英语听力精选进阶版 7571

Colonel Gaddafi is reported to have made a radio broadcast to the people of his home city of Sirte, urging them not to surrender to opposition¹ forces. Jon Leyne reports from Benghazi.

The city of Sirte has been almost entirely² cut off from the outside world for nearly two weeks, but residents have contacted relatives here in Benghazi. They say Colonel Gaddafi has made a series of broadcasts there on a local radio station - one of their few sources of information. Last night, he told the people of Sirte that an ultimatum³ from the opposition to surrender by Saturday was just a trick. Colonel Gaddafi said the opposition just wanted to disarm⁴ the people of the town before they moved in to attack them. In a separate development, there are reports that the opposition has begun discovering some of the hidden underground prisons, in which they fear tens of thousands of opposition prisoners may still be held.

The Arabic news channel al-Arabiya is reporting that one of Colonel Gaddafi's sons, Saadi, says he is officially empowered to negotiate with anti-Gaddafi forces. Saadi Gaddafi said he'd been in touch with an opposition commander to end the bloodshed. But another Arabic TV station al-Rai says it's been told by another of the colonel's sons, Saif, that his father's supporters will fight to the death.

A video statement that appears to be from the top legal official in the Syrian city of Hama has been posted online. In it, Adnan Bakkour announces his resignation after hearing about crimes against humanity. Here's Sebastian Usher⁵.

The video is potentially highly significant. Adnan Bakkour was the top lawyer in Hama, and as such responsible for overseeing the legal process against protesters, so he speaks with considerable authority. He says he's witnessed mass graves and knows of a killing⁶ under torture of some 300 prisoners. He says more than 10,000 protesters have been arrested in Hama alone. This is testimony⁷ of state violence as strong as any so far. But the circumstances of the video aren't yet clear. On Monday, the Syrian state news agency said Mr Bakkour had been kidnapped by gunmen, but Syrian activists⁸ say they believe that report was most likely issued to try to discredit⁹ Mr Bakkour.

The Sri Lankan government has introduced new legislation which allows it to continue to detain without charge people who are suspected of terrorism. The move comes as the country's controversial emergency laws expire. Jill McGivering reports.

Sri Lanka's president announced last week that the country's tough emergency laws, which have been in place for decades, would finally be allowed to expire. The draconian¹⁰ laws gave the government sweeping¹¹ powers of arrest and detention¹², and two years since the end of the war, critics were concerned they'd be used to silence opposition. But it has now emerged that new legislation has been introduced, which could undermine hopes of a more liberal environment. This continues the ban on membership of the Tamil Tigers and allows suspects to be detained without charge.

World News from the BBC

Medical researchers in Canada say they've developed a virus which once injected into the bloodstream can target cancer cells throughout the body without harming healthy tissue. Previous anti-cancer viruses required injection directly into the tumour¹³. However, the treatment did not cure the cancer.

The east coast of the United States is bracing¹⁴ itself for more severe weather only days after being struck by Hurricane Irene. A tropical storm, Katia, has formed in the Atlantic and is heading towards the US. The threat comes as millions of people try to recover from the devastation¹⁵ caused by the hurricane, which killed at least 44 people.

A sunset ceremony has taken place in the small British town of Wootton Bassett to mark the end of four years of silent tributes to soldiers who've been killed in conflicts abroad. More than 1,000 people came out onto the high street in southwest England. Tom Esslemont reports.

Since early 2007, the people of Wootton Bassett had lined the road to pay respects to British soldiers who gave their lives. They had watched the slow movement of a cortege of coffins¹⁶, each one draped in the Union Jack¹⁷. Relatives of those who died fighting on the front line of conflicts including the war in Afghanistan would travel from far and wide to be there. Now what's started as an impromptu¹⁸ event has come to an end. Bodies of service personnel will from Thursday be repatriated¹⁹ to RAF Brize Norton, in central England.

And there's been frantic²⁰ activity in the European football market as clubs scramble²¹ to beat the governing body Uefa's summer transfer deadline in just a couple of hours. The current European champions Barcelona and last season's runners-up Manchester United have stayed aloof²². But in England, Arsenal²³ have bought two internationals, Per Mertesacker of Germany and Andre Santos of Brazil. Liverpool have loaned England midfielder Joe Cole to French champions Lille for the season while Uruguay striker Diego Forlan has moved to Inter²⁴ Milan.

1 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。

2 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

3 ultimatum   

n.最后通牒

参考例句：

• This time the proposal was couched as an ultimatum.这一次该提议是以最后通牒的形式提出来的。
• The cabinet met today to discuss how to respond to the ultimatum.内阁今天开会商量如何应对这道最后通牒。

4 disarm   

v.解除武装，回复平常的编制，缓和

参考例句：

• The world has waited 12 years for Iraq to disarm. 全世界等待伊拉克解除武装已有12年之久。
• He has rejected every peaceful opportunity offered to him to disarm.他已经拒绝了所有能和平缴械的机会。

5 usher   

n.带位员，招待员；vt.引导，护送；vi.做招待，担任引座员

参考例句：

• The usher seated us in the front row.引座员让我们在前排就座。
• They were quickly ushered away.他们被迅速领开。

6 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

7 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

8 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》

9 discredit   

vt.使不可置信；n.丧失信义；不信，怀疑

参考例句：

• Their behaviour has bought discredit on English football.他们的行为败坏了英国足球运动的声誉。
• They no longer try to discredit the technology itself.他们不再试图怀疑这种技术本身。

10 draconian   

adj.严苛的；苛刻的；严酷的；龙一样的

参考例句：

• You can't expect the people to obey such draconian regulations.你不能指望人民服从如此严苛的规定。
• The city needs a draconian way of dealing with robbers.这个城市需要一个严苛的办法来对付强盗。

11 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

12 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

13 tumour   

n.(tumor)(肿)瘤，肿块

参考例句：

• The surgeons operated on her for a tumour.外科医生为她施行了肿瘤切除手术。
• The tumour constricts the nerves.肿瘤压迫神经。

14 bracing   

adj.令人振奋的

参考例句：

• The country is bracing itself for the threatened enemy invasion. 这个国家正准备奋起抵抗敌人的入侵威胁。
• The atmosphere in the new government was bracing. 新政府的气氛是令人振奋的。

15 devastation   

n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤

参考例句：

• The bomb caused widespread devastation. 炸弹造成大面积破坏。
• There was devastation on every side. 到处都是破坏的创伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 coffins   

n.棺材( coffin的名词复数 )；使某人早亡[死，完蛋，垮台等]之物

参考例句：

• The shop was close and hot, and the atmosphere seemed tainted with the smell of coffins. 店堂里相当闷热，空气仿佛被棺木的味儿污染了。 来自辞典例句
• Donate some coffins to the temple, equal to the number of deaths. 到寺庙里，捐赠棺材盒给这些死者吧。 来自电影对白

17 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

18 impromptu   

adj.即席的，即兴的；adv.即兴的(地)，无准备的(地)

参考例句：

• The announcement was made in an impromptu press conference at the airport.这一宣布是在机场举行的临时新闻发布会上作出的。
• The children put on an impromptu concert for the visitors.孩子们为来访者即兴献上了一场音乐会。

19 repatriated   

v.把（某人）遣送回国，遣返( repatriate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The refugees were forcibly repatriated. 难民被强制遣送回国。
• Ancient artworks were repatriated from the US to Greece. 古代艺术品从美国遣送回希腊。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 frantic   

adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的

参考例句：

• I've had a frantic rush to get my work done.我急急忙忙地赶完工作。
• He made frantic dash for the departing train.他发疯似地冲向正开出的火车。

21 scramble   

v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料

参考例句：

• He broke his leg in his scramble down the wall.他爬墙摔断了腿。
• It was a long scramble to the top of the hill.到山顶须要爬登一段长路。

22 aloof   

adj.远离的；冷淡的，漠不关心的

参考例句：

• Never stand aloof from the masses.千万不可脱离群众。
• On the evening the girl kept herself timidly aloof from the crowd.这小女孩在晚会上一直胆怯地远离人群。

23 arsenal   

n.兵工厂，军械库

参考例句：

• Even the workers at the arsenal have got a secret organization.兵工厂工人暗中也有组织。
• We must be the great arsenal of democracy.我们必须成为民主的大军火库。

24 inter   

v.埋葬

参考例句：

• They interred their dear comrade in the arms.他们埋葬了他们亲爱的战友。
• The man who died in that accident has been interred.在那次事故中死的那个人已经被埋葬了。