英语听力精选进阶版 7449

President Obama has outlined his plans to tackle the huge American budget deficit¹. In a speech in Washington, Mr Obama proposed what he called a balanced approach for cutting the nation's budget deficit by $4tn over the next 12 years. He said he wanted to restore fiscal² responsibility.

奥巴马总统概述了应对美国巨大的财政赤字的计划。在华盛顿的讲话中，奥巴马提出了在未来12年之内将国家预算赤字削减4兆美元的“平衡的方法”。他表示，他希望重新建立起负责任的财政体系。

"We have to live with our means. We have to reduce our deficit. We have to get back on a path that will allow us to pay down our debt. And we have to do it in a way that protects the recovery, protects the investments we need to grow, creates jobs and helps us win the future."

“我们必须量入为出，我们必须减少赤字，我们必须回到能够偿还债务的道路上。我们必须在保护经济复苏，保护增长所需的投资，创造就业机会，帮助我们赢得未来的前提下削减赤字。”

Mr Obama's plans rely significantly on tax increases for the wealthy, as well as on cuts in healthcare costs and the defence budget. The Republicans have said any increase in taxes was a "non-starter".

奥巴马总统的计划很大程度上依赖提高对富人的税收，减少医疗成本和国防预算方面。共和党人表示，任何增税措施都是“不可能成功的”。

Members of the group of nations opposing Colonel Gaddafi's rule in Libya have agreed to look at setting up a mechanism³ for getting financial aid to the rebels. A statement issued after a meeting in Qatar said the aid would be used to help with short-term financial requirements and structural⁴ needs. It made no mention of whether the money might be used to buy weapons. Meanwhile, Nato says it's carried out an air strike against Libyan munitions⁵ bunkers near Tripoli. Jeremy Bowen is in the city.

反对卡扎菲上校对利比亚统治的国家同意成立一个机制，为反叛武装提供经济援助。卡塔尔会议后发表的一份声明称，援助将用于满足短期的财政要求和结构性需求。声明并未提及救援资金是否会用于购买武器。同时，北约表示，他们对的黎波里附近的利比亚弹药库发动了空袭。Jeremy Bowen在的黎波里报道。

Perhaps the two explosions that echoed around Tripoli this afternoon were backing up the message from Doha that Colonel Gaddafi must go. Destroying targets within earshot of the colonel could be part of the strategy to increase the pressure on him. The British and the French have avoided using the phrase "regime change", which has toxic⁶ associations with the invasion of Iraq, but that's what they'd like to happen. Britain talks about letting the Libyans decide, but the two countries, unlike some of their Nato partners, want to deepen their involvement in Libya's civil war.

或许今天下午响彻的黎波里的两起爆炸是为了支持来自多哈的信息：卡扎菲上校必须下台。摧毁卡扎菲听力范围内的目标可能是向他施加压力的战略的一部分。英国和法国避免使用“政权变更”这个词，这个词与入侵伊拉克有着密切的关系，但是这确实是他们希望发生的。英国表示应该由利比亚人民来决定，但是这两个国家与其他北约盟国不同，他们希望加深对利比亚内战的参与。

Britain has now announced that it will be supplying the rebels with 1,000 sets of body armour⁷.

英国现在已经宣布向利比亚反叛力量提供1,000套防弹衣。

State media in Egypt say the health of the former President Hosni Mubarak is unstable⁸. Mr Mubarak has been ordered to be detained for alleged⁹ corruption¹⁰ and abuse of power during his 30 years in power. On Tuesday, he was hospitalised after being taken ill with a heart complaint during questioning. Mr Mubarak was overthrown¹¹ by a popular uprising two months ago.

埃及国家媒体表示，前总统穆巴拉克的健康状况非常不稳定。穆巴拉克因被指控在30年执政期间腐败和滥用职权而被拘留。周二，他在接受审讯期间突发心脏病，现在正在医院接受治疗。两个月前，穆巴拉克被大规模的抗议活动推翻。

A commission set up by the Roman Catholic Church in Austria to investigate allegations of sexual and physical abuse says it's registered nearly 840 cases since it was set up a year ago. Many went back decades. Three quarters of the victims were male. The head of the commission, former provincial¹² governor Waltraud Klasnic, said over 250 cases had been settled. A compensation fund was established last June.

罗马天主教堂成立的负责调查虐童事件的委员会表示，自一年前成立以来，他们已经登记了接近840宗案件，许多案件追溯到几十年前。四分之三的受害者是男性。该委员会负责人，前省长Waltraud Klasnic表示，250多宗案件已经解决。去年六月份，该委员会设立了赔偿基金。

Forensic¹³ experts in Mexico have found at least 12 bodies buried in shallow graves in the northwestern state of Sinaloa. That find comes shortly after the Mexican government announced it would deploy¹⁴ extra security forces to Tamaulipas in the northeast, where more than 100 bodies have been found.

墨西哥法医专家在西北部锡那罗亚州的浅墓穴中发现了至少12具尸体。此前，墨西哥政府刚刚宣布向发现100多具尸体的塔毛利帕斯州增派安全力量。

World News from the BBC

The President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, says two men have confessed to Monday's bomb attack on the Minsk metro¹⁵, which killed 12 people and wounded more than 200. Both men are from Belarus but have not been named. In a televised address, Mr Lukashenko praised the speed of the investigation¹⁶.

白俄罗斯总统亚历山大·卢卡申科(Alexander Lukashenko) 表示，周一，明斯克地铁发生炸弹袭击，造成12人死亡，200多人受伤，现在已有两名男子认罪。两名男子均来自白俄罗斯，但是并没有透露姓名。在电视讲话中，卢卡申科赞扬了调查的速度。

"It has taken the security agency and the police only 24 hours to conduct a brilliant operation after following up leads. The perpetrators were detained without noise, chatter¹⁷ or shots being fired. The main thing is that we know who committed this attack and how. At the moment, we do not know why, but we will know this soon. This is our main objective."

“安全机构和警方根据线索只用了24小时就圆满执行了这次任务。在没有制造任何混乱，没有开枪的情况下将渗透分子拘留。最主要的是，我们现在已经知道了是谁实施了这次袭击，怎样实施这次袭击。此刻，我们还不知道他们为什么在地铁实施爆炸袭击，但是我们将很快了解到。这是我们的主要目标。”

A group of American weapons experts has arrived in Russia to carry out the first inspections¹⁸ under the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty between Moscow and Washington that was inaugurated in February. The treaty requires both countries to cut their deployed¹⁹ nuclear warheads to no more than 1,550 over the next seven years.

一批美国武器专家已经抵达俄罗斯，根据二月份莫斯科和华盛顿之间签署的战略核武器削减条约进行首次检查。该条约要求两国在未来七年之内将战略核弹头的数量削减到1,550枚以内。

Shares in one of America's largest corporations, General Electric, fell sharply for a brief period as investors²⁰ reacted to what turned out to be a hoax²¹ press release. The hoax was work of activists²² wanting to draw attention to GE's use of tax avoidance measures. Here's our business reporter Mark Gregory.

由于投资者对一条新闻骗局作出反应，美国最大的公司之一通用电气公司的股价短暂的时间内急剧下跌。这场骗局由积极分子组织，他们希望引起人们对通用电气使用逃税措施的注意。我们的商业记者Mark Gregory报道。

General Electric shares slumped²³ after the Associated Press news agency reported a statement apparently²⁴ from the company saying it planned to repay in full a $3.2bn tax refund²⁵ received from the US government. Minutes later, the share price started to recover after GE said the release was a fake and it had no plans to repay the money. The firm routinely pays little or no tax in the US, despite having annual revenues in excess of $150bn and profits last year of $11bn.

美联社发表了似乎来自通用电气的声明称，他们将全额退还32亿美元的政府退税，随后，通用电气的股价大幅下跌。几分钟后，通用电气发表声明称该新闻是虚假的，他们没有退还政府退税的计划，股票价格随后恢复。该公司在美国缴纳的税收很少或基本不纳税，尽管该公司的年收入超过1500亿美元，去年的利润超过110亿美元。

1 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

2 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

3 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

4 structural   

adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的

参考例句：

• The storm caused no structural damage.风暴没有造成建筑结构方面的破坏。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities.北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

5 munitions   

n.军火，弹药；v.供应…军需品

参考例句：

• The army used precision-guided munitions to blow up enemy targets.军队用精确瞄准的枪炮炸掉敌方目标。
• He rose [made a career for himself] by dealing in munitions.他是靠贩卖军火发迹的。

6 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

7 armour   

（=armor）n.盔甲；装甲部队

参考例句：

• His body was encased in shining armour.他全身披着明晃晃的甲胄。
• Bulletproof cars sheathed in armour.防弹车护有装甲。

8 unstable   

adj.不稳定的，易变的

参考例句：

• This bookcase is too unstable to hold so many books.这书橱很不结实，装不了这么多书。
• The patient's condition was unstable.那患者的病情不稳定。

9 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

10 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。

11 overthrown   

adj. 打翻的，推倒的，倾覆的 动词overthrow的过去分词

参考例句：

• The president was overthrown in a military coup. 总统在军事政变中被赶下台。
• He has overthrown the basic standards of morality. 他已摒弃了基本的道德标准。

12 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

13 forensic   

adj.法庭的，雄辩的

参考例句：

• The report included his interpretation of the forensic evidence.该报告包括他对法庭证据的诠释。
• The judge concluded the proceeding on 10:30 Am after one hour of forensic debate.经过近一个小时的法庭辩论后，法官于10时30分宣布休庭。

14 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

15 metro   

n.地铁；adj.大都市的；(METRO)麦德隆(财富500强公司之一总部所在地德国，主要经营零售)

参考例句：

• Can you reach the park by metro?你可以乘地铁到达那个公园吗？
• The metro flood gate system is a disaster prevention equipment.地铁防淹门系统是一种防灾设备。

16 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。

17 chatter   

vi.／n.喋喋不休；短促尖叫；(牙齿)打战

参考例句：

• Her continuous chatter vexes me.她的喋喋不休使我烦透了。
• I've had enough of their continual chatter.我已厌烦了他们喋喋不休的闲谈。

18 inspections   

n.检查( inspection的名词复数 )；检验；视察；检阅

参考例句：

• Regular inspections are carried out at the prison. 经常有人来视察这座监狱。
• Government inspections ensure a high degree of uniformity in the standard of service. 政府检查确保了在服务标准方面的高度一致。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

20 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

21 hoax   

v.欺骗，哄骗，愚弄；n.愚弄人，恶作剧

参考例句：

• They were the victims of a cruel hoax.他们是一个残忍恶作剧的受害者。
• They hoax him out of his money.他们骗去他的钱。

22 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》

23 slumped   

大幅度下降，暴跌( slump的过去式和过去分词 )； 沉重或突然地落下[倒下]

参考例句：

• Sales have slumped this year. 今年销售量锐减。
• The driver was slumped exhausted over the wheel. 司机伏在方向盘上，疲惫得睡着了。

24 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

25 refund   

v.退还，偿还；n.归还，偿还额，退款

参考例句：

• They demand a refund on unsatisfactory goods.他们对不满意的货品要求退款。
• We'll refund your money if you aren't satisfied.你若不满意，我们愿意退款给你。