英语听力精选进阶版 8041

The UN mediator¹ Lakhdar Brahimi has apologized to the people of Syria after the second roundof peace talks in Geneva ended without progress. Mr. Brahimi said the sticking point was theSyrian government's refusal to discuss a transitional governing body. He said a limitedagreement on evacuating² civilians³ from the war-torn city of Homs had raised full expectations offurther progress. Lyse Doucet is there.

It's a cold, rainy and miserable⁴ night here in the Syrian city of Homs, and the news comingfrom faraway Geneva will do nothing to lift spirits. The second round of peace talks has endedwith the UN envoy⁵ Lakadar Brahimi admitting no progress was made. Not even the date hasbeen set for a third round of negotiations⁶ involving the government and the opposition⁷. Butwhat people here want most of all is tangible⁸ signs that both these war and deepeninghumanitarian crisis are going to end soon.

Supporters and opponents of the Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro are taking to thestreets of Caracas in rival marches. The demonstrations⁹ come at a time of growing politicaltension in Venezuela. Three people were killed during anti-government protests onWednesday.Irene Caselli reports from Caracas.

President Nicolas Maduro kissed his wife for several seconds during the public rally to celebratewhat he has called the day for peace and against fascism. Thousands of people accompaniedhim in downtown Caracas during a march that was broadcast on live television. The Presidenthas accused Venezuela's right wing of attempting to stage a coup¹⁰ with the support ofColombia's former president Alvro Uribe. On the other side of Caracas, protests against thegovernment continued.

French and African peacekeepers have seized weapons from militia¹¹ in Bangui, the capital of theCentral African Republic. Troops conducted house-to-house searches in a neighborhoodbelieved to be a base for Christians¹³ to carry out attacks on Muslims. Richard Hamilton reports.

More than 250 military personnel were deployed¹⁴ to disarm¹⁵ the Christian¹² militia. Thepeacekeepers hope to secure the district of Boy Rabe, the centre of operations for theanti-balaka formed in response to killings¹⁶ by Muslim rebels. The operation wasn't entirelysuccessful, some of the militia refused to disarm and one of its top leaders escaped capture.The French Defence Minister Jean-Yves le Drian admitted that Paris had underestimated thelevel of violence and hatred¹⁷ in the Central African Republic.

The German Chancellor¹⁸ Angela Merkel says she will consult France about the creation of anEuropean communications network to avoid e-mails and other data automatically passingthrough the Untied¹⁹ States. Mrs. Merkel said she would raise the issue with President FrancoisHollande during her visit to Paris next week.

World News from the BBC

Police in Montenegro have fired teargas and stun²⁰ grenades to break up the crowd of hundredsof protesters who were demanding the resignation of the government. Some demonstratorsthrew stones as they complained about high unemployment and the state of the economy inthe former Yugoslavia Republic.

A North Korean cargo²¹ ship seized in Panama last July with undeclared weapons on board hasleft for Cuba after Pyongyang agreed to pay a fine of nearly $700,000. Most of the NorthKorean crew have left with the ship. But the captain and 2 others will remain in Panama to facearm smuggling²² charges.

In one of the highlights so far of the Sochi Winter Olympics, the United States have beatenRussia in an exiting men's ice hockey match. The group stage game ended 2:2 before beingdecided in penalties. Alex Capstick is in Sochi.

Intense and feisty, the two heavyweight of group A went totally to turn one of a fast andexciting game. It's just watched by a ruckus crowd the volume amplified²³ each time a Russianplayer approached his opponents' goal. The thrilling spectacle justified²⁴ the pre-match hype,Russia's narrow defeats followed a prolonged penalty shoot-out. It was finally settled when TJOshie scoreed for the Americans as President Vladimir Putin looked on.

Elsewhere, the French athlete Renaud Lavillenie has broken the 21-year-old world record forthe indoor pole vault²⁵. He cleared the bar comfortably at 6.16 meters in a competition in theUkrainian city of Donetsk. That's a centimeter higher than the previous record set in the samevenue in 1993 by the Ukrainian Sergey Bubka.

The Chinese film Black Coal, Thin Ice has won the Golden Bear for best picture the Berlininternational film festival. The work for the Chinese director Diao Yinan also on the best actoraward. Liao Fan got the prize for his role as a former policeman turned to detectiveinvestigating a mysterious series of killings.

1 mediator   

n.调解人，中介人

参考例句：

• He always takes the role of a mediator in any dispute.他总是在争论中充当调停人的角色。
• He will appear in the role of mediator.他将出演调停者。

2 evacuating   

撤离，疏散( evacuate的现在分词 )； 排空（胃肠），排泄（粪便）； （从危险的地方）撤出，搬出，撤空

参考例句：

• The solution is degassed by alternately freezing, evacuating and thawing. 通过交替的冻结、抽空和溶化来使溶液除气。
• Are we evacuating these potential targets? 能够在这些目标地域内进行疏散吗？

3 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。

4 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

5 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

6 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

7 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。

8 tangible   

adj.有形的，可触摸的，确凿的，实际的

参考例句：

• The policy has not yet brought any tangible benefits.这项政策还没有带来任何实质性的好处。
• There is no tangible proof.没有确凿的证据。

9 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

10 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

11 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

12 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。

13 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

14 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

15 disarm   

v.解除武装，回复平常的编制，缓和

参考例句：

• The world has waited 12 years for Iraq to disarm. 全世界等待伊拉克解除武装已有12年之久。
• He has rejected every peaceful opportunity offered to him to disarm.他已经拒绝了所有能和平缴械的机会。

16 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

17 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。

18 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

19 untied   

松开，解开( untie的过去式和过去分词 )； 解除，使自由； 解决

参考例句：

• Once untied, we common people are able to conquer nature, too. 只要团结起来，我们老百姓也能移山倒海。
• He untied the ropes. 他解开了绳子。

20 stun   

vt.打昏，使昏迷，使震惊，使惊叹

参考例句：

• When they told me she had gone missing I was totally stunned.他们告诉我她不见了时，我当时完全惊呆了。
• Sam stood his ground and got a blow that stunned him.萨姆站在原地，被一下打昏了。

21 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。

22 smuggling   

n.走私

参考例句：

• Some claimed that the docker's union fronted for the smuggling ring.某些人声称码头工人工会是走私集团的掩护所。
• The evidence pointed to the existence of an international smuggling network.证据表明很可能有一个国际走私网络存在。

23 amplified   

放大，扩大( amplify的过去式和过去分词 )； 增强； 详述

参考例句：

• He amplified on his remarks with drawings and figures. 他用图表详细地解释了他的话。
• He amplified the whole course of the incident. 他详述了事件的全过程。

24 justified   

a.正当的，有理的

参考例句：

• She felt fully justified in asking for her money back. 她认为有充分的理由要求退款。
• The prisoner has certainly justified his claims by his actions. 那个囚犯确实已用自己的行动表明他的要求是正当的。

25 vault   

n.拱形圆顶，地窖，地下室

参考例句：

• The vault of this cathedral is very high.这座天主教堂的拱顶非常高。
• The old patrician was buried in the family vault.这位老贵族埋在家族的墓地里。