英语听力精选进阶版 8085

Just hours after Russian and Crimean leaders signed a treaty incorporating the Black SeaPeninsula into the Russian Federation¹, there have been clashes at a military base in Simferopol.The Ukrainian military says one of its servicemen has been killed and another injured. TheDefence Ministry² has now given servicemen the right to use weapons to protect themselves. InKiev, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said the conflict over Crimea had moved from a politicalto a military stage. He described the annexation³ as a war crime.

“Now the conflict is shifting from a political to a military phase. Russian soldiers have startedshooting at Ukrainian servicemen. ”

Ukraine had said it would never recognize Crimea joining the Russian Federation.

The United States has condemned⁴ Russia's intervention⁵ in Crimea, calling it a land grab and acontinuing assault on Ukrainian sovereignty. The American Secretary of State John Kerry saidPresident Obama could not stand by and do nothing.

“The President has made it clear that if there is this move to the full annexation which appearsto be clearly the direction that they have decided⁷ to move, it will be unfortunate. And it will notbe, because we want to create some kind of confrontation⁸, but because there is no choice butto enforce the standards that the international community has worked on for so long.”

The US is promising⁹ further sanctions against Russia, a day after targeting the finances ofseven senior Russian officials. David Willis reports from Washington.

President Obama's decision to impose asset freezes and travel bans on nearly a dozenRussian and Ukrainian officials led to a mockery from some of those involved, including Russia'sdeputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who took to Twitter to point out that he didn't haveproperty or a bank account overseas. However Jay Carney told reporters that the sanctionswere costing Russia, and confirmed the administration was looking to target those closest tothe Russian government and Russian arms dealers¹⁰ in a further round of measures.

The Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the sanctions that had already been imposedwere unacceptable and threatened consequences. In a speech at the Kremlin, President Putinstrongly defended Russia's annexation of Crimea, and called on the United States to stopwhat he called the hysteria and rhetoric¹¹ of the Cold War.

An Islamist website in Russia is reporting the death of the Chechen leader of the insurgency¹² inthe north Caucasus. The site said, Doku Umarov, whom the media had nicknamed Russia's BinLaden had become a martyr¹³, but did not give the details of how he died. Russia's NationalAnti-terrorism Committee said it could not confirm Mr. Umarov's death. His group has beenblamed for a string of bombings in recent years, including two attacks on Moscow.

World News from the BBC

The families of Chinese passengers who aboard the missing Malaysia Airlines flight haveexpressed anger of what they say is the lack of support and information. One woman saidrelatives were facing mental breakdowns¹⁴. From Beijing here's Damian Grammaticas.

Frustrations¹⁵ in Beijing are mounting. At the daily briefing by Malaysia Airlines officials, some ofthe Chinese families desperate to hear something definite, lost their tempers. A fewthreatened a hunger strike, convinced that the truth has been kept from them. China'sgovernment too isn't giving them much information or support. In Malaysia, investigators¹⁶ arenow unsure that it was someone on board who turned off the communications systems andturned the plane westwards. They are reconsidering mechanical failure as a possible cause forthe disappearance¹⁷ of the aircraft.

The medical charity MSF has issued dire⁶ warnings about the plight¹⁸ of refugees fleeing theCentral African Republic. A doctor in a refugee camp in neighboring Chad says that nearly halfthe patients he deals with are hungry. Another doctor spoke¹⁹ of children arriving with headwounds. The charity says many women have been forced into prostitution to feed theirchildren.

United States has broken up a large online child pornography ring and arrested 14 people.Officials said more than 250 children have been exploited in the US and five other countries. Agovernment spokesmen said they'd never before identified as many victims in oneinvestigation.

The Rolling Stones have called off their tour of Australia and New Zealand following the death onMonday of lead singer Mick Jagger's long-time girlfriend L'Wren Scott. The group said theyhoped their fans would understand the reason for their decision and hoped to reschedule theconcert. Mrs. Scott was found dead in her apartment in New York. In a statement, Mr. Jaggersaid he was struggling to understand Mrs. Scott's apparent suicide.

1 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

2 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

3 annexation   

n.吞并，合并

参考例句：

• He mentioned the Japanese annexation of Korea in 1910 .他提及1910年日本对朝鲜的吞并。
• I regard the question of annexation as belonging exclusively to the United States and Texas.我认为合并的问题，完全属于德克萨斯和美国之间的事。

4 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

5 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

6 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

8 confrontation   

n.对抗，对峙，冲突

参考例句：

• We can't risk another confrontation with the union.我们不能冒再次同工会对抗的危险。
• After years of confrontation,they finally have achieved a modus vivendi.在对抗很长时间后，他们最后达成安宁生存的非正式协议。

9 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

10 dealers   

n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者

参考例句：

• There was fast bidding between private collectors and dealers. 私人收藏家和交易商急速竞相喊价。
• The police were corrupt and were operating in collusion with the drug dealers. 警察腐败，与那伙毒品贩子内外勾结。

11 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

12 insurgency   

n.起义；暴动；叛变

参考例句：

• And as in China, unrest and even insurgency are widespread. 而在中国，动乱甚至暴乱都普遍存在。 来自互联网
• Dr Zyphur is part an insurgency against this idea. 塞弗博士是这一观点逆流的一部分。 来自互联网

13 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。

14 breakdowns   

n.分解( breakdown的名词复数 )；衰竭；（车辆或机器的）损坏；统计分析

参考例句：

• Her old car was unreliable, so the trip was plagued by breakdowns. 她的旧车老不听使唤，一路上总是出故障。 来自辞典例句
• How do we prevent these continual breakdowns? 我们如何防止这些一再出现的故障？ 来自辞典例句

15 frustrations   

挫折( frustration的名词复数 )； 失败； 挫败； 失意

参考例句：

• The temptation would grow to take out our frustrations on Saigon. 由于我们遭到挫折而要同西贡算帐的引诱力会增加。
• Aspirations will be raised, but so will frustrations. 人们会产生种种憧憬，但是种种挫折也会随之而来。

16 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。

18 plight   

n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定

参考例句：

• The leader was much concerned over the plight of the refugees.那位领袖对难民的困境很担忧。
• She was in a most helpless plight.她真不知如何是好。

19 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。