英语听力精选进阶版 8216

Sunni militants¹ in Iraq have mounted an assault on the country's largest oil refinery² in Baiji.There are conflicting reports over the attack as Richard Galpin reports from Baghdad.

The attack began in the early hours of the morning with the militants reportedly firing mortarsand machine guns. A source told the BBC that an army helicopter responded to the attackfiring rockets, one of which hit a large oil storage tank setting it on fire. He said the militantswere now in control of the area. The spokesman from the Oil Ministry³ in Baghdad said he didnot know who controlled the refinery, adding that if it were to close down it would affectpower supplies in the country. But senior security sources insist the refinery is still fullyunder their control and that they had killed many militants in the fighting there.

Elsewhere Iraqi security forces have launched limited air strikes as they fought Sunni militantsfor control of the northern approaches to Baghdad. In the last hour Iraq's Prime Minister Nourial-Maliki has appealed to Iraqis to unite against Sunni militants who, he said, were killinghundreds of people and destroying the country. He insisted the people of Iraq would not bedefeated.

They are in a country that actually strives, you know, on defeating sectarianism andmarginalization. The Iraq is united with, eh, Sunni, Shiite, Kurds and Arabs.

The Iranian president has said that Tehran would not hesitate to protect Shiite shrines⁵ in Iraq.Sebastian Usher⁶ reports.

This is the clearest sign so far that Iran is prepared to take military actions in Iraq to stop theadvance of Sunni Jihadists if they threaten Shiite and by extension Iranian interests there.Tehran is already providing military strategy and advice to the Shiite-led government inBaghdad. President Rouhani's pledged to protect the holy Shiite shrines in Iraq as at leastpartly a response to threats by the Jihadist group ISIS to destroy those sites. Any suchattacks could trigger all-out civil war with Iraqi Shiites. But other Sunni militants in Iraq have sofar distanced themselves from the Jihadists' most inflammatory rhetoric⁷.

A bomb has exploded in northeastern Nigeria at a venue⁸ where football fans were watching aWorld Cup match killing⁴ at least 20 people. Witnesses say a suicide bomber⁹ in a tricycle taxidetonated the explosives at Damaturu in Yobe state. A medical worker told the BBC that manyother victims had suffered serious injuries.

There are so many injured people that I couldn't count them all. But the military and policetrucks that brought them in have made four return trips so far ferrying them in. And all of themare young men or children. No women among them. Their injuries are indescribable. One had hishand blown off. It was all so horrific.

BBC News.

The United States has carried out a drone strike in Pakistan aimed at a target in the northWaziristan tribal¹⁰ region on the Afghan border. Local reports say six people were killed. At theweekend, the Pakistani army launched a major offensive including air strikes aimed ateliminating foreign and Pakistani militants in the region.

The Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas has said that those who kidnapped three Israeliteenagers in the West Bank last week were trying to destroy the Palestinians. Mr. Abbas saidthat Palestinian officials were working with Israel to try to ensure the safe return of theteenagers. Israel has widened its hunt for the teenagers who went missing last Thursday. It'srearrested more than 50 Palestinians who were freed in 2011.

China's top foreign affairs official is in Vietnam for the first high-level talks between the twocountries since China stationed an oil rig in contested waters last month. Celia Hatton reportsfrom Beijing.

China's top diplomat¹¹ Yang Jie-chi admitted to reporters that China and Vietnam areexperiencing difficulties. He vowed¹² to hold friendly discussions with his counterpart in Hanoi inhopes of strengthening ties, though the first round of the two-day talks ended with both sidesrestating their entrenched¹³ positions. Mr. Yang is the most senior official to visit Vietnam sinceChina toed a deep-sea oil rig into a contentious¹⁴ section of the South China Sea last month.The positioning of the Chinese rig has led to naval¹⁵ clashes with Vietnam and anti-China riots inVietnam that killed five Chinese citizens.

The authorities in Sri Lanka have lifted a curfew in areas affected¹⁶ by clashes between hard-linedBuddhists and minority Muslims in the south of the country. Thousands of people, mostlyMuslims, are still staying in camps and Mosques¹⁷ where they've taken refuge following theviolence which has killed four people and wounded around 80 others since Sunday. Officials saythey've arrested nearly 50 people in connection with the attacks.

1 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。

2 refinery   

n.精炼厂，提炼厂

参考例句：

• They built a sugar refinery.他们建起了一座榨糖厂。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

3 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。

4 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

5 shrines   

圣地，圣坛，神圣场所( shrine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• All three structures dated to the third century and were tentatively identified as shrines. 这3座建筑都建于3 世纪，并且初步鉴定为神庙。
• Their palaces and their shrines are tombs. 它们的宫殿和神殿成了墓穴。

6 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。

7 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

8 venue   

n.犯罪地点，审判地，管辖地，发生地点，集合地点

参考例句：

• The hall provided a venue for weddings and other functions.大厅给婚礼和其他社会活动提供了场所。
• The chosen venue caused great controversy among the people.人们就审判地点的问题产生了极大的争议。

9 bomber   

n.轰炸机，投弹手，投掷炸弹者

参考例句：

• He flew a bomber during the war.他在战时驾驶轰炸机。
• Detectives hunting the London bombers will be keen to interview him.追查伦敦爆炸案凶犯的侦探们急于对他进行讯问。

10 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

11 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

12 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

13 entrenched   

adj.确立的，不容易改的(风俗习惯)

参考例句：

• Television seems to be firmly entrenched as the number one medium for national advertising.电视看来要在全国广告媒介中牢固地占据头等位置。
• If the enemy dares to attack us in these entrenched positions,we will make short work of them.如果敌人胆敢进攻我们固守的阵地，我们就消灭他们。

14 contentious   

adj.好辩的，善争吵的

参考例句：

• She was really not of the contentious fighting sort.她委实不是好吵好闹的人。
• Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.从那时起，他们总想方设法避开有争议的问题。

15 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

16 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

17 mosques   

清真寺； 伊斯兰教寺院，清真寺； 清真寺，伊斯兰教寺院( mosque的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Why make us believe that this tunnel runs underneath the mosques? 为什么要让我们相信这条隧洞是在清真寺下？
• The city's three biggest mosques, long fallen into disrepair, have been renovated. 城里最大的三座清真寺，过去年久失修，现在已经修复。