英语听力精选进阶版 8489

As?the?first results begin to come in from Britain's closely-fought general election, an exit poll suggests the Conservatives, led by the Prime Minister, David Cameroon, will become by far the largest party. The poll, commissioned by the BBC and other broadcasters, pose the Conservatives on 316 seats in Parliament, just short of an overall majority. It says the main opposition¹, Labour Party, will trail in second place with 239 seats. Peter Kellner from the polling firm, YouGov, told the BBC there could be several reasons for today's poll.

“The first is that the exit poll is right, and all the polls that came out in the last 24 hours, ours is one of eleven, all eleven showed Conservative and Labour neck and neck. Second possibility is exit poll is wrong, and the eve of poll polls were right. Third possibility, something happened today. We interviewed six thousand people today and we could find no sign of any net movement in any direction. So I think we can rule out an on the day shift. Fourth possibility is it is somewhere in the middle that the Tories have done bits better than the eve of poll polls are less well than the exit poll.”Marco Gholf is a senior Conservative.

“If this is correct, then the public responded enthusiastically to the campaign that we put forward, and rewarded David Cameroon and our team with an increased number of seats. And I have to say, if the poll's right, that's unprecedented² for more than thirty years.”

The former leader of the Liberal Democrats³, Paddy Ashdown, also dismissed the exit poll is wrong, and pointed⁴ to a different predicted outcome in another survey.

“If this exit poll is right, I will publicly eat my hat on your programme. I think this YouGov poll right now, which gives us not 10 seats, not 20 seats, but 31 seats. So one or other of these two polls is wrong, and I'll bet you my hat eaten on your programme for that's wrong.”

The exit poll also predicts that the Scottish National Party, which wants independence, is on course for an overwhelming victory in Scotland. The poll says the SNP will take 58 out of the 59 seats in Scotland, making huge gains from the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats. The general election comes 8 months after Scotland voted in a referendum to remain part of the United Kingdom.

In other news, the Saudi-led coalition⁵ that's been bombing Houthis rebels in Yemen has said it will respond harshly after the rebels launched a number of deadly attacks on Saudi territory. A coalition spokesman said that by firing shells across the border, the rebels had crossed the redline. He was speaking hours after the Saudi government proposed a 5-day ceasefire to allow relief agencies to deliver aid to civilians⁶ across Yemen. The proposal was announced during a visit by the U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry. 

World news from the BBC.

The U.S. military has begun training a small group of Syrian rebels in an effort to build a force eventually capable of confronting the Islamic State militant⁷ group. The U.S. Defence Secretary, Ashton Carter, said around 90 people were being trained in what he called, a secure location.

The U.S. Senate has approved a bill that will give Congress the power to review an international nuclear agreement with Iran. The vote was a significant step in a long-running dispute with President Obama about Congressional oversight⁸ of any Iran deal. The bill now goes to the House of Representatives, which is also expected to pass it. Barbara Plett Usher⁹ is in Washington.

“The legislation would give Congress 30 days to review any final deal with Iran, and prevent President Obama from suspending Congressional sanctions during that time. It's a compromise between lawmakers, who say they've been sidelined during the nuclear talks, and the President, who believes Congressional interference would hamper¹⁰ negotiations¹¹. But the bill stalled in the Senate as some Republican Senators tried to add tough conditions that would had provoked a presidential veto. This vote ends that debate and approves a version Mr. Obama could accept. He would still have the power, though, to automatically reject the results of any Congressional review.”

The U.N. Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, has joined Polish leaders in Gdansk at a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. Many European leaders chose to attend the late-night event of the Westerplatte memorial in preference to Russia's Victory Parade in Red Square on Saturday to signal their disapproval¹² of Russia's role in the rebellion in Ukraine.

The former Brazilian football star, Pele, has had surgery at a hospital in Sao Paolo for an enlarged prostate. Brazilian media have?reported that he is doing well. Pele, who is 74, was admitted to the same hospital less than 6 months ago for emergency surgery to remove kidney stones. 

1 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。

2 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。

3 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

5 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

6 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

7 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

8 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

9 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。

10 hamper   

vt.妨碍，束缚，限制；n.(有盖的)大篮子

参考例句：

• There are some apples in a picnic hamper.在野餐用的大篮子里有许多苹果。
• The emergence of such problems seriously hamper the development of enterprises.这些问题的出现严重阻碍了企业的发展。

11 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

12 disapproval   

n.反对，不赞成

参考例句：

• The teacher made an outward show of disapproval.老师表面上表示不同意。
• They shouted their disapproval.他们喊叫表示反对。