英语听力精选进阶版 8087

Ukraine’s new government says it’s makingcontingency plans to withdraw its troops and theirfamilies from Crimea following Russian moves toannex the peninsula. The country’s Foreign MinisterAndrii Deshchytsya told the BBC the government was very concerned about the safety of iscitizens. The Ukrainian Security Chief Andriy Parubiy said they wanted to be able to move peoplequickly and efficiently¹ to mainland Ukraine.

“The cabinet of ministers has been ordered to demand without further delay that the UNproclaim Crimea a demilitarised zone and the withdrawal² of Russian troops from theautonomous Republic of Crimea and to ensure the relocation of Ukrainian troops to continentalUkraine as well as facilitate evacuation of all civilians⁴ who are unwilling⁵ to remain on theoccupied territory.”

Ukraine has warned the pro-Russian authorities in Crimea that they’ll face a response unlessthey release the head of its navy, who was led away as armed activists⁶ took over Ukraine’snavy headquarters in Sevastopol. Ukraine’s acting⁷ president Oleksandr Turchynov said thatwhat he called all military and civilian³ hostages held by Crimean leaders had to be freed. Ourcorrespondent in Sevastopol Mark Lowen says just a few servicemen are holding out insidethe headquarters.

I have just spoken to one of the few Ukrainian sailors who remain barricaded⁸ inside the navalheadquarters here in Sevastopol. He told me earlier in the day that there were about 100Ukrainian sailors who were holding out inside the building, but now there were just a handfulleft; most of the others have departed, and just a few remaining had been ordered to stay,ordered to protect Ukrainian equipment. But, he said, he fully⁹ expects that there will be anorder that will come through tomorrow morning for them to withdraw.

Syrian opposition¹⁰ activists say rebel fighters have taken control of a prison outside the city ofGharaz. The UK based Syrian observatory¹¹ for human rights says the rebels seized the prisonafter a long battle with government forces. Dozens of inmates¹² are reported to have beenreleased.

The Japanese car giant Toyota has agreed to pay $1.2bn to resolve a criminal dispute withthe United States over safety problems that led to the recall of millions of vehicles. In astatement, Toyota said it took full responsibility for any concerns the company’s actions mighthave caused its customers. The US Attorney-General Eric Holder¹³ described Toyota’s behaviouras shameful¹⁴.

“When car owners get behind the wheel, they have the right to expect that their vehicle issafe. If part of the automobile¹⁵ turns out to have safety issues, the car company has a dutyupfront to tell customers about them, to fix them quickly and to immediately tell the truthabout the problem. Toyota violated this basic compact.”

World News from the BBC

A man once considered to be one of Sweden’s most prolific¹⁶ sea-whale killers¹⁷ has beenreleased after the authorities found that his eight murder convictions were based on falseconfessions. Sture Bergwall, who suffers from a personality disorder¹⁹, had been held inpsychiatric detention²⁰ for more than 20 years. He retracted²¹ his confessions¹⁸ six years ago sayingthat when he made them he was heavily medicated and seeking attention.

The Zimbabwe government has slashed²² the wages of the heads of state-run companiesfollowing a public outcry. Some of the bosses of the government-owned corporations werereported to be earning more than $0.5m a month. They’ve now been kept at just $6,000 amonth. But these people in Harare accuse the government of being slow to act.

“It was their long offered duty. It was supposed to be done a long way better, because peopleare suffering, worse, some other people are gaining at the expense of us.”

“I feel it’s like another way of cheating us. You might let all people see 6,000, yet we don’t knowabout their benefits. What are they getting behind these state salaries?”

Chile’s new government is to review plans for a big hydroelectric project that will dam rivers ina remote part of Patagonia. The future of the HidroAysen scheme will be decided²³ within thenext two months. Environmentalists say it will ruin an area renowned²⁴ for its wild beauty.

In the latest blow to his reputation, the former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi hasrelinquished an honorific title, which had become his nickname. Mr Berlusconi was made a Knightof Labour, an order of merit for entrepreneurs in the 1970s and had become known as theKnight in the Italian press. But some members of the order had called for his expulsion afterItaly’s highest court upheld his conviction for tax fraud.

1 efficiently   

adv.高效率地，有能力地

参考例句：

• The worker oils the machine to operate it more efficiently.工人给机器上油以使机器运转更有效。
• Local authorities have to learn to allocate resources efficiently.地方政府必须学会有效地分配资源。

2 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

3 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

4 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。

5 unwilling   

adj.不情愿的

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。

6 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

8 barricaded   

设路障于，以障碍物阻塞( barricade的过去式和过去分词 )； 设路障[防御工事]保卫或固守

参考例句：

• The police barricaded the entrance. 警方在入口处设置了路障。
• The doors had been barricaded. 门都被堵住了。

9 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

10 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。

11 observatory   

n.天文台，气象台，瞭望台，观测台

参考例句：

• Guy's house was close to the observatory.盖伊的房子离天文台很近。
• Officials from Greenwich Observatory have the clock checked twice a day.格林威治天文台的职员们每天对大钟检查两次。

12 inmates   

n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• One of the inmates has escaped. 被收容的人中有一个逃跑了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The inmates were moved to an undisclosed location. 监狱里的囚犯被转移到一个秘密处所。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 holder   

n.持有者，占有者；(台，架等)支持物

参考例句：

• The holder of the office of chairman is reponsible for arranging meetings.担任主席职位的人负责安排会议。
• That runner is the holder of the world record for the hundred-yard dash.那位运动员是一百码赛跑世界纪录的保持者。

14 shameful   

adj.可耻的，不道德的

参考例句：

• It is very shameful of him to show off.他向人炫耀自己，真不害臊。
• We must expose this shameful activity to the newspapers.我们一定要向报社揭露这一无耻行径。

15 automobile   

n.汽车，机动车

参考例句：

• He is repairing the brake lever of an automobile.他正在修理汽车的刹车杆。
• The automobile slowed down to go around the curves in the road.汽车在路上转弯时放慢了速度。

16 prolific   

adj.丰富的，大量的；多产的，富有创造力的

参考例句：

• She is a prolific writer of novels and short stories.她是一位多产的作家，写了很多小说和短篇故事。
• The last few pages of the document are prolific of mistakes.这个文件的最后几页错误很多。

17 killers   

凶手( killer的名词复数 )； 消灭…者； 致命物； 极难的事

参考例句：

• He remained steadfast in his determination to bring the killers to justice. 他要将杀人凶手绳之以法的决心一直没有动摇。
• They were professional killers who did in John. 杀死约翰的这些人是职业杀手。

18 confessions   

n.承认( confession的名词复数 )；自首；声明；（向神父的）忏悔

参考例句：

• It is strictly forbidden to obtain confessions and to give them credence. 严禁逼供信。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Neither trickery nor coercion is used to secure confessions. 既不诱供也不逼供。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

19 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

20 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

21 retracted   

v.撤回或撤消( retract的过去式和过去分词 )；拒绝执行或遵守；缩回；拉回

参考例句：

• He made a false confession which he later retracted. 他作了假供词，后来又翻供。
• A caddy retracted his statement. 一个球童收回了他的话。 来自辞典例句

22 slashed   

v.挥砍( slash的过去式和过去分词 )；鞭打；割破；削减

参考例句：

• Someone had slashed the tyres on my car. 有人把我的汽车轮胎割破了。
• He slashed the bark off the tree with his knife. 他用刀把树皮从树上砍下。 来自《简明英汉词典》

23 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。

24 renowned   

adj.著名的，有名望的，声誉鹊起的

参考例句：

• He is one of the world's renowned writers.他是世界上知名的作家之一。
• She is renowned for her advocacy of human rights.她以提倡人权而闻名。