英语听力精选进阶版 8057

The Russian government has said it's willing towork with the West on averting¹ a crisis in Ukrainebut it has warned Nato against taking decisions onbehalf of the Ukrainian people. The Russian foreignministry said any resolution must take into account the interests of the country's largeRussian-speaking minority. In Ukraine, the Parliament of the Republic of Crimea called areferendum on even greater self-rule. Duncan Crawford has more from Kiev.

Earlier on today, dramatic developments in Crimea when the Crimean parliament was seized byarmed men. We know that there are pro-Russian supporters, and the police cordoned² off thestreets around the parliament building. Pro-Russian supporters in the crowds, they wereshouting out Crimea is part of Russia. They are deeply suspicious about this new governmentwhich is voted in in Kiev today by the parliament, they view events here over the last few weeksas a coup³ as part of a Western conspiracy⁴. And they are calling for Russia to intervene andto protect Russian citizens in Crimea.

Ukraine's new interim⁵ Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk has accused the ousted⁷ PresidentViktor Yanukovych and his government of stripping the state coffers bare.

The British electronic intelligence-gathering agency GCHQ is reported to have collected webcamimages from millions of Internet users. The Guardian⁸ newspaper in London says GCHQ with thehelp of the American National Security Agency, intercepted⁹ and stored still images of Yahoowebcam chat. Gordon Corera reports.

According to the Guardian in one six-month period, 1.8m images were collected between 3%and 11% of the image captured were said to contain what's described as undesirable¹⁰ nudity,leading to guidance to GCHQ staff on how to protect themselves. The image was taken frompeople with webcam accounts with the company Yahoo. It responded angrily to the revelations,saying it'd known nothing of the program and it represented a whole new level of violation¹¹ ofits users' privacy.

Tensions in Lebanon between supporters and opponents of Hezbollah have been tightened¹² bythe mysterious death of a man rumored¹³ to have written a popular anti-Hezbollah song.Sebastian Usher¹⁴ on *.

For the title of the song is “Dig Your Grave in Yabroud”,a Syrian town near the Lebaneseborder where Hezbollah is fighting alongside Syrian government forces to oust⁶ rebels. It's notquite clear why but Marwan Dimashqieh, a car mechanic, was seen as having written the fiercelyanti-Hezbollah song. He was found dead in his car on Tuesday, a gun in his lap. Lebaneseinvestigators have suggested it was suicide. But hundreds of mourners who attended hisfuneral held him as a martyr¹⁵. They said he'd been kidnapped and killed for his outspokenattack on Hezbollah.

World News from the BBC

Britain and Germany have spoken of the need to reform the European Union to make it moreflexible and to encourage growth. The British Prime Minister David Cameron said after talks inDowning Street with Chancellor¹⁶ Merkel that he believed there was enough common ground todeliver the change's long-been wants before her planned referendum on EU membership. Mrs.Merkel indicated there're worth areas in which the countries agreed, but she didn't go intospecifics.

The English Football Association has banned the French striker Nicolas Anelka for five matchesfor a gesture he made celebrating a goal last December which was widely seen as anti-Semitic.The FA also fined Anelka who plays for the Premier¹⁷ League team West Bromwich Albion morethan 130,000 dollars. Richard Colven has this report.

The three-man independent panel upheld the FA's charge that in using the controversialquenelle gesture, Nicolas Anelka acted in an abusive, indecent, insulting or improper¹⁸ way, andfurther more which had a reference to ethnicity, religious belief or racial origin. But the panelsay Nicolas Anelka is not an anti-Semite, none did he not intend to promote anti-Semitism. Hisclub West Bromwich Albion have now suspended the French striker and will launch their owninternal inquiry¹⁹. Nicolas Anelka meanwhile must now decide if he intends to appeal, havingmaintained all along, he believes he's done nothing wrong.

Parliament in Cyprus has narrowly rejected a privatization plan that was a condition for thecountry getting its next installment²⁰ of international bailout loans in effect forcing arenegotiation. Hundreds of workers at corporations facing privatization have staged an angryprotest outside the Chamber²¹. As part of its commitments to paying down a level of debt whichhas brought Cyprus to the brink²² of Bankruptcy²³, the government has to sell off three of the bigutilities, telecoms, electricity, and the port authority.

1 averting   

防止，避免( avert的现在分词 )； 转移

参考例句：

• The margin of time for averting crisis was melting away. 可以用来消弥这一危机的些许时光正在逝去。
• These results underscore the value of rescue medications in averting psychotic relapse. 这些结果显示了救护性治疗对避免精神病复发的价值。

2 cordoned   

v.封锁，用警戒线围住( cordon的过去式 )

参考例句：

• Police cordoned off the area until the bomb was defused. 警方封锁了这个地区直到炸弹被拆除为止。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Police cordoned off the road and diverted commuter traffic. 警察封锁了道路并分流交通。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 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。

4 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

5 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。

6 oust   

vt.剥夺，取代，驱逐

参考例句：

• The committee wanted to oust him from the union.委员会想把他从工会中驱逐出去。
• The leaders have been ousted from power by nationalists.这些领导人被民族主义者赶下了台。

7 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

8 guardian   

n.监护人；守卫者，保护者

参考例句：

• The form must be signed by the child's parents or guardian. 这张表格须由孩子的家长或监护人签字。
• The press is a guardian of the public weal. 报刊是公共福利的卫护者。

9 intercepted   

拦截( intercept的过去式和过去分词 )； 截住； 截击； 拦阻

参考例句：

• Reporters intercepted him as he tried to leave the hotel. 他正要离开旅馆，记者们把他拦截住了。
• Reporters intercepted him as he tried to leave by the rear entrance. 他想从后门溜走，记者把他截住了。

10 undesirable   

adj.不受欢迎的，不良的，不合意的，讨厌的；n.不受欢迎的人，不良分子

参考例句：

• They are the undesirable elements among the employees.他们是雇员中的不良分子。
• Certain chemicals can induce undesirable changes in the nervous system.有些化学物质能在神经系统中引起不良变化。

11 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

12 tightened   

收紧( tighten的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）变紧； （使）绷紧； 加紧

参考例句：

• The rope holding the boat suddenly tightened and broke. 系船的绳子突然绷断了。
• His index finger tightened on the trigger but then relaxed again. 他的食指扣住扳机，然后又松开了。

13 rumored   

adj.传说的，谣传的v.传闻( rumor的过去式和过去分词 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷

参考例句：

• It is rumored that he cheats on his wife. 据传他对他老婆不忠。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It was rumored that the white officer had been a Swede. 传说那个白人军官是个瑞典人。 来自辞典例句

14 usher   

n.带位员，招待员；vt.引导，护送；vi.做招待，担任引座员

参考例句：

• The usher seated us in the front row.引座员让我们在前排就座。
• They were quickly ushered away.他们被迅速领开。

15 martyr   

n.烈士，殉难者；vt.杀害，折磨，牺牲

参考例句：

• The martyr laid down his life for the cause of national independence.这位烈士是为了民族独立的事业而献身的。
• The newspaper carried the martyr's photo framed in black.报上登载了框有黑边的烈士遗像。

16 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。

17 premier   

adj.首要的；n.总理，首相

参考例句：

• The Irish Premier is paying an official visit to Britain.爱尔兰总理正在对英国进行正式访问。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。

18 improper   

adj.不适当的，不合适的，不正确的，不合礼仪的

参考例句：

• Short trousers are improper at a dance.舞会上穿短裤不成体统。
• Laughing and joking are improper at a funeral.葬礼时大笑和开玩笑是不合适的。

19 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

20 installment   

n.(instalment)分期付款；(连载的)一期

参考例句：

• I shall soon pay the last installment of my debt.不久我将偿付我的最后一期债款。
• He likes to buy things on the installment plan.他喜欢用分期付款法购买货物。

21 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

22 brink   

n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿

参考例句：

• The tree grew on the brink of the cliff.那棵树生长在峭壁的边缘。
• The two countries were poised on the brink of war.这两个国家处于交战的边缘。

23 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。