英语听力精选进阶版 7675

The French finance minister says the country has lost its AAA credit rating. Francois Baroin said that Standard & Poor's had lowered the rating to AA+, but he said that France would not allow the agencies to dictate¹ its policies. From Paris, Hugh Schofield.

法国财长称本国已失去3A信用级别，Francois Baroin称标准普尔将法国信用评分降为2A，不过他说，法国不会允许该机构主宰本国政策。Hugh Schofield在巴黎报道。

This news does not come as a surprise for France - there had been warnings for weeks that the downgrade was coming - but it's still a big blow. Economically, it means that the cost of borrowing to cover the country's huge debt will probably become more expensive. Politically, it's very bad news for President Sarkozy, who set such store on keeping the AAA. And for the eurozone, it's also a setback². Combined with bad news from Greece about the debt talks going on there, it shows that the euro crisis is well and truly back on the agenda.

这个消息对法国来说并不新鲜，数周来法国一直受到有关降级的警告，不过这个事实仍是不小的打击。从经济方面来说，偿还本国巨额债务的借债成本变得更高。从政治方面来说，这对希望保持3A级别的总统萨科齐算是个坏消息。对欧元区来说，这也是个倒退。同时，来自希腊债务谈判的消息也表明，解决欧元危机问题要依靠评级机构的帮助。

The United States has described the release of political prisoners in Burma as a substantial step towards democratic reform. President Obama said the granting of amnesty to some 600 prisoners, including leading dissidents, was crucial for Burma's national reconciliation³. The Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the US would now strengthen ties.

"We will start the process of exchanging ambassadors with Burma. We will identify a candidate to serve as US ambassador to represent the United States government and our broader efforts to strengthen and deepen our ties with both the people and the government. This is a lengthy⁴ process, and it will of course depend on continuing progress and reform."

Earlier, large crowds gathered outside jails across Burma to greet leaders of the democracy movement and dissident monks⁵ as they walked free.

Turkish police have raided more than 100 homes and offices in 17 cities as part of an operation against the Kurdish nationalist movement. At least 32 people have been detained. From Istanbul, here's Jonathan Head.

在武装对抗库尔德全国运动的行动中，土耳其警方突袭了17座城市的100多处房屋和办公室，至少32人被捕。Jonathan Head在伊斯坦布尔报道。

There are now two parallel operations underway by the Turkish state against the Kurdish nationalist movement. In the mountains of the southeast, the Turkish armed forces continue to fight armed insurgents⁶ of the Kurdish Workers' Party, the PKK. But in urban areas, many hundreds, perhaps thousands of civilians⁷ have also been rounded up in successive police raids. There have been so many no one is sure of the total number detained. They include lawyers, human rights activists⁸ and journalists. Turkey now has more journalists in jail than any other country.

库尔奇政府实行两个平行的部署行动以对抗库尔德全国运动。在东南山区，库尔德武装军继续与库尔德工人党(PKK)叛乱分子作战。而在城市地区，或许数千平民不断受到警察的突袭。人数太多，没人知道被捕者到底多少。其中包括律师、人权活动家和记者。目前入狱的土耳其记者比其他任何国家都要多。

A court in Norway has ordered a new psychiatric evaluation⁹ of Anders Behring Breivik, who was found to have been legally insane when he carried out a bomb attack and mass shooting last July. The court said the special and extremely serious nature of the case meant that the issue of Mr Breivik's criminal responsibility had to be studied more closely. The earlier assessment¹⁰ found that Mr Breivik was psychotic, but that assessment has been widely criticised.

挪威一家法院下令对Anders Behring Breivik重新进行心理评估，Breivik于去年7月实施了炸弹袭击并对人群射击，当时他被认定精神失常。这家法院说，这起案件很特别，情节很严重，这意味着必须认真研究Breivik的刑事责任。早期评估认为Breivik心理有问题，但这一说法已遭到广泛的批评。

World News from the BBC

The long-time leader of the Turkish Cypriots, Rauf Denktash, has died. He was 87 and had suffered from ill health for a long time. Mr Denktash was a staunch defender¹¹ of the interests of Turkish Cypriots and became the first president of the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in 1983. He refused to stand again in 2005 after Turkish Cypriots against his advice voted in favour of a plan to reunify the divided island. The plan was rejected by Greek Cypriots.

土耳其塞浦路斯在位已久的领导人Rauf Denktash已经去世，享年87岁，多年来他的健康状况都不好。Denktash勇敢捍卫土耳其塞浦路斯人的利益，于1983年成为北塞浦路斯土耳其共和国首位总统。2005年，因土耳其塞浦路斯人反对他提出的统一这个分裂岛国的计划，他拒绝继续任职。该计划也遭希腊塞浦路斯人的反对。

The US State Department says it's raised concerns with Moscow and Cyprus about a Russian-operated ship carrying what's been described as a dangerous cargo¹² to Syria. Media reports in Cyprus the boat's last port of call suggested that the vessel¹³ was carrying ammunition¹⁴.

美国国务院称一艘装载“危险货物”的俄罗斯轮船驶向叙利亚，对此美国和莫斯科及塞浦路斯都表示非常担忧。塞浦路斯是这艘船的最后港口，塞媒体称这艘船装有弹药。

A court in London has ruled that a British student, Richard O'Dwyer, can be extradited to the United States, where he faces allegations of US copyright infringement¹⁵. He's accused of creating a website that allowed people to view films and television shows for free. Lawyers have argued that the website simply directed users to other sites, and they say they'll appeal. Richard O'Dwyer and his mother Julia spoke¹⁶ outside the court.

伦敦一家法院判定将英国学生Richard O'Dwyer引渡到美国，在那里他将面临侵犯美国版权的指控。他被指控创立一家让人们免费欣赏电影和电视节目的网站，律师称这家网站只是将用户引到其他网站，并表示将会上诉。Richard O'Dwyer和母亲Julia在庭外说：

"I'm obviously disappointed with the judge's decision today. I think I've got faith in the High Court in making the right decision. It just seemed like a bit of a guinea pig activity."

“我对法官今天的判决非常失望，我原来对高级法院做出正确判决很有信心，不过如今看来不过是拿这件事做实验。”

"Disgusted. I'd hoped for better from the judge. Disappointed with this government for signing us up to this treaty which has opened the floodgates to America to come and seize British citizens without even having set foot out of this country."

“好恶心，我原来希望法官能表现好点，政府让我们签署这个协议，就向美国人打开大门，让他们不出国门就抓住英国公民。”

The World Boxing Association has ordered a rematch between the British boxer¹⁷ Amir Khan and the American Lamont Peterson after a controversial fight last month. The WBA said it was concerned about a number of questionable¹⁸ decisions by the referee¹⁹ and the presence of an unauthorised man apparently²⁰ distracting the judges during the scoring process. Khan was defeated on points and lost his WBA and IBF titles.

世界拳击协会(WBA)下令英国拳手Amir Khan和美国Lamont Peterson重新进行比赛，上月他们的决斗引发争议。WBA称，裁判的一些决定很有问题，计分时一名男子未经授权擅自出现打扰了裁判，WBA对这些问题很关心。Khan因几分失利而败，还失去了他在WBA和IBF的头衔。

1 dictate   

v.口授；(使)听写；指令，指示，命令

参考例句：

• It took him a long time to dictate this letter.口述这封信花了他很长时间。
• What right have you to dictate to others?你有什么资格向别人发号施令？

2 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。

3 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

4 lengthy   

adj.漫长的，冗长的

参考例句：

• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
• The professor wrote a lengthy book on Napoleon.教授写了一部有关拿破仑的巨著。

5 monks   

n.修道士，僧侣( monk的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The monks lived a very ascetic life. 僧侣过着很清苦的生活。
• He had been trained rigorously by the monks. 他接受过修道士的严格训练。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

7 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。

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 evaluation   

n.估价，评价；赋值

参考例句：

• I attempted an honest evaluation of my own life.我试图如实地评价我自己的一生。
• The new scheme is still under evaluation.新方案还在评估阶段。

10 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？

11 defender   

n.保卫者，拥护者，辩护人

参考例句：

• He shouldered off a defender and shot at goal.他用肩膀挡开防守队员，然后射门。
• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。

12 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

13 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

14 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

15 infringement   

n.违反；侵权

参考例句：

• Infringement of this regulation would automatically rule you out of the championship.违背这一规则会被自动取消参加锦标赛的资格。
• The committee ruled that the US ban constituted an infringement of free trade.委员会裁定美国的禁令对自由贸易构成了侵犯

16 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

17 boxer   

n.制箱者，拳击手

参考例句：

• The boxer gave his opponent a punch on the nose.这个拳击手朝他对手的鼻子上猛击一拳。
• He moved lightly on his toes like a boxer.他像拳击手一样踮着脚轻盈移动。

18 questionable   

adj.可疑的，有问题的

参考例句：

• There are still a few questionable points in the case.这个案件还有几个疑点。
• Your argument is based on a set of questionable assumptions.你的论证建立在一套有问题的假设上。

19 referee   

n.裁判员．仲裁人，代表人，鉴定人

参考例句：

• The team was left raging at the referee's decision.队员们对裁判员的裁决感到非常气愤。
• The referee blew a whistle at the end of the game.裁判在比赛结束时吹响了哨子。

20 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。