英语听力精选进阶版 7516

The European Union has welcomed the vote in the Greek parliament in favour of a controversial austerity package. The EU said it was a vital step back from what it called the "very grave scenario¹ of default". The German Chancellor² Angela Merkel said it was a positive development.

"It is an important step on the one hand for Greece's future, but also for the stability of the euro as a whole. With this, Greece has shown that it is prepared to take a difficult path which, I am aware, will also mean sacrifices for many people. But I think it is the path that seems reasonable for the future of Greece."

But in the streets of Athens, police fought running battles with hundreds of youths protesting against the proposed cuts. The measures were demanded by international creditors³.

The French government has confirmed reports that it has dropped some 40 tonnes of weapons to the Libyan rebels fighting Colonel Gaddafi's forces in the mountains southwest of the capital Tripoli. France said the decision was taken unilaterally. Some analysts⁴ said the move might contravene⁵ the United Nations Security Council embargo⁶ on all arms supplies to Libya.

The authorities in Moldova say they've arrested six people and seized a quantity of enriched uranium. Mark Lobel reports.

The seized uranium, which can be used to arm nuclear weapons, is valued at nearly $29m. An interior ministry⁷ official said it came from Russia and the six men were trying to sell at least a kilo of uranium-235 to a Muslim national of an unnamed African country. The prosecutor⁸ said the investigators⁹ had received help from authorities in Germany, Ukraine and the United States.

Three men convicted in 2009 of plotting to blow up synagogues in New York City have been sentenced to 25 years in prison. The three men have been found guilty of conspiracy¹⁰ to use weapons of mass destruction. They were arrested in 2009 after they planted fake remote-controlled bombs near synagogues given to them by undercover FBI agents. From New York, Laura Trevelyan.

Lawyers for James Cromitie, David Williams and Onta Williams argued that the men deserved to be sentenced leniently¹¹ because they'd been encouraged by a paid FBI informant posing as an Islamic extremist. The sentencing judge did say that the government created acts of terrorism out of Cromitie's fantasies and then made those fantasies come true. But Judge Colleen McMahon said she could not condemn¹² the defendants¹³ enough. A motivation for wanting to blow up synagogues was she said hatred¹⁴ of Jews.

Venezuela has suspended a regional summit scheduled for next week, adding to speculation¹⁵ about the health of the Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. The foreign ministry said in a statement that the meeting had been postponed¹⁶ because the president was still recovering from an operation. Mr Chavez left Venezuela three weeks ago for Cuba.

World News from the BBC

Reports from Yemen say dozens of people have died in heavy fighting near the rebel-held southern city of Zinjibar. Officials say at least 26 soldiers and 14 militants¹⁷ died in an intense battle at a football stadium near the city.

Police in the Belarusian capital Minsk have detained at least 100 people trying to reach the main square to protest against the government. Around 3,000 people took part in the demonstration¹⁸. Oleg Boldyrev reports.

Belarusian capital Minsk just saw another mass gathering¹⁹ of people who call themselves "the revolution via social network". It's a nearly silent gathering - people don't do anything, just clap their hands together, but this did not stop the police from detaining people, doing it pretty brutally²⁰. We saw 20, 25 people being thrown into the police buses by plain-clothes policemen. Human rights observers who are monitoring the situation all around say at least 120 people were packed into the police buses.

European astronomers²¹ have announced a discovery which they believe could offer a big advance in our understanding of the early Universe. They say that after a painstaking²² search they've discovered the oldest-known quasar in an intensely energetic galaxy²³ with a super-sized black hole at its centre that formed just 770 million years after the birth of the cosmos²⁴. The discovery reveals a period known as the ionisation era when ultraviolet light from early stars cleared the clouds of hydrogen, which at the time veiled the Universe.

Tennis now, and the six-times Wimbledon champion Roger Federer has been knocked out in the quarter-finals, despite being two sets up against the Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. It's the first time Federer has lost a two-set lead in his Grand Slam career. Tsonga, who's seeded 12, will now play the No. 2 seed Novak Djokovic. The British No. 1, Andy Murray, won his quarter-final. He's facing the defending champion Rafael Nadal from Spain, who won his match against the American Mardy Fish.

1 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

2 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

3 creditors   

n.债权人，债主( creditor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They agreed to repay their creditors over a period of three years. 他们同意3年内向债主还清欠款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Creditors could obtain a writ for the arrest of their debtors. 债权人可以获得逮捕债务人的令状。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

5 contravene   

v.违反，违背，反驳，反对

参考例句：

• The moves contravene the peace plan agreed by both sides.这些举措违反了双方同意的和平方案。
• He said the article did not contravene the industry's code of conduct.他说这一条款并未违反行业的行为准则。

6 embargo   

n.禁运（令）；vt.对...实行禁运，禁止（通商）

参考例句：

• This country put an oil embargo on an enemy country.该国对敌国实行石油禁运。
• During the war,they laid an embargo on commerce with enemy countries.在战争期间，他们禁止与敌国通商。

7 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。

8 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

9 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

11 leniently   

温和地，仁慈地

参考例句：

• He marked the paper leniently. 他改考卷打分数很松。
• Considering the signs he showed of genuine repentance,we shall deal leniently with him. 鉴于他有真诚悔改的表现，我们将对他宽大处理。

12 condemn   

vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑

参考例句：

• Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他，而有些人谴责他。
• We mustn't condemn him on mere suppositions.我们不可全凭臆测来指责他。

13 defendants   

被告( defendant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The courts heard that the six defendants had been coerced into making a confession. 法官审判时发现6位被告人曾被迫承认罪行。
• As in courts, the defendants are represented by legal counsel. 与法院相同，被告有辩护律师作为代表。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

14 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。

15 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

16 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。

17 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

18 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。

19 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

20 brutally   

adv.残忍地，野蛮地，冷酷无情地

参考例句：

• The uprising was brutally put down.起义被残酷地镇压下去了。
• A pro-democracy uprising was brutally suppressed.一场争取民主的起义被残酷镇压了。

21 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》

22 painstaking   

adj.苦干的；艰苦的，费力的，刻苦的

参考例句：

• She is not very clever but she is painstaking.她并不很聪明，但肯下苦功夫。
• Through years of our painstaking efforts,we have at last achieved what we have today.大家经过多少年的努力，才取得今天的成绩。

23 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。

24 cosmos   

n.宇宙；秩序，和谐

参考例句：

• Our world is but a small part of the cosmos.我们的世界仅仅是宇宙的一小部分而已。
• Is there any other intelligent life elsewhere in the cosmos?在宇宙的其他星球上还存在别的有智慧的生物吗？