英语听力精选进阶版 8184

Two explosions in the Nigerian city of Jos have caused a large number of casualties. The BBC has been told scores have died while an official of the Nigerian National Emergency Management Agency told the French news agency there were at least 118 victims. President Goodluck Jonathan condemned¹ the attack and said he remained committed to fighting terrorism. Will Ross reports.

The area that was targeted was a busy market. When the victims of the first blast were being taken to the nearby hospital, the second bomb was detonated. Both had been concealed² in vehicles. There were scenes of chaos³ as people tried to help the injured. Body parts were strewn across the area. Although it's not known who carried out the attack the Islamist extremist group known as Boko Haram has targeted Jos City before, bombing several churches in what was then seen as efforts to ferment⁵ religious violence.

Thailand's caretaker prime minister Niwattumrong Boonsongpaisan has called for fresh elections, following a declaration of martial⁶ law by the army. There are troops on the streets, but a senior opposition⁷ leader has promised to keep up the fight. Michael Bristle⁸ reports.

In the early hours of the morning, and without informing the caretaker government, soldiers moved onto the streets of the Thai capital Bangkok. The army said it wasn't a coup⁹ - just martial law that would give rival political groups the space to resolve their differences. But by the end of the day, not much seem to have changed. The caretaker prime minister was still as before calling for earlier elections and the opposition said martial law would not stop its six-month campaign to oust¹⁰ the government.

A jury in Moscow has found all five defendants¹¹ guilty of organizing and carrying out the murder of Anna Politkovskaya in 2006. Mrs. Politkovskaya was a Russian investigative reporter and vocal¹² critic of the Kremlin. From Moscow, Richard Cameron reports.

Anna Politkovskaya was a fearless investigative journalist whose reports on human rights violations¹³ in Chechnya brought applauses and prizes from across the world. But she was also a fierce critic of President Putin, and her powerful enemies were not just in Chechnya but in Moscow. When she was shot dead in 2006, there was an international outcry. Four of the five guilty men come from one Chechen family, three brothers and an uncle. The fifth is a former policeman who tracked her and provided the weapon.

The White House says the CIA will no longer use vaccination¹⁴ programs as a cover for spying operations. The decision comes after complaints from American medical professionals about the agency's use of a public health program in Pakistan in its hunt for Osama bin⁴ Laden¹⁵. In 2011, the CIA attempted to obtain DNA¹⁶ samples of children that they believed to be related to bin Laden through a hepatitis vaccination program. Since then, the Pakistani Taliban have targeted polio vaccination campaigns.

Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina are observing a period of national mourning for the more than 40 people killed in the worst flooding for more than a century. Emergency teams are waiting for flood waters to recede¹⁷ in many towns and villages to assess the full extent of the casualties. From a Serbian town of Obrenovac, Guardian¹⁸ Nornet reports.

Despite good weather over the past three days, the flood waters still haven't receded¹⁹. In Bosnia, bloated animal carcasses are floating in inundated²⁰ fields. The government says it needs mobile incinerators to prevent disease as temperatures rise. But the main challenge may start when the towns dry out and the size of the reconstruction²¹ job could be enormous. And there's still a possibility of fresh floods. Authorities in Serbia are bracing²² themselves for searchers on the Danube and Sava rivers.

The United States has imposed sanctions on 12 Russians accusing them of human rights abuses. The 12 include prison officials that the US says withheld²³ medical care from a man who uncovered a tax fraud in Russia. In a statement, the US Treasury²⁴ Department said the sanctions would freeze any US assets held by the individuals and bar Americans from doing business with them.

An international organization working for better medical care says it's opened discussions with several unnamed oil producing African countries about introducing a special levy²⁵ on oil to create a pan-African health fund. UNITAID said the idea was to raise a small 10% levy on every barrel of the oil produced to be taken from government revenues.

Cuba's best known dissident blogger Yoani Sanchez says she will launch an online newspaper on Wednesday with daily news about the communist-run country. But Sanchez said the website will not be a platform against the government, it's aim is to provide essential information to Cubans. The paper, which will be called Catorce y Medio, will be produced in Cuba.

1 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。

2 concealed   

a.隐藏的，隐蔽的

参考例句：

• The paintings were concealed beneath a thick layer of plaster. 那些画被隐藏在厚厚的灰泥层下面。
• I think he had a gun concealed about his person. 我认为他当时身上藏有一支枪。

3 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

4 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

5 ferment   

vt.使发酵；n./vt.（使）激动，（使）动乱

参考例句：

• Fruit juices ferment if they are kept a long time.果汁若是放置很久，就会发酵。
• The sixties were a time of theological ferment.六十年代是神学上骚动的时代。

6 martial   

adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的

参考例句：

• The sound of martial music is always inspiring.军乐声总是鼓舞人心的。
• The officer was convicted of desertion at a court martial.这名军官在军事法庭上被判犯了擅离职守罪。

7 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。

8 bristle   

v.（毛发）直立，气势汹汹，发怒；n.硬毛发

参考例句：

• It has a short stumpy tail covered with bristles.它粗短的尾巴上鬃毛浓密。
• He bristled with indignation at the suggestion that he was racist.有人暗示他是个种族主义者，他对此十分恼火。

9 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。

10 oust   

vt.剥夺，取代，驱逐

参考例句：

• The committee wanted to oust him from the union.委员会想把他从工会中驱逐出去。
• The leaders have been ousted from power by nationalists.这些领导人被民族主义者赶下了台。

11 defendants   

被告( defendant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The courts heard that the six defendants had been coerced into making a confession. 法官审判时发现6位被告人曾被迫承认罪行。
• As in courts, the defendants are represented by legal counsel. 与法院相同，被告有辩护律师作为代表。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

12 vocal   

adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目

参考例句：

• The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
• Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。

13 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

14 vaccination   

n.接种疫苗，种痘

参考例句：

• Vaccination is a preventive against smallpox.种痘是预防天花的方法。
• Doctors suggest getting a tetanus vaccination every ten years.医生建议每十年注射一次破伤风疫苗。

15 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

16 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

17 recede   

vi.退(去)，渐渐远去；向后倾斜，缩进

参考例句：

• The colleges would recede in importance.大学的重要性会降低。
• He saw that the dirty water had begun to recede.他发现那污浊的水开始往下退了。

18 guardian   

n.监护人；守卫者，保护者

参考例句：

• The form must be signed by the child's parents or guardian. 这张表格须由孩子的家长或监护人签字。
• The press is a guardian of the public weal. 报刊是公共福利的卫护者。

19 receded   

v.逐渐远离( recede的过去式和过去分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题

参考例句：

• The floodwaters have now receded. 洪水现已消退。
• The sound of the truck receded into the distance. 卡车的声音渐渐在远处消失了。

20 inundated   

v.淹没( inundate的过去式和过去分词 )；（洪水般地）涌来；充满；给予或交予（太多事物）使难以应付

参考例句：

• We have been inundated with offers of help. 主动援助多得使我们应接不暇。
• We have been inundated with every bit of information imaginable. 凡是想得到的各种各样的信息潮水般地向我们涌来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 reconstruction   

n.重建，再现，复原

参考例句：

• The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后，该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
• In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期，技术决定一切。

22 bracing   

adj.令人振奋的

参考例句：

• The country is bracing itself for the threatened enemy invasion. 这个国家正准备奋起抵抗敌人的入侵威胁。
• The atmosphere in the new government was bracing. 新政府的气氛是令人振奋的。

23 withheld   

withhold过去式及过去分词

参考例句：

• I withheld payment until they had fulfilled the contract. 他们履行合同后，我才付款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There was no school play because the principal withheld his consent. 由于校长没同意，学校里没有举行比赛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

24 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

25 levy   

n.征收税或其他款项，征收额

参考例句：

• They levy a tax on him.他们向他征税。
• A direct food levy was imposed by the local government.地方政府征收了食品税。