英语听力精选进阶版 8494

Aid officials in Nepal say they are still trying to establish the full extent of the damage caused by Nepal's second earthquake in less than three weeks. The second quake on Tuesday killed at least 50 people in Nepal and another 17 in northern India. But people are still buried under rubble¹, and the number of dead is expected to rise. Many people have again been sleeping outside, too scared to stay at home. Jane K of the International Charity Oxfam says the latest quake will put a huge strain on relief efforts.

 "This is the additional earthquake that we have all been dreading², and this can only make things worse. There are relief supplies in the country, aid is getting through to people who were affected³ by the earthquake two weeks ago. But this is going to make it much more thinly spread. So it would only mean that we need to step up our efforts." Rescue operation will resume at dawn.

A Saudi-led coalition⁴ says a five-day humanitarian⁵ ceasefire has begun in Yemen, where its planes have been targetting Iranian-backed Houthis rebels and their allies. The hours running up to the implementation⁶ of the truce⁷ were marked by dozens of coalition airstrikes and by shelling by the rebels. Johannes Van Der Klaauw is the UN Humanitarian Coordinator⁸ for Yemen. 

"From a humanitarian point of view, the situation is alarming. Yemen was already characterised by a protracted⁹ humanitarian crisis over the last three years. With the escalation¹⁰ of the conflict since the end of March, the situation has worsened to a point that a number of humanitarian activists¹¹ are calling the situation 'catastrophic'."

The US Secretary of State John Kerry has held face-to-face talks with his Russian counterpart and President Putin for the first time since Russia's annexation¹² of Crimea more than a year ago. The talks held in the Black Sea resort of Sochi ranged from the crisis in eastern Ukraine to the Syrian conflict. From Sochi, Bridget Kendall reports. 

"Mr Lavrov said it's been a long and useful day and this marathon session of talks have helped improve mutual¹³ understanding. Mr Kerry said there was no substitute for talking directly to the key decision-makers, and thanked President Putin for giving so much of his time to explain Russia's positions. One Kremlin advisor¹⁴ said the Russian President had been guided by a fundamental interest in trying to resume normal relations with the Americans."

The prime minister of Macedonia has accepted the resignation of two of his ministers and his head of intelligence in an apparent bid to save the government from a damaging surveillance scandal. Opposition¹⁵ politicians say the intelligence chief and interior minister led attempts by the government controlled the country's press, judiciary and electoral officials by tapping their phones.

This is the world news from the BBC.

Officials in Athens say that Greece has had to use a reserve account at the International Monetary¹⁶ Fund in order to make a bailout loan repayment¹⁷ to the IMF. Here is our economics correspondent Andrew Walker. 

"Before the repayment of 750 million euros was made, there were some doubts about whether Greece would find the money. It's done so by using reserves held at the IMF. All IMF members have this account, and they can and sometimes do dip into them to make loan repayments¹⁸. It is, however, a sign of financial stress, and the account acts as a buffer¹⁹ that Greece has depleted²⁰. The move reinforces the comment made by the Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis that the country's financial situation is terribly urgent, as he seeks further bailout payments from the rest of the Euro Zone."

President Francois Hollande has pledged to repay a moral debt to Haiti on the first official visit by a French head of state since the country's independence more than two hundred years ago. But he stopped short of promising²¹ to return the reparations that former slaves had paid their French masters in return for independence.

A former head of Guatemala's police force, Erwin Sperisen, has lost in an appeal in a Swiss court against a life sentence for killing²² prisoners in his home country nine years ago. Last year, Mr Sperisen, who has dual²³ Swiss nationality, was convicted of involvement in the execution of seven prisoners in P Jail near Guatemala City in September, 2006. He was also convicted of the murder of three prisoners who'd escaped from another jail.

President Obama has again called for America's richest people to pay higher taxes as a way of reducing poverty in the United States. In unscripted remarks at a poverty summit in Washington, Mr Obama described top earners, such as hedge fund managers, as "lottery²⁴ winners". He said it was wrong that the top 25 fund managers in the US earn more than all the kindergarten teachers in the country put together.

1 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

2 dreading   

v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• She was dreading having to broach the subject of money to her father. 她正在为不得不向父亲提出钱的事犯愁。
• This was the moment he had been dreading. 这是他一直最担心的时刻。

3 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。

4 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。

5 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

6 implementation   

n.实施，贯彻

参考例句：

• Implementation of the program is now well underway.这一项目的实施现在行情看好。

7 truce   

n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束

参考例句：

• The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。
• She had thought of flying out to breathe the fresh air in an interval of truce.她想跑出去呼吸一下休战期间的新鲜空气。

8 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

9 protracted   

adj.拖延的；延长的v.拖延“protract”的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The war was protracted for four years. 战争拖延了四年。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We won victory through protracted struggle. 经过长期的斗争，我们取得了胜利。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 escalation   

n.扩大，增加

参考例句：

• The threat of nuclear escalation remains. 核升级的威胁仍旧存在。 来自辞典例句
• Escalation is thus an aspect of deterrence and of crisis management. 因此逐步升级是威慑和危机处理的一个方面。 来自辞典例句

11 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 annexation   

n.吞并，合并

参考例句：

• He mentioned the Japanese annexation of Korea in 1910 .他提及1910年日本对朝鲜的吞并。
• I regard the question of annexation as belonging exclusively to the United States and Texas.我认为合并的问题，完全属于德克萨斯和美国之间的事。

13 mutual   

adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的

参考例句：

• We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。
• Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。

14 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

15 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。

16 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

17 repayment   

n.偿还，偿还款；报酬

参考例句：

• I am entitled to a repayment for the damaged goods.我有权利索取货物损坏赔偿金。
• The tax authorities have been harrying her for repayment.税务局一直在催她补交税款。

18 repayments   

偿还，报答，偿付的钱物( repayment的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The repayments of the loan are spread over 10 years. 贷款可在十年内分期偿还。
• The repayments of the loan are spread over 25 years. 这笔贷款分摊二十五年偿还。

19 buffer   

n.起缓冲作用的人(或物)，缓冲器；vt.缓冲

参考例句：

• A little money can be a useful buffer in time of need.在急需时，很少一点钱就能解燃眉之急。
• Romantic love will buffer you against life's hardships.浪漫的爱会减轻生活的艰辛。

20 depleted   

adj. 枯竭的, 废弃的 动词deplete的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Food supplies were severely depleted. 食物供应已严重不足。
• Both teams were severely depleted by injuries. 两个队都因队员受伤而实力大减。

21 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

22 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。

23 dual   

adj.双的；二重的，二元的

参考例句：

• The people's Republic of China does not recognize dual nationality for any Chinese national.中华人民共和国不承认中国公民具有双重国籍。
• He has dual role as composer and conductor.他兼作曲家及指挥的双重身分。

24 lottery   

n.抽彩；碰运气的事，难于算计的事

参考例句：

• He won no less than ￡5000 in the lottery.他居然中了5000英镑的奖券。
• They thought themselves lucky in the lottery of life.他们认为自己是变幻莫测的人生中的幸运者。