英语听力精选进阶版 7461

Britain, France and Italy have become the latest countries to demand that Syria stop using violence against anti-government protesters. The British government has warned it will push for sanctions if the repression¹ continues. In the Syrian city of Deraa, the main focus of the protests, there have been more reports of gunfire. James Robbins reports.

Many governments and international organisations are lining² up to urge the Syrian regime to change course. President Obama has already condemned³ it as "outrageous⁴". The Foreign Secretary William Hague told parliament that Britain would work for agreement on international sanctions if the Syrian government continued its violence. But under questioning in the comments, Mr Hague conceded that opposition⁵ within the Security Council makes UN action uncertain. And the European Union President Herman van Rompuy says the EU can do little to help Syrians because unlike in the case of Libya, it would not get the support of the Arab League.

Pro-government troops in Libya have been shelling port facilities in Misrata, the only city in the west that's held by rebels. The attacks have prevented the departure of hundreds of people, including residents and migrant workers, who are trying to flee the violence. Peter Biles reports.

An eyewitness⁶ in Misrata says the port area of the city has been shelled. People have been waiting nearby at a refugee camp, hoping to be evacuated⁷ by ship. There are unconfirmed reports that at least three people were killed and others wounded as a result of the shelling. A ship chartered by the International Committee of the Red Cross has now left the port. Access to the sea has been a lifeline for the people of Misrata during the siege, allowing residents to leave and aid supplies to come in.

Italy and France say there must be changes to the Schengen Agreement on open borders in the European Union to help member states cope with exceptional circumstances. The call by Silvio Berlusconi and Nicolas Sarkozy follows a row over what to do with about 25,000 migrants displaced by unrest in North Africa. The issue has caused the worst tension between France and Italy for years.

The Russian president has called for new international rules covering safety at nuclear plants. Dmitry Medvedev was speaking as he and his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yanukovych made an unprecedented⁸ joint⁹ visit to the town of Chernobyl to mark the 25th anniversary of the world's worst nuclear accident. David Stern reports.

Mr Medvedev said that he'd already forwarded the proposals to world leaders. Nuclear energy remained essential, the Russian president said, but greater openness was needed. Mr Medvedev was making his first visit to the 30km exclusion¹⁰ zone, which was evacuated after the Chernobyl disaster struck in 1986. The Chernobyl anniversary has gained added importance since the accident at Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant. Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovych called for further international assistance in dealing¹¹ with the consequences of Chernobyl.

World News from the BBC

Security forces in Mexico are searching for the gunmen who killed three policemen in the northern town of Guadalupe on Monday. Witnesses said the three traffic officers were shot dead by unidentified men in a drive-by shooting. The attack came one day after another officer was killed in the nearby city of Monterrey, which along with its surrounding areas have seen a marked increase in violence this year.

Revised European Union figures show that the Greek government has failed to meet its deficit¹² reduction target for last year, despite introducing tough austerity measures. The deficit was more than two percentage points above the government target. Here's Andrew Walker.

The new figures reinforce concern in the financial markets that Greece will eventually default on its government debts. That was reflected in a further increase in the interest rate on those debts. Higher interest rates can be a sign that investors¹³ think a borrower is in danger of failing to repay. Greece is receiving EU and International Monetary¹⁴ Fund loans while it's trying to narrow the budget deficit. Many in the markets doubt whether it can make the public spending cuts and generate the extra tax revenue needed to do that.

Millions of Nigerians have been voting for the country's powerful state governors, the third poll in as many weeks. Voter turnout appears to have been low amid fears of violence. More explosions were heard in the northeastern city of Maiduguri, the scene of recent bomb attacks. A BBC correspondent in the northwestern state of Katsina said he saw ballot¹⁵ boxes being stolen, while another BBC reporter saw money being given to people to vote in the northern state of Nasarawa.

And the electronics giant Sony has asked users of its PlayStation global game playing network for more patience as it tries to restore the system, which was allegedly hacked¹⁶ last week. A spokesman for Sony said he regretted that the PlayStation and Qriocity networks had been suspended and that engineers were working round the clock to put both of them back online.

1 repression   

n.镇压，抑制，抑压

参考例句：

• The repression of your true feelings is harmful to your health.压抑你的真实感情有害健康。
• This touched off a new storm against violent repression.这引起了反对暴力镇压的新风暴。

2 lining   

n.衬里，衬料

参考例句：

• The lining of my coat is torn.我的外套衬里破了。
• Moss makes an attractive lining to wire baskets.用苔藓垫在铁丝篮里很漂亮。

3 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。

4 outrageous   

adj.无理的，令人不能容忍的

参考例句：

• Her outrageous behaviour at the party offended everyone.她在聚会上的无礼行为触怒了每一个人。
• Charges for local telephone calls are particularly outrageous.本地电话资费贵得出奇。

5 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。

6 eyewitness   

n.目击者，见证人

参考例句：

• The police questioned several eyewitness to the murder.警察询问了谋杀案的几位目击者。
• He was the only eyewitness of the robbery.他是那起抢劫案的唯一目击者。

7 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

8 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

9 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

10 exclusion   

n.拒绝，排除，排斥，远足，远途旅行

参考例句：

• Don't revise a few topics to the exclusion of all others.不要修改少数论题以致排除所有其他的。
• He plays golf to the exclusion of all other sports.他专打高尔夫球，其他运动一概不参加。

11 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

12 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。

13 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

14 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

15 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

16 hacked   

生气

参考例句：

• I hacked the dead branches off. 我把枯树枝砍掉了。
• I'm really hacked off. 我真是很恼火。