英语听力精选进阶版 8055

President Obama has asked the Pentagon to make plans to withdraw all the American troopsfrom Afghanistan by the end of this year, if no bilateral¹ security deal is in place. The AfghanPresident Hamid Karzai has so far refused to sign an agreement to allow some US troops tostay on. From Washington Ian Pannell.

America has more than 30,000 troops in Afghanistan, other Nato countries have less than20,000 combined. By the end of this year, most of them will have left. Plans have been drawnout for a relatively² small force to remain behind to help with training and to carry out what itdescribed as anti-terrorism operations. Though in a telephone call with his Afghan counterparton Tuesday, President Obama told Hamid Karzai that because he'd refused to sign anagreement covering such a mission, he's asked the Pentagon to plan for a completewithdrawal by the end of this year.

The American Secretary of State John Kerry says the crisis in Ukraine should not be seen as abattle between East and West. He was speaking alongside his British counterpart at a newsconference in Washington.

“This is not a zero-sum game, it is not a West versus³ East, it should not be. It is not theRussia or the United States or other choices, this is about the people of Ukraine, and Ukrainiansmaking their choice about their future.”

Russian-speaking residents have protested against Ukraine's interim⁴ authorities in the CrimeanPeninsula. Some replaced the Ukrainian flag on a local government building with a Russian flag.

Dozens of students have been killed in an attack on a school in northeastern Nigeria bysuspected members of the Islamist group Boko Haram. The authorities say 29 people werekilled, others put the figure at about 40. A local journalist told the BBC the gunmen enteredthe school at night, shooting, burning and slitting⁵ the throats of the students. The femalestudents were spared. He said every building in the school had been burned down.

The governor of Yobe state where the attack occurred said that five hours after the raid, not asingle member of the security forces had appeared.

Turkish riot police have fired teargas and water cannon⁶ at thousands of protesters in Istanbulwho were calling for the resignation of the Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. JamesReynolds reports from Istanbul.

Several thousand protesters in Istanbul's Kadikoy district gathered and chanted TayyipErdogan 'the thief' . The police fired teargas and water cannon to disperse⁷ them. The protestsfollowed the posting online of recordings⁹ which claimed to show several of the prime minister'sprivate phone conversations. In one of the recordings, Mr. Erdogan is set to order his son tohide large sums of money. The prime minister insists that this particular recording⁸ wasshamelessly fabricated.

World News from the BBC

Saudi Arabia is setting up a training centre for judges to try to improve their performance,which is regularly criticized both at home and abroad. The Saudi judicial¹⁰ system empowersjudges to reach verdicts without reference to precedence. Human rights groups say thisleads to inconsistencies and questionable¹¹ decisions.

The United States has expelled three Venezuelan diplomats¹² in response to the expulsion ofthree of its own consular¹³ officials from Caracas just over a week ago. The Venezuelangovernment had accused the expelled Americans of having links with violent groups, anallegation they deny. At least 13 people have been killed during weeks of anti-governmentprotests in Venezuela.

A court in Britain has ruled that a man accused of killing¹⁴ four soldiers in an IRA bomb attack inLondon more than 30 years ago will not be prosecuted¹⁵, because he was mistakenly given anofficial guarantee that he would not face trial. The man John Downey from the Irish Republicwas accused of leaving a car bomb in Hyde Park in 1982. Matt Prodger reports.

In 2007, the Northern Ireland Office sent John Downey a letter, telling him there is nooutstanding direction for prosecution¹⁶ in Northern Ireland. There were no warrants inexistence , nor are you be wanted in Northern Ireland for arrest, questioning or charged bythe police. Today's ruling says official's discovered the letter was mistaken. He was wanted inLondon. But he wasn't corrected. In the end the judge concluded that holding state officials topromises they've made was more important than putting the suspected bomber¹⁷ on trial. MattPridger.

The sportswear company Adidas says it's withdrawing from sales of some of its Football WorldCup T-shirts, following complaints from the Brazilian authorities that the products sexualizedthe country's image. One garment carried the question ,“ looking to score” next to a scantily-dressed woman.

1 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

2 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

3 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

4 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。

5 slitting   

n.纵裂（缝）v.切开，撕开( slit的现在分词 )；在…上开狭长口子

参考例句：

• She is slitting a man's throat. 她正在割一个男人的喉咙。 来自辞典例句
• Different side of slitting direction will improve slitting edge and quality. 应用不同靠刀方向修边分条可帮助顺利排料，并获得更好的分条品质。 来自互联网

6 cannon   

n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮

参考例句：

• The soldiers fired the cannon.士兵们开炮。
• The cannon thundered in the hills.大炮在山间轰鸣。

7 disperse   

vi.使分散；使消失；vt.分散；驱散

参考例句：

• The cattle were swinging their tails to disperse the flies.那些牛甩动着尾巴驱赶苍蝇。
• The children disperse for the holidays.孩子们放假了。

8 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

9 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

10 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

11 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。

12 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 consular   

a.领事的

参考例句：

• He has rounded out twenty years in the consular service. 他在领事馆工作已整整20年了。
• Consular invoices are declarations made at the consulate of the importing country. 领事发票是进口国领事馆签发的一种申报书。

14 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

15 prosecuted   

a.被起诉的

参考例句：

• The editors are being prosecuted for obscenity. 编辑因刊载污秽文字而被起诉。
• The company was prosecuted for breaching the Health and Safety Act. 这家公司被控违反《卫生安全条例》。

16 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。

17 bomber   

n.轰炸机，投弹手，投掷炸弹者

参考例句：

• He flew a bomber during the war.他在战时驾驶轰炸机。
• Detectives hunting the London bombers will be keen to interview him.追查伦敦爆炸案凶犯的侦探们急于对他进行讯问。