英语听力精选进阶版 7480

In what correspondents describe as a dramatic escalation¹ of American pressure on Syria, the US has imposed its first ever sanctions against President Bashar al-Assad. Washington says he and eight others have been targeted for violence and repression² during the two-month uprising in Syria. The State Department spokesman Mark Toner said it was time to increase the pressure on President Assad.

"I think we're looking at what next steps, what possible additional pressure we can provide really to crystallise our message to the Syrian government, which is that your current behaviour is unacceptable and the violence must stop. The Syrian government has talked a lot about reform, has made a lot of promises but done very little. So again, we're trying to seek additional ways to apply pressure on them."

Earlier, President Assad said the Syrian security forces had made mistakes in their handling of the protests, while the BBC received new reports of army attacks on civilians⁴.

A senior Chinese army general, Chen Bingde, has said China has no intention of attempting to match US military power. Speaking in Washington at the National Defense⁵ University, General Chen said that the United States military forces were far more advanced than their Chinese counterparts. He said there was a 20-year difference between US and Chinese military capabilities⁶, but that China's military forces had improved considerably⁷ in recent years.

China has acknowledged that the controversial Three Gorges⁸ dam has created major problems. The country's policy-making body, the State Council, says it plans to deal with the difficulties. Paddy Clark reports. 

The problems posed by the Three Gorges dam were discussed at a meeting of the State Council, chaired by the Prime Minister Wen Jiabao. A statement issued afterwards said there was an urgent need for ecological⁹ protection, the prevention of geological disasters and the smooth relocation of displaced residents. It said problems also existed for transport, irrigation and water supplies further down the Yangtze River, which the dam straddles. The dam, which cost nearly $40bn, led to the submerging of towns, fields and heritage sites, and forced more than a million and a quarter people to move.

The World Bank says the Indian government's main programmes for the poor are only delivering limited benefits, with much of the money lost to corruption¹⁰ and bad management. India spends more than 2% of its gross domestic product on poverty reduction, but the World Bank says that its food distribution scheme suffers so much from corruption that only about 40% of its grain reaches the poor.

There's been an almost sixfold rise in the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil. Satellite images from the government show that between March and April last year, around 100 sq km of vegetation were destroyed. But this year, that figure was almost 600. The worst affected¹¹ state is Mato Grosso.

World News from the BBC

In the first address of her historic visit to the Irish Republic, Queen Elizabeth has extended her "deep sympathy" to those who she said had suffered during the troubled past of the two countries. She spoke³ of the painful legacy¹² of history, but added that Britain and Ireland were now firm friends and equal partners. From Dublin, Peter Hunt reports.

At Dublin Castle, where once previous monarchs¹⁴ came as rulers, this monarch¹³, wearing a dress adorned¹⁵ with hand-sewn embroidered¹⁶ shamrocks, came to reflect. She impressed her audience immediately by opening her speech in Gaelic with the words "President and friends". The Queen said she wanted to extend her "sincere thoughts and deep sympathy" to all those who had suffered as a consequence of the UK and Ireland's shared troubled past. She went on, "With the benefit of historical hindsight we can all see things which we would wish had been done differently or not at all."

Libya has released four international journalists who had been detained for several weeks. Two Americans, a British man and a Spaniard disappeared while covering the conflict in Libya. The four are said to be in good health. Andrew North reports from Tripoli.

They were all brought to the Tripoli hotel where the foreign media covering the conflict are staying, looking tired and somewhat bewildered by the scrum of journalists awaiting them. Libyan officials say the four had been freed by a judge after being given a one-year suspended prison sentence for illegally entering the country. There's been no word on the fate of a South African citizen, photographer Anton Hammerl, who's believed to have been detained in Libya in early April.

Astronomers¹⁷ in Japan say they've found 10 planets the size of Jupiter which do not appear to orbit any star. Writing in the science journal Nature, the researchers say it's unclear how the planets, which are near the centre of the Milky¹⁸ Way galaxy¹⁹, came to be without a star to orbit. One theory is that the planets may have been ejected from infant solar systems by gravitational forces or inter-planetary collisions.

1 escalation   

n.扩大，增加

参考例句：

• The threat of nuclear escalation remains. 核升级的威胁仍旧存在。 来自辞典例句
• Escalation is thus an aspect of deterrence and of crisis management. 因此逐步升级是威慑和危机处理的一个方面。 来自辞典例句

2 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。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

5 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

6 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

7 considerably   

adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上

参考例句：

• The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
• The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。

8 gorges   

n.山峡，峡谷( gorge的名词复数 )；咽喉v.（用食物把自己）塞饱，填饱( gorge的第三人称单数 )；作呕

参考例句：

• The explorers were confronted with gorges(that were)almost impassable and rivers(that were)often unfordable. 探险人员面临着几乎是无路可通的峡谷和常常是无法渡过的河流。 来自辞典例句
• We visited the Yangtse Gorges last summer. 去年夏天我们游历了长江三峡。 来自辞典例句

9 ecological   

adj.生态的，生态学的

参考例句：

• The region has been declared an ecological disaster zone.这个地区已经宣布为生态灾难区。
• Each animal has its ecological niche.每种动物都有自己的生态位.

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 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

12 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

13 monarch   

n.帝王，君主，最高统治者

参考例句：

• The monarch's role is purely ceremonial.君主纯粹是个礼仪职位。
• I think myself happier now than the greatest monarch upon earth.我觉得这个时候比世界上什么帝王都快乐。

14 monarchs   

君主，帝王( monarch的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Monarchs ruled England for centuries. 世袭君主统治英格兰有许多世纪。
• Serving six monarchs of his native Great Britain, he has served all men's freedom and dignity. 他在大不列颠本国为六位君王服务，也为全人类的自由和尊严服务。 来自演讲部分

15 adorned   

[计]被修饰的

参考例句：

• The walls were adorned with paintings. 墙上装饰了绘画。
• And his coat was adorned with a flamboyant bunch of flowers. 他的外套上面装饰着一束艳丽刺目的鲜花。

16 embroidered   

adj．绣花的

参考例句：

• She embroidered flowers on the cushion covers. 她在这些靠垫套上绣了花。
• She embroidered flowers on the front of the dress. 她在连衣裙的正面绣花。

17 astronomers   

n.天文学者，天文学家( astronomer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Astronomers can accurately foretell the date,time,and length of future eclipses. 天文学家能精确地预告未来日食月食的日期、时刻和时长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Astronomers used to ask why only Saturn has rings. 天文学家们过去一直感到奇怪，为什么只有土星有光环。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 milky   

adj.牛奶的，多奶的；乳白色的

参考例句：

• Alexander always has milky coffee at lunchtime.亚历山大总是在午餐时喝掺奶的咖啡。
• I like a hot milky drink at bedtime.我喜欢睡前喝杯热奶饮料。

19 galaxy   

n.星系；银河系；一群(杰出或著名的人物)

参考例句：

• The earth is one of the planets in the Galaxy.地球是银河系中的星球之一。
• The company has a galaxy of talent.该公司拥有一批优秀的人才。