英语听力精选进阶版 8096

President Obama has warned Moscow not to encroach any further on Ukrainian sovereigntyor it would face new sanctions. Speaking in The Hague, Mr Obama said the United States and itsEuropean partners were prepared to put in place measures that would hurt entire sectors¹ of theRussian economy. Here’s James Robbins.

President Obama said he was concerned about the large numbers of troops Russia hadmassed on its border with Ukraine. While it was Russia’s right to do so, he said, it appeared tobe an effort at intimidation². Mr Obama said President Putin had a choice to make. Any furthermove beyond the annexation³ of Crimea would trigger far wider sanctions. They would be aimedat directly at whole sectors of the Russian economy including energy, finance and trade, even ifthat meant America and her European allies would be hurt,too.

Spain’s Constitutional Court has ruled that a planned referendum in November on Catalonia’sindependence from the rest of the country is unconstitutional. The court’s ruling came afterSpain’s central government challenged a move by Catalonia’s regional parliament, which said theregion enjoyed judicial⁴ and political sovereignty. Guy Hedgecoe is in Madrid.

Last year the nationalist majority in the Catalan parliament approved a declaration statingthat the region’s people were politically and legally sovereign. It was a mainly symbolic⁵ move,but Spain’s Constitutional Court has now ruled that it is unlawful. The decision is likely toheighten tensions between the region and the rest of Spain. The court did also address thereferendum, ruling that it is legitimate⁶ for Catalans to hold such a vote, as long as it takes placewithin the framework of the constitution. At the moment, that is not the case.

The Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has said that three air force generals have beenarrested for plotting an uprising against his government. It’s the latest development in nearlytwo months of political unrest. More details from Leonardo Rocha:

President Nicolas Maduro said that the three air force generals were arrested on Monday nightafter the authorities were tipped off by young patriotic⁷ officers. The three generals, who havenot been named, were plotting a coup⁸ and had links with the opposition⁹ side Mr Maduro. It’snot clear if this is an isolated¹⁰ incident or if there is a more serious rift¹¹ in the armed forces,which have provided a valuable support for Venezuela’s left-wing governments for more than adecade.

The US Supreme¹² Court has heard arguments in two cases that challenge President Obama’shealthcare reform, which requires employers to provide health insurance covering all legalforms of birth control. The two cases were brought by Christian-led companies, which want torun their businesses on religious principles. They argued that some contraceptive drugs anddevices are tantamount to abortion¹³.

World News from the BBC

Rescue workers in the north-western United States say they are expecting to find furthervictims of a landslide¹⁴ which devastated¹⁵ a village in Washington State on Saturday. Fourteenbodies have been recovered so far, but dozens of people have been reported missing orunaccounted for. Dogs and aircraft have been used in the search for survivors¹⁶. But the workhas been painstakingly¹⁷ slow and dangerous because the ground is highly unstable¹⁸.

The Kenyan government has ordered Somali refugees living in urban areas to return to theirdesignated camps. The Interior Minister Joseph Ole Lenku issued the order citing emergencysecurity challenges. There’ve been several incidents of violence in Kenya in recent monthsinvolving Islamist extremists thought to be allied¹⁹ to the Somali insurgent²⁰ group al-Shabab.

The health ministry²¹ in the West African state of Guinea has banned the sale and consumption ofbats to prevent the spread of the deadly Ebola virus. Sixty-two people have now been killedby the virus in Guinea with suspected cases reported in neighbouring Liberia and Sierra Leone.Thomas Fessy reports

Bats are local delicacies²² in parts of Guinea, but they are considered a possible cause of theEbola outbreak in the south of the country. Countries in the region have announced a seriesof preventative measures including stronger border control and health checks. Five out of sixpeople who’d crossed from Guinea into Liberia showing symptoms of the fever have died, butthe Liberian authorities have yet to confirm whether these cases were Ebola.Thomas Fessy

Football news: and the German champions Bayern Munich have retained their title winning theBundesliga with seven games to spare-- an unprecedented²³ feat²⁴. They notched²⁵ up a record19th consecutive²⁶ win by beating Hertha Berliner 3-1 in the German capital.

1 sectors   

n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形

参考例句：

• Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 intimidation   

n.恐吓，威胁

参考例句：

• The Opposition alleged voter intimidation by the army.反对党声称投票者受到军方的恐吓。
• The gang silenced witnesses by intimidation.恶帮用恐吓的手段使得证人不敢说话。

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 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。

5 symbolic   

adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的

参考例句：

• It is symbolic of the fighting spirit of modern womanhood.它象征着现代妇女的战斗精神。
• The Christian ceremony of baptism is a symbolic act.基督教的洗礼仪式是一种象征性的做法。

6 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。

7 patriotic   

adj.爱国的，有爱国心的

参考例句：

• His speech was full of patriotic sentiments.他的演说充满了爱国之情。
• The old man is a patriotic overseas Chinese.这位老人是一位爱国华侨。

8 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。

9 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。

10 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

11 rift   

n.裂口，隙缝，切口；v.裂开，割开，渗入

参考例句：

• He was anxious to mend the rift between the two men.他急于弥合这两个人之间的裂痕。
• The sun appeared through a rift in the clouds.太阳从云层间隙中冒出来。

12 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

13 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

14 landslide   

n.(竞选中)压倒多数的选票；一面倒的胜利

参考例句：

• Our candidate is predicated to win by a landslide.我们的候选人被预言将以绝对优势取胜。
• An electoral landslide put the Labour Party into power in 1945.1945年工党以压倒多数的胜利当选执政。

15 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

16 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

17 painstakingly   

adv. 费力地 苦心地

参考例句：

• Every aspect of the original has been closely studied and painstakingly reconstructed. 原作的每一细节都经过了仔细研究，费尽苦心才得以重现。
• The cause they contrived so painstakingly also ended in failure. 他们惨淡经营的事业也以失败而告终。

18 unstable   

adj.不稳定的，易变的

参考例句：

• This bookcase is too unstable to hold so many books.这书橱很不结实，装不了这么多书。
• The patient's condition was unstable.那患者的病情不稳定。

19 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

20 insurgent   

adj.叛乱的，起事的；n.叛乱分子

参考例句：

• Faruk says they are threatened both by insurgent and government forces.法鲁克说，他们受到暴乱分子和政府军队的双重威胁。
• The insurgent mob assembled at the gate of the city park.叛变的暴徒聚在市立公园的门口。

21 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。

22 delicacies   

n.棘手( delicacy的名词复数 )；精致；精美的食物；周到

参考例句：

• Its flesh has exceptional delicacies. 它的肉异常鲜美。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• After these delicacies, the trappers were ready for their feast. 在享用了这些美食之后，狩猎者开始其大餐。 来自英汉非文学 - 民俗

23 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

24 feat   

n.功绩；武艺，技艺；adj.灵巧的，漂亮的，合适的

参考例句：

• Man's first landing on the moon was a feat of great daring.人类首次登月是一个勇敢的壮举。
• He received a medal for his heroic feat.他因其英雄业绩而获得一枚勋章。

25 notched   

a.有凹口的，有缺口的

参考例句：

• Torino notched up a 2-1 win at Lazio. 都灵队以2 比1 赢了拉齐奧队。
• He notched up ten points in the first five minutes of the game. 他在比赛开始后的五分钟里得了十分。

26 consecutive   

adj.连续的，联贯的，始终一贯的

参考例句：

• It has rained for four consecutive days.已连续下了四天雨。
• The policy of our Party is consecutive.我党的政策始终如一。