英语听力精选进阶版 7661

An Iraqi delegation¹ visiting Syria to try to broker² an end to the violence there says it's had positive talks with President Bashar al-Assad. The Iraqis are trying to seek agreement based on peace proposals made by the Arab League. Jim Muir reports from Baghdad.

The Arab League has already suspended Syria's membership in the body and imposed economic sanctions. Now the foreign minister of Qatar has said that on Wednesday a full meeting of Arab foreign ministers will be asked to approve a resolution passing the issue to the UN Security Council. The idea would not be to ask for outside military intervention³ as happened in Libya, but to get the Security Council to adopt and pursue the Arab peace plan. It calls for an immediate⁴ halt to violence, the withdrawal⁵ of the military from the streets, the release of prisoners and the deployment⁶ of hundreds of outside observers to monitor the peace. For President Assad in Syria, it's an ominous⁷ development.

The Nato alliance has formally ended its seven-year mission to train the army in Iraq. The event was marked with a ceremony in Baghdad.

Nato decided⁸ to end the mission after failing to agree terms with Iraq for its extension. The alliance wanted its trainers to be immune from prosecution⁹ under Iraqi laws, but the government wouldn't accept that.

There's been a second day of violence in Egypt with protesters and the security forces clashing in the centre of Cairo. State television says nine people have been killed since the trouble began on Friday. Yolande Knell¹⁰ reports from Cairo.

Smoke hangs over Tahrir Square in the city centre after earlier fires at government buildings close-by. In the surrounding streets around the cabinet office, running battles between protesters and troops and police have continued through the day. Demonstrators were beaten with batons¹¹, and the tents where they've been staying were set on fire. They responded by throwing stones. Television crews were also caught up in the clashes. Soldiers are reported to have thrown equipment belonging to al-Jazeera television from a balcony overlooking Tahrir Square.

Naval¹³ vessels¹⁴ with search lights are searching for survivors¹⁶ in an area of the southern Philippines where devastating¹⁷ overnight floods killed more than 400 people. An army spokesman said whole villages have been swept out to sea. Here's Viv Marsh¹⁸.

A military spokesman said an entire army division of about 10,000 soldiers was involved in rescue work around the port of Cagayan de Oro.

It's there and in Iligan - further along the coast - that most of the casualties have been reported so far. Many people were sleeping when floodwaters triggered by tropical storm Washi smashed into their homes. One survivor¹⁵ said the water reached the roof. Helicopters and boats have been searching the coast for people swept away. The Philippine Red Cross said it was preparing emergency supplies for thousands of people.

World News from the BBC

The British government has told Uruguay it's worried about a decision to ban ships flying the flag of the Falkland Islands - the British territory in the South Atlantic. This report from Vanessa Buschschluter.

The British Foreign Office did not mince¹⁹ its words in its response to Uruguay's move. It said neither it nor the Falklands would bend to those who sought to bully²⁰ or blackmail²¹ the islands. Uruguay had announced the ban on Thursday after receiving a request from its neighbour Argentina. The Argentine government stepped up its campaign to gain sovereignty over the territory last year after Britain started to search for oil in Falklands waters.

An American woman who served 15 years in prison in Peru for aiding left-wing rebels says she was prevented by the Peruvian government from making her first trip home. A court ruled on Friday that Lori Berenson, who's on parole, should be allowed to travel to New York for Christmas.

Cesaria Evora, the popular singer from the remote islands of Cape²² Verde off the African coast, has died at the age of 70. She won several awards including a Grammy. Anna Borzello looks back at her life.

Born in the Cape Verdean city of Mindelo in 1941, Cesaria Evora began her singing career in the bars and streets of her town. A friend, another Cape Verdean singer called Bana, tried to help her career in the 1980s by taking her to Portugal for a series of concerts and studio recordings²³, but these went unnoticed. However, it was in the Portuguese²⁴ capital that she met the musical producer Jose da Silva, who took her to Paris, where in 1988 she recorded the album Barefoot Diva. She was 47 and began touring worldwide. The track Sodade, describing the longing¹² for the homeland, became her best-known hit.

1 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

2 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。

3 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

4 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

5 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

6 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

7 ominous   

adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的

参考例句：

• Those black clouds look ominous for our picnic.那些乌云对我们的野餐来说是个不祥之兆。
• There was an ominous silence at the other end of the phone.电话那头出现了不祥的沉默。

8 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

9 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

10 knell   

n.丧钟声；v.敲丧钟

参考例句：

• That is the death knell of the British Empire.这是不列颠帝国的丧钟。
• At first he thought it was a death knell.起初，他以为是死亡的丧钟敲响了。

11 batons   

n.（警察武器）警棍( baton的名词复数 )；（乐队指挥用的）指挥棒；接力棒

参考例句：

• There were many riot policemen with batons. 有许多带警棍的防暴警察。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Chinese police fight? Number one is a person with batons to fight! 满街飘的中国国旗，是一个老华侨在事发时那出来分给大家的，很感动，真的，从来一向多一事不如少一事的中国人今天团结到一起站出来反抗。 来自互联网

12 longing   

n.（for）渴望

参考例句：

• Hearing the tune again sent waves of longing through her.再次听到那首曲子使她胸中充满了渴望。
• His heart burned with longing for revenge.他心中燃烧着急欲复仇的怒火。

13 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

14 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》

15 survivor   

n.生存者，残存者，幸存者

参考例句：

• The sole survivor of the crash was an infant.这次撞车的惟一幸存者是一个婴儿。
• There was only one survivor of the plane crash.这次飞机失事中只有一名幸存者。

16 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

17 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

18 marsh   

n.沼泽，湿地

参考例句：

• There are a lot of frogs in the marsh.沼泽里有许多青蛙。
• I made my way slowly out of the marsh.我缓慢地走出这片沼泽地。

19 mince   

n.切碎物；v.切碎，矫揉做作地说

参考例句：

• Would you like me to mince the meat for you?你要我替你把肉切碎吗？
• Don't mince matters,but speak plainly.不要含糊其词，有话就直说吧。

20 bully   

n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮

参考例句：

• A bully is always a coward.暴汉常是懦夫。
• The boy gave the bully a pelt on the back with a pebble.那男孩用石子掷击小流氓的背脊。

21 blackmail   

n.讹诈，敲诈，勒索，胁迫，恫吓

参考例句：

• She demanded ＄1000 blackmail from him.她向他敲诈了1000美元。
• The journalist used blackmail to make the lawyer give him the documents.记者讹诈那名律师交给他文件。

22 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

23 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐

24 Portuguese   

n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语

参考例句：

• They styled their house in the Portuguese manner.他们仿照葡萄牙的风格设计自己的房子。
• Her family is Portuguese in origin.她的家族是葡萄牙血统。