英语听力精选进阶版 8492

The Macedonian President has accused a group of gunmen involved in deadly clashes with police of planning to carry out terror attacks to destabilize the country. In a televised address, President Gjorge Ivanov said police had thwarted¹ the extremists, when they confronted them in the northern town of Kumanovo at the weekend. The Macedonian authorities identified several of their leaders as ethnic² Albanians from Kosovo.More than 20 people including 8 police were killed in the violence. The spokesman for the Macedonian Interior Ministry³ Ivo Kotevski said the battle had been intense.

(Through an interpreter)The authorities met with fierce resistance from the terrorists, who used automatic weapons, grenades and sniper fire. We responded to the attack with uttermost care and in a manner that was most appropriate to the situation.

Amnesty International says migrants in Libya face horrific abuse, driving them to risk their lives to try to reach Europe. A new report based on dozens of interviews documents accounts of abduction and rape⁴. Paul Adams reports.

Libya is full of cruelty. That quote from an unnamed Nigerian migrant is the title of Amnesty International's report. And the document makes grim reading with its stories of the abduction, torture and rape of migrants in Libya. It documents systematic⁵ exploitation and abuse by employers, some of whom treat migrants as slaves and in detention⁶ centers where conditions are often appalling⁷. With no legal avenues to escape or seek safety, says Amnesty, migrants are forced to place their lives in the hands of smugglers who callously⁸ extort⁹, abuse and attack them.

A judge in Egypt has ordered the detention of a policeman who's gone on trial for killing¹⁰ an unarmed female activist¹¹ during a demonstration¹² in January. The 24-year old officer who's facing a manslaughter charge had initially¹³ freed on bail¹⁴. The footage shows the masked policeman followed the woman's direction before apparently¹⁵ exchanging his weapon for a teargas launcher. Youssef Taha reports.

Video footage of a man in orange jumper carrying the dying Shaimaa al-Sabbagh have gripped Egypt for months. His futile¹⁶ attempts to stop any vehicle to take her to hospital and the police's preventing an ambulance from reaching her have made many Egyptians ashamed and angry. She was taking part in a peaceful protest in central Cairo, not far from Tahrir Square, the scene of the popular uprising against long-time President Hosni Mubarak 3 years earlier. After months of denying that the police use live ammunition¹⁷, the authorities have relented to public pressure and put the officer suspected of shooting her on trial.

Aid agencies in Yemen have called for an immediate¹⁸ cease fire in the northern province of Sa'ada, the Houthi rebel heartland that's been subjected to intensified¹⁹ bombing by the Saudi-led coalition²⁰. The Saudis have told all civilians²¹ to leave the region.

World News from the BBC.

The Polish President Bronisaw Komorowski is due to face a conservative challenger in the run-off in the presidential election in 2 weeks' time, after exit polls indicated that he unexpectedly lost the first round of voting. From Warsaw here's Adam Easton.

The exit poll is a big surprise. Poland's President Bronisaw Komorowski is one of the country's most trusted politicians, surveys say. And just weeks ago, they're sure he's heading for a knockout victory in the first round with more than 50% of the vote. Now we'll have to face a second round in two weeks' time. Possibly, he's runner-up. He's been called by younger, but till recently relatively²² unknown challenger Andrzej Duda who's led the dynamic campaign compared to the president.

The South African government has warned that rhinoceros²⁴ poaching is reaching record levels. The country's environment minister said nearly 400 have been killed so far this year. The animals are killed for their horns, often used in traditional medicine in Asia. XXX reports.

South Africa has the world's largest rhino²³ population, giving it a vital role in conservation efforts. The government denies it's losing the battle against the poachers, who steal rhino horns for sale in Asia where it's used in traditional medicine. But the figures tell a worrying story. A decade ago, poachers killed 13 rhinos²⁵ in South Africa. This year they are on course to take 100 times as many. Most are killed in the vast Kruger National Park, bordering Zimbabwe and Mozambique. And while protection efforts have been stepped up, the poachers are becoming ever more sophisticated and ruthless.

The British tennis player Andy Murray has claimed his first master series title on a clay court, winning the Madrid Open. He defeated Spain's top player Rafael Nadal on his home soil, 6-3, 6-2. Nadal's defeat means he slips to the 7th in the world rankings, the first time he's been outside the top 5 in a decade.

1 thwarted   

阻挠( thwart的过去式和过去分词 )； 使受挫折； 挫败； 横过

参考例句：

• The guards thwarted his attempt to escape from prison. 警卫阻扰了他越狱的企图。
• Our plans for a picnic were thwarted by the rain. 我们的野餐计划因雨受挫。

2 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

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 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

5 systematic   

adj.有系统的，有计划的，有方法的

参考例句：

• The way he works isn't very systematic.他的工作不是很有条理。
• The teacher made a systematic work of teaching.这个教师进行系统的教学工作。

6 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

7 appalling   

adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的

参考例句：

• The search was hampered by appalling weather conditions.恶劣的天气妨碍了搜寻工作。
• Nothing can extenuate such appalling behaviour.这种骇人听闻的行径罪无可恕。

8 callously   

参考例句：

• Sri Lanka has callously ignored calls for a humanitarian cease-fire. 斯里兰卡无情地忽视人道停火的呼吁。 来自互联网
• The pendulum ticks callously, heartlessly. 这是谁的遗训？ 来自互联网

9 extort   

v.勒索，敲诈，强要

参考例句：

• The blackmailer tried to extort a large sum of money from him.勒索者企图向他勒索一大笔钱。
• They absolutely must not harm the people or extort money from them.严格禁止坑害勒索群众。

10 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。

11 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

12 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

13 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

14 bail   

v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人

参考例句：

• One of the prisoner's friends offered to bail him out.犯人的一个朋友答应保释他出来。
• She has been granted conditional bail.她被准予有条件保释。

15 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

16 futile   

adj.无效的，无用的，无希望的

参考例句：

• They were killed,to the last man,in a futile attack.因为进攻失败，他们全部被杀，无一幸免。
• Their efforts to revive him were futile.他们对他抢救无效。

17 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

18 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

19 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 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。

21 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。

22 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

23 rhino   

n.犀牛，钱, 现金

参考例句：

• The rhino charged headlong towards us.犀牛急速地向我们冲来。
• They have driven the rhino to the edge of extinction.他们已经令犀牛濒临灭绝。

24 rhinoceros   

n.犀牛

参考例句：

• The rhinoceros has one horn on its nose.犀牛鼻子上有一个角。
• The body of the rhinoceros likes a cattle and the head likes a triangle.犀牛的形体像牛，头呈三角形。

25 rhinos   

n.犀牛（rhino的复数形式）

参考例句：

• There are many reports of people taming and even training Indian rhinos. 有许多关于人们驯养甚至训练印度犀牛的记载。 来自辞典例句
• The rhinos had fed during the night in the rice fields of these villagers. 犀牛夜里在这些村民的庄稼地里也已吃饱了。 来自辞典例句