英语听力精选进阶版 8152

The US Secretary of State John Kerry has urged Moscow to do all it can to bring about the release of European military observers abducted¹ in eastern Ukraine. In a telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart Mr. Kerry also expressed concern about what he called provocative² Russian troop movements closed to the border. Other western diplomats³ have also urged Moscow to do more to free the 13 men who have been held in the city of Slavyansk. Natalia Antelava has been in contact with the pro-Russian leader in the city.

The latest that we are hearing from him is that he has not received any communication from Russia and asking him to release them. This is the same mayor who told me a couple of days ago that he will continue taking hostages because this is war he said to me and that's what should do during war but what's not clear is how much control this mayor has over gunmen who were operating in the city and Slavyansk has become the flash point for this conflict as long as and pretty dangerous place.

The opposition⁴ Movement for Democratic Change in Zimbabwe says it has suspended its leader Morgan Tsvangirai accusing him of what it called a remarkable⁵ failure of leadership. Mr. Tsvangirai served as Zimbabwe's Prime Minister in a unity⁶ government after disputed elections in 2008.From the Zimbabwean capital Harare Brian Hungwe reports.

The news is come as a shock to many. The suspension was announced at the time the party leader Morgan Tsvangirai was addressing at a party rally in dissolving machine powders. He is expected to defend the suspension. The party is for another split that will weaken the main party and strengthen President Robert Mugabe's group in power.

Catholic pilgrims from across the world have flooded into Rome in preparation for the unique double canonization on Sunday of two former Popes, the city has begun a huge security operation to manage the crowds. More than 20 heads of stating governments are also present. From Rome David Willy.

Two living Popes will declare two of their predecessors⁷ to be saints during an unprecedented⁸ open ceremony witnessed by a million pilgrims and worldwide international TV and radio audience of hundreds of millions. The Vatican confirmed that the former Pope Benedict who's been living quietly in retirement⁹ inside the Vatican will join Pope Francis in officiating of the canonization ceremony of Popes John 23rd and John Paul 2nd.

A new law expanding the powers of the Turkey's secret service comes into effect today. Itextends its ability to tap phone conversations, access data held by private and public institutions and gives agents greater immunity¹⁰ from prosecution¹¹. That all also provides for presenters¹² and journalist who publish leaked information.

World News from the BBC.

Election officials in Afghanistan say a run off election for a new president is likely to be held nearly June after no candidate secure more than 50% of the vote. Preliminary results show the leading candidate the former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah won 44.9% of the vote. The former finance minister Ashraf Ghani secured 31.5%.The final result is due in mid-May.

The first museum on Chinese soil dedicated¹³ to the protest and massacre¹⁴ in and around Beijing's Tiananmen Square has opened in Hongkong shortly before the 25th anniversary of killings¹⁵. The activists¹⁶ who set up the museum hope visitors will include some from Mainland China. Discussion on the event is heavily sensitive in Mainland China but Hongkong operates under a more liberal legal system.

What it may be the last letter written in the Titanic¹⁷ has been sold for 200000 dollars in the auction¹⁸ in Britain. The letter was written by passenger Esther Hart to her mother in London, hours before the ship sank. It ended up in the coat pocket of Ms. Hart's husband, who died in the disaster. The letter survived because he gave his wife the coat to keep warm. Henry Aldridge was the auctioneer in charge of the sale.

The most significant reason of course is the date, but also is written on aboard of the Titanic, it gives us a valuable insight into what was happening on Sunday April 14th 1912, there are some incredible some points within it but one of the best is the sailors had said they are having a wonderful journey out of all.

Saudi Arabia's Ministry¹⁹ of Health has announced five new death from the Mers coronavirus taking the country's death toll²⁰ to 92.A statement published on the Saudi Ministry's website added that 14 new cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome²¹ were detected in the kingdom bringing the total to 313 since the virus first emerged there 18 months ago.

1 abducted   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that she was abducted. 侦探尚未排除她被绑架的可能性。
• The kid was abducted at the gate of kindergarten. 那小孩在幼儿园大门口被绑架走了。

2 provocative   

adj.挑衅的，煽动的，刺激的，挑逗的

参考例句：

• She wore a very provocative dress.她穿了一件非常性感的裙子。
• His provocative words only fueled the argument further.他的挑衅性讲话只能使争论进一步激化。

3 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》

4 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。

5 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

6 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

7 predecessors   

n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身

参考例句：

• The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation. 新政府正着手废除其前任所制定的法律。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Will new plan be any more acceptable than its predecessors? 新计划比原先的计划更能令人满意吗？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 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。

9 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

10 immunity   

n.优惠；免除；豁免，豁免权

参考例句：

• The law gives public schools immunity from taxation.法律免除公立学校的纳税义务。
• He claims diplomatic immunity to avoid being arrested.他要求外交豁免以便避免被捕。

11 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。

12 presenters   

n.节目主持人，演播员( presenter的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Each week presenters would put the case for their favourite candidate. 每个星期主持人推出他们最喜欢的候选人。 来自互联网
• Karaoke was set up to allowed presenters to sing on the stage. 宴会设有歌唱舞台，可让出席者大演唱功。 来自互联网

13 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

14 massacre   

n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀

参考例句：

• There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在战争中，这里的村民惨遭屠杀。
• If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘记了大屠杀，大屠杀就有可能再次发生！

15 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

16 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》

17 titanic   

adj.巨人的，庞大的，强大的

参考例句：

• We have been making titanic effort to achieve our purpose.我们一直在作极大的努力，以达到我们的目的。
• The island was created by titanic powers and they are still at work today.台湾岛是由一个至今仍然在运作的巨大力量塑造出来的。

18 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。

19 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。

20 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

21 syndrome   

n.综合病症；并存特性

参考例句：

• The Institute says that an unidentified virus is to blame for the syndrome. 该研究所表示,引起这种综合症的是一种尚未确认的病毒。
• Results indicated that 11 fetuses had Down syndrome. 结果表明有11个胎儿患有唐氏综合征。