英语听力精选进阶版 8054

Russia has issued its strongest response yet to theousting of President Yanukovych in Ukraine, calling ita threat to Russian citizens and Russian interests.Ukraine's interim¹ authorities are seeking the arrestof Viktor Yanukovych over what they called the mass murder of peaceful protesters. FromKiev, Steve Rosenberg reports.

Ukraine's new leaders are already under intense pressure from Russia. Today, Moscowaccused them of an armed mutiny. Russia's Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said that Moscowhad withdrawn² its ambassador from Kiev because there was a real threat to Russia'sinterests, to our citizens' lives and health. That's why attention is now focused on the Crimean,the peninsula is a part of Ukraine, but 60% of the population is ethnically³ Russian.

The United States says it's ready to provide financial support to Ukraine to help it return toeconomic stability. A White House spokesman said the American support would help Ukrainemake reforms and invest more in health and education.

A BBC correspondent in Syria has described harrowing scenes of distress⁴ in the besiegedDamascus suburb of Yarmouk after being given rare access to the area. More than 20,000Palestinian refugees are living in a camp in Yarmouk. Here is our correspondent Lyse Doucet.

The faces of women and men in tears and terrified children told the story of Yarmouk. A campwhich once gave refuge to Palestinians is now a prison. They are all desperate to escape. Butonly a few people were able to leave today and only about 60 food parcels were handed out. Afragile deal between the warring parties has allowed a very limited amount of aid to enter thecamp since January 18th, but some days, no food comes in at all.

The American Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel has proposed a substantial cut in the size of theUS army which would make it the smallest since the WII. In a speech at the Pentagon, Mr. Hagelsuggested a reduction to no more than 450,000 active soldiers together with the closure ofmilitary bases and fewer military planes and ships. From Washington, here is David Willis.

In his speech, Mr. Hagel said that the world was growing more volatile⁵, more unpredictableand more threatening to the United States, but the army nevertheless had to adjust to thereality of shrinking budgets. His proposals include cutting the number of active duty soldiers byaround 80,000, eliminating the A10 aircraft and U2 spy planes and closing some militarybases. Mr. Hagel said that after more than a decade of war, the US military no longerintended to conduct the kind of long and expensive operations that it had mounted in Iraqand Afghanistan.

This is the latest World News from the BBC.

Anti-government demonstrators in Venezuela have blocked the main access roads to Caracas incontinuing protests against high inflation, rampant⁶ crime and food shortages. In many partsof the capital, protesters erected⁷ improvised⁸ barricades⁹, dumping rubbish and furniture onhighways. President Nicolas Maduro says the crisis is a coup¹⁰ plot by right-wing groups backedby the United States.

A Turkish prosecutor¹¹ has denied allegations that he orderes the wiretapping of 7,000prominent figures including government ministers and business leaders. The allegations arepart of a long-running argument between the government and members of the judiciary. JamesReynolds reports from Istanbul.

The prosecutor at the center of the allegations, Adem Ozcan has denied wiretapping any of thethousands named. In a statement, Mr. Ozcan said that separately, he tapped a limited numberof phones as part of a legitimate¹² criminal investigation¹³. The dramatic allegations are part of atwo month long public battle between the government and supporters of the Islamic clericFethullah Gulen who lives in the United States. The government accuses a network ofprosecutors and police officers of taking instructions from Mr. Gulen. Mr. Gulen's movementdenies the charge.

Scientists say they found the oldest known piece of the planet on a sheep farm in WesternAustralia. The researchers estimate the zircon crystal to be 4.4 billion years old. The fragmentof rock is extremely small, measuring just twice the diameter of a human hair.

The American actor and film director Harold Ramis who was best known for Ghostbusters andGroundhog Day has died. The 69-year-old has been suffering from a rare disease of the bloodvessels. He first found widespread fame as the bespectacled ghost hunter Egon Spengler inthe Ghostbusters films in the 1980s. His credits as a writer and director included Caddyshackand Analyze¹⁴ This.

1 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。

2 withdrawn   

vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出

参考例句：

• Our force has been withdrawn from the danger area.我们的军队已从危险地区撤出。
• All foreign troops should be withdrawn to their own countries.一切外国军队都应撤回本国去。

3 ethnically   

adv.人种上，民族上

参考例句：

• Ethnically, the Yuan Empire comprised most of modern China's ethnic groups. 元朝的民族成分包括现今中国绝大多数民族。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• Russia is ethnically relatively homogeneous. 俄罗斯是个民族成分相对单一的国家。 来自辞典例句

4 distress   

n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛

参考例句：

• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
• Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。

5 volatile   

adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile,investments are at great risk.由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。
• His character was weak and volatile.他这个人意志薄弱，喜怒无常。

6 rampant   

adj.(植物)蔓生的；狂暴的，无约束的

参考例句：

• Sickness was rampant in the area.该地区疾病蔓延。
• You cannot allow children to rampant through the museum.你不能任由小孩子在博物馆里乱跑。

7 ERECTED   

adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立

参考例句：

• A monument to him was erected in St Paul's Cathedral. 在圣保罗大教堂为他修了一座纪念碑。
• A monument was erected to the memory of that great scientist. 树立了一块纪念碑纪念那位伟大的科学家。

8 improvised   

a.即席而作的,即兴的

参考例句：

• He improvised a song about the football team's victory. 他即席创作了一首足球队胜利之歌。
• We improvised a tent out of two blankets and some long poles. 我们用两条毛毯和几根长竿搭成一个临时帐蓬。

9 barricades   

路障，障碍物( barricade的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The police stormed the barricades the demonstrators had put up. 警察冲破了示威者筑起的街垒。
• Others died young, in prison or on the barricades. 另一些人年轻时就死在监牢里或街垒旁。

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 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

12 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

13 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

14 analyze   

vt.分析，解析 (=analyse)

参考例句：

• We should analyze the cause and effect of this event.我们应该分析这场事变的因果。
• The teacher tried to analyze the cause of our failure.老师设法分析我们失败的原因。