英语听力精选进阶版 7637

Egyptian state television says the cabinet has submitted its resignation to the ruling military council. It said the military leadership was considering whether to accept the resignations. This report from our correspondent in Cairo Jon Leyne.

After three days of tumultuous clashes in Cairo and other cities, it emerged that the cabinet had submitted its resignation. The ministers are clearly uneasy about the violent reaction to the protests, and they were already unhappy with being increasingly sidelined by the ruling military council. The move is bound to add momentum¹ to the protests, but it also poses a huge political dilemma² for the military. Any new ministers are bound to demand more power from the military - something the army is fighting to resist. But an even more dangerous scenario³ for the ruling military council would be if they have to assume open control of the government, that would make them even more directly responsible for everything that's now going wrong in Egypt - exactly what they have been trying to avoid.

The government in Bahrain has admitted that its troops used excessive force during pro-democracy protests earlier this year. With more details, here's Frank Gardner.

Bahrain's cabinet is anticipating heavy criticism from the independent human rights report due out on Wednesday. But instead of waiting for international condemnation⁵, it's issued a humbling⁶ statement, taking partial blame. Regrettably, it says, there have been instances of excessive force and mistreatment of detainees. It goes on to say that all those responsible for abuses will be held accountable, adding there will be no impunity⁷. Human Rights Watch describes the situation in Bahrain as dire⁴ and puts the number of deaths following protests this year at 43, most of them civilians⁸.

The British Finance Minister George Osborne has announced the new financial sanctions against Iran in the wake of the latest UN assessment⁹ of Tehran's nuclear capability¹⁰.

"We are ceasing all contact between the UK financial system and the Iranian banking¹¹ system. We're doing this because of international evidence that Iran's banks are involved in the development of Iran's weaponised military nuclear weapon programme. We're doing this to improve the security not just of the whole world, but the national security of the United Kingdom."

The British statement comes after the UN nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, passed a resolution last week expressing growing concern over Iran's nuclear programme.

Nigeria's State Security Service says the Boko Haram Islamic militant¹² group is receiving funding and patronage¹³ from certain politicians in the north.

Nigeria's intelligence agency said it had arrested a spokesman for the group, who told them he was sponsored by a politician in Borno state to send threats to judges and rival politicians. Boko Haram is blamed for a growing number of deadly attacks, especially in northern Nigeria. They also include the bombing of the United Nations headquarters in Abuja in August, which killed 24 people.

World News from the BBC

The UN agency dealing¹⁴ with the fight against Aids says HIV infections have fallen to their lowest level since the peak of the epidemic¹⁵ 14 years ago. UNAids says the global response of the past decade has forced the disease into decline with new infections down by more than 20% since its peak in 1997. Peter Ghys of UNAids said the data was encouraging even in Africa, where HIV infection still remains¹⁶ at very high levels.

"The picture in Africa largely determines the global picture because most of the global epidemic is actually situated¹⁷ in Africa. So the trends that we highlight - the reduction in new infections is present in Africa, and also the trend in the reduction of the deaths due to Aids is also present in Africa."

In the latest of a series of economic reforms, Cuba has announced it's going to allow farmers to sell their goods directly to tourist hotels and restaurants.

For the first time in decades, Cubans won't have to go through government middlemen to sell agricultural produce. Vanessa Buschschluter reports.

As part of its limited free-market reforms, Cuba has already liberalised the housing market and eased rules on buying and selling cars. Now it has turned its attention to the agricultural sector¹⁸, allowing direct sales of farm products. The reform is meant to cut down on transportation costs and speed up food delivery to the tourism industry. Tourism is a key source of revenue for Cuba, but visitors often complain about the poor quality of food. The government is hoping this reform will help provide fresher and more varied¹⁹ products.

The film star Hugh Grant has given evidence to a public inquiry²⁰ into press standards in Britain, which was sparked by a phone-hacking scandal at Rupert Murdoch's best-selling newspaper, the News of the World. Mr Grant told the inquiry he believed another paper, the Mail on Sunday, may have hacked²¹ his phone.

The paper swiftly issued a denial.

1 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

2 dilemma   

n.困境，进退两难的局面

参考例句：

• I am on the horns of a dilemma about the matter.这件事使我进退两难。
• He was thrown into a dilemma.他陷入困境。

3 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。

4 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

5 condemnation   

n.谴责; 定罪

参考例句：

• There was widespread condemnation of the invasion. 那次侵略遭到了人们普遍的谴责。
• The jury's condemnation was a shock to the suspect. 陪审团宣告有罪使嫌疑犯大为震惊。

6 humbling   

adj.令人羞辱的v.使谦恭( humble的现在分词 )；轻松打败（尤指强大的对手）；低声下气

参考例句：

• A certain humbling from time to time is good. 不时受点儿屈辱是有好处的。 来自辞典例句
• It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-buildingexperience. 据说天文学是一种令人产生自卑、塑造人格的科学。 来自互联网

7 impunity   

n.(惩罚、损失、伤害等的)免除

参考例句：

• You will not escape with impunity.你不可能逃脱惩罚。
• The impunity what compulsory insurance sets does not include escapement.交强险规定的免责范围不包括逃逸。

8 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。

9 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

10 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。

11 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。

12 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

13 patronage   

n.赞助，支援，援助；光顾，捧场

参考例句：

• Though it was not yet noon,there was considerable patronage.虽然时间未到中午，店中已有许多顾客惠顾。
• I am sorry to say that my patronage ends with this.很抱歉，我的赞助只能到此为止。

14 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

15 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

16 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。

17 situated   

adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的

参考例句：

• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。
• She is awkwardly situated.她的处境困难。

18 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

19 varied   

adj.多样的，多变化的

参考例句：

• The forms of art are many and varied.艺术的形式是多种多样的。
• The hotel has a varied programme of nightly entertainment.宾馆有各种晚间娱乐活动。

20 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

21 hacked   

生气

参考例句：

• I hacked the dead branches off. 我把枯树枝砍掉了。
• I'm really hacked off. 我真是很恼火。