The number of Ministries has been pared down by a third. 部委的数量已经减少了1/3。

5 poised   

a.摆好姿势不动的

参考例句：

• The hawk poised in mid-air ready to swoop. 老鹰在半空中盘旋，准备俯冲。
• Tina was tense, her hand poised over the telephone. 蒂娜心情紧张，手悬在电话机上。

6 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

7 bleak   

adj.(天气)阴冷的；凄凉的；暗淡的

参考例句：

• They showed me into a bleak waiting room.他们引我来到一间阴冷的会客室。
• The company's prospects look pretty bleak.这家公司的前景异常暗淡。

8 memo   

n.照会，备忘录；便笺；通知书；规章

参考例句：

• Do you want me to send the memo out?您要我把这份备忘录分发出去吗？
• Can you type a memo for me?您能帮我打一份备忘录吗？

9 scorching   

adj. 灼热的

参考例句：

• a scorching, pitiless sun 灼热的骄阳
• a scorching critique of the government's economic policy 对政府经济政策的严厉批评

10 tanker   

n.油轮

参考例句：

• The tanker took on 200,000 barrels of crude oil.油轮装载了二十万桶原油。
• Heavy seas had pounded the tanker into three parts.汹涌的巨浪把油轮撞成三载。

11 hijacking   

n. 劫持, 抢劫 动词hijack的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• I have been told about the hijacking . 我已听说了那次劫机事件。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 口语
• They are taking measures to guarantee against the occurrence of hijacking. 他们正采取措施防止劫机事件的发生。

12 bonanza   

n.富矿带，幸运，带来好运的事

参考例句：

• Bargain hunters enjoyed a real bonanza today.到处买便宜货的人今天真是交了好运。
• What a bonanza for the winning ticket holders!对于手持胜券的人来说，这是多好的运气啊。

13 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。

14 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

15 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

16 monarchy   

n.君主，最高统治者；君主政体，君主国

参考例句：

• The monarchy in England plays an important role in British culture.英格兰的君主政体在英国文化中起重要作用。
• The power of the monarchy in Britain today is more symbolical than real.今日英国君主的权力多为象徵性的，无甚实际意义。

17 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

18 lavish   

adj.无节制的；浪费的；vt.慷慨地给予，挥霍

参考例句：

• He despised people who were lavish with their praises.他看不起那些阿谀奉承的人。
• The sets and costumes are lavish.布景和服装极尽奢华。

19 interfering   

adj. 妨碍的 动词interfere的现在分词

参考例句：

• He's an interfering old busybody! 他老爱管闲事！
• I wish my mother would stop interfering and let me make my own decisions. 我希望我母亲不再干预，让我自己拿主意。

20 autopsy   

n.尸体解剖；尸检

参考例句：

• They're carrying out an autopsy on the victim.他们正在给受害者验尸。
• A hemorrhagic gut was the predominant lesion at autopsy.尸检的主要发现是肠出血。

21 lashes   

n.鞭挞( lash的名词复数 )；鞭子；突然猛烈的一击；急速挥动v.鞭打( lash的第三人称单数 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥

参考例句：

• Mother always lashes out food for the children's party. 孩子们聚会时，母亲总是给他们许多吃的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Never walk behind a horse in case it lashes out. 绝对不要跟在马后面，以防它突然猛踢。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

23 captivity   

n.囚禁；被俘；束缚

参考例句：

• A zoo is a place where live animals are kept in captivity for the public to see.动物园是圈养动物以供公众观看的场所。
• He was held in captivity for three years.他被囚禁叁年。

24 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

25 deadlocked   

陷入僵局的；僵持不下的

参考例句：

• The plan deadlocked over the funds. 这个计划由于经费问题而搁浅了。
• The meeting deadlocked over the wage issue. 会议因工资问题而停顿下来。

26 withhold   

v.拒绝，不给；使停止，阻挡

参考例句：

• It was unscrupulous of their lawyer to withhold evidence.他们的律师隐瞒证据是不道德的。
• I couldn't withhold giving some loose to my indignation.我忍不住要发泄一点我的愤怒。