英语听力精选进阶版 8172

The President of South Sudan Salva Kiir and therebel leader Riek Machar have signed a deal in theEthiopian capital Addis Ababa to cease hostilitieswithin 24 hours. The talks were the first time the 2men had met since fighting broke out in South Sudan in December. Emmanuel Igunza has thedetails.

This is a really huge step in such aim finding a solution to the political crisis and the bloodyconflict that has engulfed¹ South Sudan for the past 5 months. And this has been so importantbecause they say there would be a next talk, both teams have been agreed to a ceasefire. Theyhave also undertaken to issue orders to the military commanders on the ground in SouthSudan to stop all combat and to allow humanitarian² aid to get to those people, 3 million peoplein need of emergency food aid in South Sudan. So allowing that, food should get to them.

The United States has sharply criticized President Putin's visit to Crimea, his first since Russiaannexed the territory from Ukraine. The US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki, saidthe trip would worsen the situation in Ukraine.

Our view is that this trip is provocative³ and unnecessary. Crimea belongs to Ukraine, and wedon't recognize, of course, the illegal and illegitimate steps by Russia in that regard.

The European Union and Nato have also condemned⁴ Mr. Putin's visit. Ukraine's foreign ministrysaid Russia was deliberately⁵ escalating⁶ the crisis in the region.

Ukrainian security forces have clashed with pro-Russian protesters in the eastern city ofMariupol. Local officials say 7 people were killed and 39 injured, although Ukraine's interiorminister earlier said more than 20 people had died. The government said a gun battle beganwhen pro-Russian activists⁷ tried to storm a police station. Local witnesses have accused thesecurity forces of opening fire on unarmed protesters.

Amnesty International says it has damning evidence that the Nigerian military failed to act onadvanced warnings of the raid in which more than 200 school girls were kidnapped 25 daysago. Here is our security correspondent Frank Gardner.

Amnesty International has had a team on the ground in Nigerian for some time, gatheringtestimony from both government officials and members of the public. Their researcher, MakmidCamara says the military were warned of an impending⁸ attack by Boko Haram on the town ofChibok at 7 o'clock in the evening over 4 hours before it took place.

A special request was made for reinforcements when it was becoming evidently clear that theattackers were indeed on the way, but no reinforcement was then sent when the attack tookplace at 11:45.

The Nigerian information minister Labaran Maku told the BBC he doubted the Amnesty report,but would investigate it. Meanwhile, British, US and other international teams of experts havearrived in Nigeria to help in the hunt for the missing girls.

World News from the BBC.

More than 20 years after it was destroyed during the conflict in the former Yugoslavia,Sarajevo's city hall housing the national library has reopened. The iconic building which was firstinaugurated in 1896 was hit by a mortar⁹ and burned down during the Bosnian-Serb siege ofcity in 1992, it's been restored to mark the centenary of the World War I.

Yemeni security forces have fought a gun battle with militants¹⁰ outside the President Palace inthe capital Sanaa. Sebastian Usher¹¹ has this report.

Heavy gunfire resounded¹² through Sanaa for around an hour as presidential security guardsbattled with militants. A security source said the gunmen had tried to force their way throughthe main gate of presidential palace as fighting raged there. An explosion was heard in anotherdistrict of the capital near a building used by the security services. Officials quickly blamed al-Qaeda linked militants for the attacks. The day to night, earlier reports for the defence ministerhad survived an assassination¹³ attempt in the south where the army is mounting a newoffensive against al-Qaeda, the group has lost towns it held and personnel but vowedretaliation.

Eleven former employees of Spain's state railway company have been made formal suspects inan investigation¹⁴ into last year's train crash in the city of Santiago that killed 79 people. Theyinclude a former director general of the company and a former head of safety. The train wastraveling at more than twice the speed limit when it derailed on a bend.

Roman Catholic bishops¹⁵ in Argentina say the country is sick with violence and corruptioncomparing it to a cancer, causing injustice¹⁶ and deaths. In a statement released at their annualconference in Buenos Aires, the bishops also said violence in society was getting moreferocious than ever. The government of President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner responded bysaying this was a deliberate attempt to blame it for rising levels of insecurity.

1 engulfed   

v.吞没，包住( engulf的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was engulfed by a crowd of reporters. 他被一群记者团团围住。
• The little boat was engulfed by the waves. 小船被波浪吞没了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

3 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。

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 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

6 escalating   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的现在分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The cost of living is escalating. 生活费用在迅速上涨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cost of living is escalating in the country. 这个国家的生活费用在上涨。 来自辞典例句

7 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》

8 impending   

a.imminent, about to come or happen

参考例句：

• Against a background of impending famine, heavy fighting took place. 即将发生饥荒之时，严重的战乱爆发了。
• The king convoke parliament to cope with the impending danger. 国王召开国会以应付迫近眉睫的危险。

9 mortar   

n.灰浆，灰泥；迫击炮；v.把…用灰浆涂接合

参考例句：

• The mason flushed the joint with mortar.泥工用灰浆把接缝处嵌平。
• The sound of mortar fire seemed to be closing in.迫击炮的吼声似乎正在逼近。

10 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

11 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。

12 resounded   

v.（指声音等）回荡于某处( resound的过去式和过去分词 )；产生回响；（指某处）回荡着声音

参考例句：

• Laughter resounded through the house. 笑声在屋里回荡。
• The echo resounded back to us. 回声传回到我们的耳中。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

14 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

15 bishops   

（基督教某些教派管辖大教区的）主教( bishop的名词复数 )； （国际象棋的）象

参考例句：

• Each player has two bishops at the start of the game. 棋赛开始时，每名棋手有两只象。
• "Only sheriffs and bishops and rich people and kings, and such like. “他劫富济贫，抢的都是郡长、主教、国王之类的富人。

16 injustice   

n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利

参考例句：

• They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
• All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。