英语听力精选进阶版 7578

President Obama is preparing to give a highly charged televised address which will propose an American Jobs Act designed to stem unemployment. Some reports say the package will include tax cuts, infrastructure¹ projects and re-hiring of laid-off teachers and police. Our North America editor Mark Mardell reports.

Some suggest all this could cost as much as $400bn, and it's very unlikely the president will get the agreement of the Republicans, who control the House of Representatives, to any increase in spending. He is of course setting a political trap for them, daring them to defy measures that he will portray² as helping³ ordinary Americans. But there are grave dangers for the president as well; proposing what he cannot deliver may not look like an active leadership. Commentators⁴, the markets, his opponents don't have high expectations of the speech, but his potential supporters are less cynical⁵ and are desperately⁶ hoping this will be a pivotal moment.

Nato forces in Afghanistan say a BBC reporter killed in July was shot dead by a US soldier. Ahmed Omed Khpulwak, who reported for the BBC's Pashto service, died during a suicide attack in Uruzgan province. Initial reports suggested he was killed by the Taliban, but a Nato investigation⁷ now confirms that he was shot dead by an American who mistook him for a suicide bomber⁸.

The BBC's director of Global News, Peter Horrocks, paid tribute to Mr Khpulwak. He said it was essential that journalists had the best possible protection so that the world could hear their stories. The Isaf spokesman Brigadier General Carsten Jacobson said the American soldier thought Omed Khpulwak was a danger.

"He was holding a technical gadget⁹ in his hand which happened to be his telephone probably, so the soldier believed that he was a suicide bomber, a third suicide bomber who was about to detonate himself, and therefore took action."

Aid workers say hundreds of African migrants are fleeing from Libya each day because of the fear of racially motivated attacks. Mark Doyle reports.

The black Africans now leaving Libya told the UN migration¹⁰ office they feared for their lives. They said all black people in Libya were now being seen as associated with the black mercenaries that had been fighting on the side of Colonel Gaddafi. The UN stopped short of directly blaming the anti-Gaddafi Transitional National Council forces for systematically¹¹ targeting the black Africans. It said some of the attacks could have been spontaneous fights among local communities. But the UN said the new wave of xenophobic violence was definitely associated with the arrival of the anti-Gaddafi groups.

The deputy head of Libya's National Transitional Council has said the battle against Colonel Gaddafi's forces isn't over. In his first speech since moving to Tripoli, Mahmoud Jibril called on Libyans to be united and not attack each other as they face big challenges ahead. Forces loyal to Colonel Gaddafi have continued to show defiance¹² in the town of Bani Walid. They fired rockets at opposition¹³ forces from the town, which is one of the former leader's last remaining bastions.

World News from the BBC

The Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has intensified¹⁴ his country's diplomatic row with Israel. In an interview with the Arab TV station al-Jazeera, Mr Erdogan said that Turkish warships¹⁵ would provide an escort to any Turkish aid vessels¹⁶ to Gaza. Turkey has expressed growing anger over Israel's refusal to offer a full apology for its raid on a flotilla heading for Gaza last year, during which nine Turkish activists¹⁷ were killed.

A new controversial study of a couple of two-million-year-old skeletons suggests that humans may have evolved in a different place and earlier than previously¹⁸ thought. Here's our science correspondent Pallab Ghosh.

One of the big questions in human evolution is when and where did the first humans emerge. The favourite theory is that it happened in East Africa around two million years ago. But a detailed¹⁹ study of remains²⁰ found in a cave in Malapa, near Johannesburg, has now challenged that view. The two-million-year-old specimen²¹ seem to have greater brain development, hands and teeth that are more human-like, and their pelvises are more suited to walking than any other pre-human creature found to date. Indeed, the traits are so human-like that some argue that these creatures may themselves be the very first of our kind.

The United States Justice Department has issued a strongly critical report of the police force in the US territory of Puerto Rico, calling it "broken" in a number of critical ways. A three-year investigation found a pattern of unconstitutional behaviour, including excessive use of force and illegal searches and arrests.

One of London's most popular art galleries, the Tate Modern, has announced ambitious plans to open previously unused parts of its building in time for the Olympics next year. The first phase of the project will include opening the old 300-metre oil tanks at the former power station, which the gallery's director Nicholas Serota said would be some of the most exciting spaces in the world for new art.

1 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

2 portray   

v.描写，描述；画(人物、景象等)

参考例句：

• It is difficult to portray feelings in words.感情很难用言语来描写。
• Can you portray the best and worst aspects of this job?您能描述一下这份工作最好与最坏的方面吗？

3 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

4 commentators   

n.评论员( commentator的名词复数 )；时事评论员；注释者；实况广播员

参考例句：

• Sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 体育解说员翻来覆去说着同样的词语，真叫人腻烦。
• Television sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 电视体育解说员说来说去就是那么几句话，令人厌烦。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 cynical   

adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的，不信世道向善的

参考例句：

• The enormous difficulty makes him cynical about the feasibility of the idea.由于困难很大，他对这个主意是否可行持怀疑态度。
• He was cynical that any good could come of democracy.他不相信民主会带来什么好处。

6 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

7 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。

8 bomber   

n.轰炸机，投弹手，投掷炸弹者

参考例句：

• He flew a bomber during the war.他在战时驾驶轰炸机。
• Detectives hunting the London bombers will be keen to interview him.追查伦敦爆炸案凶犯的侦探们急于对他进行讯问。

9 gadget   

n.小巧的机械，精巧的装置，小玩意儿

参考例句：

• This gadget isn't much good.这小机械没什么用处。
• She has invented a nifty little gadget for undoing stubborn nuts and bolts.她发明了一种灵巧的小工具用来松开紧固的螺母和螺栓。

10 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

11 systematically   

adv.有系统地

参考例句：

• This government has systematically run down public services since it took office.这一屆政府自上台以来系统地削减了公共服务。
• The rainforest is being systematically destroyed.雨林正被系统地毀灭。

12 defiance   

n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗

参考例句：

• He climbed the ladder in defiance of the warning.他无视警告爬上了那架梯子。
• He slammed the door in a spirit of defiance.他以挑衅性的态度把门砰地一下关上。

13 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。

14 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 warships   

军舰，战舰( warship的名词复数 )； 舰只

参考例句：

• The enemy warships were disengaged from the battle after suffering heavy casualties. 在遭受惨重伤亡后，敌舰退出了海战。
• The government fitted out warships and sailors for them. 政府给他们配备了战舰和水手。

16 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

17 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》

18 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

19 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

20 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

21 specimen   

n.样本，标本

参考例句：

• You'll need tweezers to hold up the specimen.你要用镊子来夹这标本。
• This specimen is richly variegated in colour.这件标本上有很多颜色。