英语听力精选进阶版 8445

Dozens of Syrian rebels and members of?the?security forces are?reported to have been killed in a major clash in the northern city of Aleppo. The violence began with an enormous explosion. Militants¹ loyal to an Islamic group called the Nusra Front which has links with al-Qaeda say they carried out the attack. Jim Muir reports.

据报道数十名叙利亚叛军和安全部队成员在北部城市阿勒颇的重大冲突中丧生，暴力开始于一场巨大的爆炸。与基地组织有关的效忠于伊斯兰组织努斯拉阵线的武装分子称实施了这场袭击。下面是本台记者发回的报道。

“Residents said the blast shocked most of Aleppo after rebels set off a large quantity of explosives in a tunnel dug under the area of the much feared air force intelligence headquarters. There are conflicting accounts whether the building itself was damaged or destroyed. It's been a key target for the rebels ever since the battle for Syria's largest city began more than two years ago. They've tried many times to capture it. Immediately after the explosion, heavy fighting broke out with rebel factions² bombarding the area and trying to advance while government forces shelled back and called in airstrikes.”

“当地居民称叛军在空军情报总部下地道中引爆了炸弹，阿勒颇大部分地区都有震感。关于大楼本身受损程度报道相互冲突。自这所叙利亚最大的城市两年多战斗以来，这里一直是叛军进攻的关键目标。他们多次企图占领该城市，爆炸发生后不久就产生激烈的战斗，叛军分队轰炸该地区，并企图挺进，政府军以炮弹回击，并呼吁进行空袭协助进攻。”

Defense³ lawyers for the man accused of bombing the Boston Marathon in the United States in 2013 have admitted he was involved. But they say Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was acting⁴ under the influence of his elder brother who is killed by police. His charge was killing⁵ three people and wounding more than 200 others at the race. Gary O'Donoghue is in Boston. 

被控涉嫌2013年美国波士顿马拉松爆炸案的被告人的辩护律师承认其辩护人参与了爆炸事件，但其又说Dzhokhar Tsarnaev是在其兄长的影响下实施爆炸的，其兄长已经被警察击毙。他被控实施爆炸并造成3人死亡200多人受伤。下面是本台记者发回的报道。

“Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's attorney Judy Clarke told the court that the defendant⁶ did carry out the bombings. But she will argue Tamerlan who died in a shootout with police three days after the bombing was the ringleader. Earlier, the prosecution⁷ said Tsarnaev's goal on that day was to kill or maim⁸ as many people as possible. In a legal ruling, the defense suffered a setback⁹ when a judge said that they would be limited from an extent to which they could make the influence of his elder brother part of the case.”

“Dzhokhar Tsarnaev的律师Judy Clarke在法庭上称，其辩护人确实参与了爆炸案，但她辩解称，爆炸3天后在警察开枪中身亡的Tamerlan才是爆炸案件的罪魁祸首。早些时候，检方称被告当天的目的造成尽可能多的人员伤亡。在一次法律判决，被告遇到了挫折，当时法官称律师们将其兄长对其影响的作为案件的一部分的程度会让他们受到局限。”

A jury in New York has found a Pakistani man guilty of being part of a failed al-Qaeda conspiracy¹⁰ to attack the city's underground railway network as well as other targets in Britain and Denmark. Abid Naseer said he was a moderate Muslim who was falsely accused. This report from Nick Bryant in Manhattan.

纽约一个陪审团裁定一名巴基斯坦男子曾参与过一次失败的基地组织阴谋袭击该市地铁系统，同时该袭击目标还包括英国和丹麦境内目标。Abid Naseer称他是温和派穆斯林，是被冤枉的。下面是本台记者发回的报道。

“Abid Naseer was in charge of an al-Qaeda cell that was part of a transatlantic conspiracy to repeat the devastation¹¹ of 9/11. Undercover MI5 officers believe he decided¹² to attack the Arndale shopping center in Manchester during the Easter holiday in?2009. The key piece of evidence was an E-mail that he sent to his al-Qaeda handover in Pakistan. They talked a plan for a wedding with a woman called Nadia, code words for the attack and a type of bombs that would be used. Found guilty on all three charges, he now faces up to life imprisonment¹³.”?

“Abid Naseer被控是基地组织成员，曾参与过企图重制911事故的跨大西洋阴谋。军机五处卧底认为他曾试图在2009年复活节期间袭击曼彻斯特的阿黛利购物中心。关键证据是他曾向巴基斯坦基地组织发送电子邮件。他们讨论策划一名叫Nadia女子的婚礼，还有袭击所用的暗语和所用炸弹的类型。面对三项指控他将面临终身监禁。”

The president of Chad Idriss Déby has threatened to kill the leader of the Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram he doesn't given himself up. The Chadian leader said his forces knew where Abubakar Shekau was hiding. Boko Haram extended its attacks to the neighboring countries of Chad, Niger and Cameroon. They in turn have joined forces with Nigeria against the militants. 

乍得总统Idriss Déby威胁称，如果尼日利亚伊斯兰博科圣地组织头目不自首，就要将他杀死。这位乍得领导人称其部队知道Abubakar Shekau的藏身之处。博科圣地组织已经袭击到邻国乍得、尼日尔和喀麦隆，这些国家安全部队已经联手尼日利亚部队共同对抗武装分子。

World news from the BBC.

下面为您播报BBC世界新闻。

An investigative committee of the US House of Representatives is expected to subpoena¹⁴ e-mails from two personal accounts belonging to the former secretary of state Hillary Clinton. There are allegations of the accounts were used to conduct official businesses in contravention of federal law. The committee is investigating the deadly attack on the US consulate¹⁵ in the Libyan city of Benghazi in 2012.?

美国众议院调查委员将就两个私人电子邮件账户传唤前国务卿克林顿的，据悉这些账户是用来做非法生意的。该委员会正在调查2012年美国驻利比亚班加西使馆致命袭击案。

A prosecutor¹⁶ in Argentina has appealed against the judge's decision to throw out a controversial case against President Christina Fernández de Kirchner. She's been accused of covering up the alleged¹⁷ involvement of senior Iranian officials in the 1994 attack against a Jewish center in Buenos Aires which killed 85 people. The prosecutor described last week's ruling as hasty and premature¹⁸. President Fernández has always rejected the allegations.?

阿根廷检察官上诉反对法官决定驳回针对总统Christina Fernández de Kirchner的有争议案件，总统被控企图掩盖1994年布宜诺斯艾利斯犹太中心袭击案，据悉两名伊朗高级官员参与其中。该袭击案导致85人丧生。这位检察官称上周的判决过于匆忙且过早，总统Christina Fernández de Kirchner一如既往否认这些指控。

Israel says it's doubling the amount of water it supplies to the Gaza strip. Gaza has a chronic¹⁹ water shortage leaving tap water undrinkable and forcing the Palestinians to pump huge amounts of untreated sewerage into the sea. Israel said it would begin increasing the annual flow from 5 billion to 10 billion cubic meters.

以色列方面称将向加沙地区提供的用水量增加一倍。由于加沙地带长期缺水导致自来水不能饮用，迫使巴勒斯坦人往大海中倾倒大量的未处理垃圾。以色列称将把每年提供的水量从50亿立方米增加到100亿立方米。

Examination of a fossilized jawbone discovered in Ethiopia has led scientists to push early human history back for further 400,000 years. Our science correspondent Pallab Ghosh has the details. 

对埃塞俄比亚发掘的颚骨化石的研究使得科学家将早期人类历史向前推了40万年，下面是本台记者发回的报道。

“This good fossil evidence for ape is with some human traits living in the region around three million years ago. There are also the remains²⁰ of humans in east Africa dating back two million years. Just what happened in between is shrouded²¹ in mystery. Now, the discovery of a lower jawbone indicates that the first humans may have emerged 2.8 million years ago in Ethiopia. This occurred while the climate in the area had become dryer²². Forests made way for grassland²³ creating a new ecological²⁴ leash²⁵ for the first of our kind to thrive.”

“这块类人猿化石上具备300万年前居住在该地区的人类的特点，同时东非还有能追溯到200万年前的人类遗骸。而这两个时间点之间的一切一直都在迷雾中，现在，这块下颌骨的发掘意味着早期人类可能出现在280万年的埃塞俄比亚。当时该地区的气候正在变干，草原取代了森林，这就给早期人类的兴旺提供了新的生态地带。”

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 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别

3 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

4 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

5 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。

6 defendant   

n.被告；adj.处于被告地位的

参考例句：

• The judge rejected a bribe from the defendant's family.法官拒收被告家属的贿赂。
• The defendant was borne down by the weight of evidence.有力的证据使被告认输了。

7 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。

8 maim   

v.使残废，使不能工作，使伤残

参考例句：

• Automobile accidents maim many people each year. 汽车车祸每年使许多人残废。
• These people kill and maim innocent civilians.这些人杀死和残害无辜平民。

9 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。

10 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

11 devastation   

n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤

参考例句：

• The bomb caused widespread devastation. 炸弹造成大面积破坏。
• There was devastation on every side. 到处都是破坏的创伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

13 imprisonment   

n.关押，监禁，坐牢

参考例句：

• His sentence was commuted from death to life imprisonment.他的判决由死刑减为无期徒刑。
• He was sentenced to one year's imprisonment for committing bigamy.他因为犯重婚罪被判入狱一年。

14 subpoena   

n.（法律）传票；v.传讯

参考例句：

• He was brought up to court with a subpoena.他接到传讯，来到法庭上。
• Select committees have the power to subpoena witnesses.特别委员会有权传唤证人。

15 consulate   

n.领事馆

参考例句：

• The Spanish consulate is the large white building opposite the bank.西班牙领事馆是银行对面的那栋高大的白色建筑物。
• The American consulate was a magnificent edifice in the centre of Bordeaux.美国领事馆是位于波尔多市中心的一座宏伟的大厦。

16 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

17 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

18 premature   

adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的

参考例句：

• It is yet premature to predict the possible outcome of the dialogue.预言这次对话可能有什么结果为时尚早。
• The premature baby is doing well.那个早产的婴儿很健康。

19 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

20 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

21 shrouded   

v.隐瞒( shroud的过去式和过去分词 )；保密

参考例句：

• The hills were shrouded in mist . 这些小山被笼罩在薄雾之中。
• The towers were shrouded in mist. 城楼被蒙上薄雾。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 dryer   

n.干衣机，干燥剂

参考例句：

• He bought a dryer yesterday.他昨天买了一台干燥机。
• There is a washer and a dryer in the basement.地下室里有洗衣机和烘干机。

23 grassland   

n.牧场，草地，草原

参考例句：

• There is a reach of grassland in the distance.远处是连绵一片的草原。
• The snowstorm swept the vast expanse of grassland.暴风雪袭击了辽阔的草原。

24 ecological   

adj.生态的，生态学的

参考例句：

• The region has been declared an ecological disaster zone.这个地区已经宣布为生态灾难区。
• Each animal has its ecological niche.每种动物都有自己的生态位.

25 leash   

n.牵狗的皮带，束缚；v.用皮带系住

参考例句：

• I reached for the leash,but the dog got in between.我伸手去拿系狗绳，但被狗挡住了路。
• The dog strains at the leash,eager to be off.狗拼命地扯拉皮带，想挣脱开去。