英语听力精选进阶版 7622

Banking¹ shares have fallen in a number of markets amid continuing fears about the impact of the eurozone debt crisis. In London, shares in two partly state-owned banks fell over 7%. Across the Atlantic, shares in Bank of America lost nearly 5%, and a large American investment fund, MF Global, filed for bankruptcy² protection. Michelle Fleury reports from New York.

The collapse³ of MF Global isn't seen as a serious risk to the financial system so much as a cautionary tale. MF Global's problems stemmed from its $6.3bn investment in sovereign bonds issued by European countries, including Portugal, Italy and Spain. The medium-sized broker⁴ didn't have enough capital if its bet on Europe turned bad. Given that so many people think that's a real possibility, investors⁵ took fright. Last week, shares in MF Global fell more than 60% after the financial firm reported a big loss.

Earlier, a report by the International Labour Organisation⁶ warned that the global economy was on the verge⁷ of what it called a new and deeper jobs recession.

The Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou says Greece will hold a referendum on the bailout deal agreed at the European summit last week. Mr Papandreou gave no details of the proposed referendum in an address to Socialist⁸ MPs, but said he'd also seek a vote of confidence in the Greek parliament. The deal agreed by eurozone members was designed to cut Greece's debt by about $140bn.

The United States is stopping its financial contributions to the United Nations cultural agency Unesco after the Palestinians were admitted to the organisation as a full member. A US State Department spokeswoman, Victoria Nuland, said a $60m payment to Unesco due to be made in November would not go ahead. From Washington, Paul Adams reports.

Washington is in a bind⁹. It regards Unesco as a valuable UN agency and gives it around $70m a year, or a fifth of its annual budget, but it's also bound by strict laws passed in the 1990s by an overwhelmingly pro-Israel Congress. Looking uncomfortable, Victoria Nuland said the administration wanted to continue working with the agency but recognised that its membership would be compromised if it failed to pay its contributions. She expressed concern over the loss of US influence and the possibility that the same scenario¹⁰ might unfold with other UN agencies.

The interim¹¹ leadership in Libya has named a new prime minister. Abdul Raheem al-Keeb, a businessman from Tripoli, beat four other candidates in a poll held by the National Transitional Council. He's expected to appoint a cabinet in the coming days which will govern Libya and prepare the ground for general elections. Earlier, the Secretary General of Nato, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, took part in events in Tripoli to mark the formal cessation of the bombing campaign that helped topple Colonel Gaddafi.

World News from the BBC

In the United States, the trial has begun of an American soldier accused of leading a renegade army unit that deliberately¹² targeted and killed unarmed civilians¹³ in Afghanistan. Staff Sergeant¹⁴ Calvin Gibbs pleaded not guilty to 16 charges at the opening of his court-martial. He's accused of leading what's been termed a "kill team" in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar in 2010. Three other soldiers have agreed to testify against Staff Sergeant Gibbs.

The former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has started his chemotherapy treatment for throat cancer. His doctors say his chances of being cured are very good. The cancer is in its early stages and hasn't spread to other parts of his body. The treatment is expected to last four months and will cause Lula to lose his hair and trademark¹⁵ beard.

A court in Russia has awarded two families $100,000 each in compensation after their daughters were accidentally switched at birth. The two families - one of which is Muslim, the other Russian Orthodox Christian¹⁶ - are considering buying properties close to each other as the children, who are now 12, have said they don't want to change families. Daniel Sandford reports from Moscow.

The two girls were born 15 minutes apart in December 1998 in the same hospital in the small town of Kopeysk. But unknown to their parents, they were swapped¹⁷ at birth accidentally. This only emerged when the woman who thought she was Irina's mother arranged a DNA¹⁸ test because her former husband was refusing to pay maintenance. The test showed that neither of them was her parent, and further research uncovered the hospital's mistake.

The dean of St Paul's Cathedral in London has become the second senior cleric to resign since anti-capitalist protesters set up camp at the cathedral two weeks ago. The Dean Graeme Knowles says that mounting criticism of how the situation had been handled had made his position untenable.

1 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

2 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

3 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

4 broker   

n.中间人，经纪人；v.作为中间人来安排

参考例句：

• He baited the broker by promises of higher commissions.他答应给更高的佣金来引诱那位经纪人。
• I'm a real estate broker.我是不动产经纪人。

5 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

6 organisation   

n.组织，安排，团体，有机休

参考例句：

• The method of his organisation work is worth commending.他的组织工作的方法值得称道。
• His application for membership of the organisation was rejected.他想要加入该组织的申请遭到了拒绝。

7 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

8 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

9 bind   

vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬

参考例句：

• I will let the waiter bind up the parcel for you.我让服务生帮你把包裹包起来。
• He wants a shirt that does not bind him.他要一件不使他觉得过紧的衬衫。

10 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。

11 interim   

adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间

参考例句：

• The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
• It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。

12 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

13 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。

14 sergeant   

n.警官，中士

参考例句：

• His elder brother is a sergeant.他哥哥是个警官。
• How many stripes are there on the sleeve of a sergeant?陆军中士的袖子上有多少条纹？

15 trademark   

n.商标；特征；vt.注册的…商标

参考例句：

• The trademark is registered on the book of the Patent Office.该商标已在专利局登记注册。
• The trademark of the pen was changed.这钢笔的商标改了。

16 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

17 swapped   

交换（工作）( swap的过去式和过去分词 )； 用…替换，把…换成，掉换（过来）

参考例句：

• I liked her coat and she liked mine, so we swapped. 我喜欢她的外套，她喜欢我的外套，于是我们就交换了。
• At half-time the manager swapped some of the players around. 经理在半场时把几名队员换下了场。

18 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。