英语听力精选进阶版 8500

The Syrian city of Palmyra appears to have fallen to Islamic State militants¹, leaving one of the greatest archaeological sites in the Middle East at great risk. Syrian State Television says the government troops have withdrawn². Our Arab Affairs Editor Sebastian Usher³ has more.

叙利亚城市巴尔米拉已对付伊斯兰激进分子，致使中东的一处著名遗址处于极大危险的境地。叙利亚国家电视台声称，政府军队已撤退。下面是本台阿拉伯事件编辑萨巴斯蒂安·厄舍为您带来详细报道。

An eyewitness⁴ in Palmyra told the BBC that Islamic State fighters have taken the city. He says that soldiers and pro-government militias⁵ are no longer to be seen on the streets. The news raises fears for any remaining residents who may face brutal⁶ reprisals⁷, but may also give IS the opportunity to wreak⁸ destruction on ancient Palmyra. That’s what they’ve taken great public relation doing in Iraq, bringing in bulldozers, power drills and explosives to eradicate⁹ all trace of Nimrud and Hatra.

一位巴尔米拉的目击证人向BBC透露，伊斯兰士兵已占领该城。他说，在大街上已看不到伊斯兰士兵和支持政府的民兵。该新闻增加了剩余居民的恐慌，他们有可能面临更残忍地报复，这也可能给伊斯兰激进分子提供了掠夺报复这座古老的城市的机会。他们在伊朗建立更多的外交关系，引进推土机，动力钻机和爆炸品来彻底消除尼姆鲁兹和哈特拉的痕迹。

Six of the world’s largest banks have been fined nearly 6 billion dollars by British and American regulators, for colluding to manipulate currency markets and interest rates. They are Barclays, JP Morgan, CITI Group, Royal Bank of Scotland, Bank of America and UBS. Traders used internet chat rooms to fix rates, with one writing, “if you ain’t cheating, you ain’t trying”. Michelle Fleury reports.

英国和美国监管部门对世界六大银行处以近6亿美元的罚款，因其串通勾结试图操纵货币市场和利率。这六大银行分别是 巴克莱银行，摩根大通公司，花旗集团，苏格兰皇家银行，美国银行和瑞士联合银行。贸易商通过因特网聊天室制定利率，有一条说到，“如果你不欺骗，就不会有过尝试”。下面是米歇尔·弗勒里发回的报道。

They called themselves the “Cartel”. In a secret chat room, traders of CITI Group, JP Morgan, Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland colluded to manipulate the price of US dollars and euros between December 2007 and January 2013. The four banks pleaded guilty to conspiring¹⁰ to rig the world’s biggest financial market, the foreign exchange market. Swiss bank UBS and Bank of America both avoided guilty pleas, but had to pay fines for their role in the scandal.

他们称呼自己为“卡特尔”。在2007年12月到2013年1月这段时间里，花旗集团、摩根大通公司、巴克莱银行和苏格兰皇家银行在秘密聊天室串通勾结，操纵美元和欧元价格。这四家银行对阴谋操纵世界最大的金融市场和外汇交易市场供认不讳。瑞士银行UBS和美国银行却不承认此罪行，但必须为他们在这项丑闻中的角色处以罚款。

US intelligence officials have released new documents seized from the raid in Osama Bin¹¹ Laden’s secret compound in Pakistan, in which he was killed four years ago. They include details about what books and newspaper articles the Al-Qaeda leader was reading at the time. Here’s Barbara Plett Usher.

美国情报局发布了在巴基斯坦奥萨马·奔·拉登的秘密和解的一次袭击中的最新档案，他本人在四年前已被杀害。这项新档案包括基地组织头目当时阅读的报纸和书籍。下面是芭芭拉·皮乐特·厄舍的报道。

There are application forms for people who wanted to join Al-Qaeda, so you have the standard questions like name, age, marital¹² status, but there are also questions like “do you wish to execute a suicide operation” and “who should we contact if you’re martyred”. He was trying to keep members coming, and trying to keep them organized, and trying to make sure they got the training that they needed and carry out operations he wanted them to carry out. But in this isolated¹³ place in Pakistan there, with very poor communications, he had difficulty doing so.

这项档案里有加入基地组织的申请表，表上的典型的问题有姓名，年龄，婚姻状况，但还有“你想自杀吗”和“如果你死了我们该怎样联系”的问题。他试图使人员不断加入，使他们有组织性并训练他们，使他们能够实施他的命令。但是在巴基斯坦的偏僻隔绝的地方，通讯条件差，他很难做到这些。

Nearly 600 members of the Nigerian military have appeared before 2 courts martial¹⁴, charged with disciplinary offenses¹⁵ related to the ongoing¹⁶ fight against the Islamist group Boko Haram. Human rights lawyers say some of them are accused of mutiny. They say corrupt¹⁷ officers have often stolen funds meant for weapons and equipment.

将近600名尼日利亚官兵在两个军事法庭上被控告冒犯纪律罪，该罪与不断反击伊斯兰教组织博科圣地有关。人权律师称，他们中有些人被控诉叛乱罪。他们说，贪污军官偷盗用来购置武器和装备的军费。

World News from the BBC.

BBC世界新闻。

The British Finance Minister George Osborne has told the Confederation of British Industry that the European Union risks pricing itself out of the world economy through costly¹⁸ regulation. But the Confederation’s President Sir Mike Rake said business leaders should make it crystal clear that EU membership was in the national interest. Britain’s membership will be put to a referendum by 2017.

英国金融部长乔治·奥斯本曾对英国产业邦联称，欧盟冒着越出世界经济轨道的风险定价，尽管代价很高。但是邦联，首领麦克·瑞克·先生表示，商业领袖应使欧盟成员国的国家利益透明化。2017年，英国的成员国身份将被提上议程。

Scientists working in northern Kenya have unearthed¹⁹ the oldest stone tools ever found. More details from Rebecca Morelle.

肯尼亚北部的科学家发掘了最古老的石器工具。下面是丽贝卡·摩尔勒的详细报道。

About 150 tools were excavated²⁰ in Kenya. They include sharp flakes²¹ of stone used for cutting, hammers and heavy rocks that most likely served as anvils²². Tests show they are 3.3 million years old, which means they predate the earliest humans. It was thought that homo habilis was the first of our ancestors to use tools, but this find suggests even more primitive²³ species despite being ape-like with small brains may have been advanced enough to produce this early technology.

肯尼亚大概出土了150件器具，包括带尖的用来切东西的石块，锤子和可能用来做砧板的大块石头。实验表明，这些有3.3亿年，早于最早的人类。之前认为的巧手人是人类最早的祖先，但这次调查表明，不仅像猿这样有小的头脑的动物使用石器，甚至更原始的种类进化到创造这种先进的发明。

Brazil has stopped busing Haitian immigrants from northern Brazil to Sao Paolo, the country’s largest city, after some 500 Haitians arrive in search for jobs, overwhelming the city shelters. The government suspended the bus service for two months. More than 50 thousand Haitians have migrated to Brazil since 2012, when the country started granting humanitarian²⁴ visas after Haiti’s earthquake two years earlier.

巴西停止使用大巴接送海地移民从巴西北部到圣保罗。圣保罗是本国最大的城市，继500名海地移民来这里找工作后，该城市已拥挤不堪。政府暂停大巴服务已有俩月。2010海地大地震之后，巴西从2012年开始实行人道主义签证以来已有超过5万海地人民移居巴西。

The owner of an auction²⁵ house in Florida has been sentenced to three years in jail for helping²⁶ to smuggle²⁷ rhino²⁸ horns, elephant ivories and coral from the United States to China. Christopher Hayes was caught in a sting operation when he bought endangered black rhino horns from an undercover agent. In a statement, the US Justice Department said it was the first such conviction of an auction house and should serve as a warning.

佛罗里达一家拍卖行行主因参与从美国向中国偷渡犀牛角、象牙和珊瑚被判三年有期徒刑。克里斯托弗·海伊在从警方卧底手里收购濒临灭绝的犀牛角时被诱捕。审判中，美国司法部门称，这是首次拍卖行犯罪，应当以此为戒。

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 withdrawn   

vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出

参考例句：

• Our force has been withdrawn from the danger area.我们的军队已从危险地区撤出。
• All foreign troops should be withdrawn to their own countries.一切外国军队都应撤回本国去。

3 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。

4 eyewitness   

n.目击者，见证人

参考例句：

• The police questioned several eyewitness to the murder.警察询问了谋杀案的几位目击者。
• He was the only eyewitness of the robbery.他是那起抢劫案的唯一目击者。

5 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

6 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

7 reprisals   

n.报复（行为）( reprisal的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They did not want to give evidence for fear of reprisals. 他们因为害怕报复而不想作证。
• They took bloody reprisals against the leaders. 他们对领导进行了血腥的报复。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 wreak   

v.发泄；报复

参考例句：

• She had a burning desire to wreak revenge.她复仇心切。
• Timid people always wreak their peevishness on the gentle.怯懦的人总是把满腹牢骚向温和的人发泄。

9 eradicate   

v.根除，消灭，杜绝

参考例句：

• These insects are very difficult to eradicate.这些昆虫很难根除。
• They are already battling to eradicate illnesses such as malaria and tetanus.他们已经在努力消灭疟疾、破伤风等疾病。

10 conspiring   

密谋( conspire的现在分词 )； 搞阴谋； （事件等）巧合； 共同导致

参考例句：

• They were accused of conspiring against the king. 他们被指控阴谋反对国王。
• John Brown and his associates were tried for conspiring to overthrow the slave states. 约翰·布朗和他的合伙者们由于密谋推翻实行奴隶制度的美国各州而被审讯。

11 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

12 marital   

adj.婚姻的，夫妻的

参考例句：

• Her son had no marital problems.她的儿子没有婚姻问题。
• I regret getting involved with my daughter's marital problems;all its done is to bring trouble about my ears.我后悔干涉我女儿的婚姻问题, 现在我所做的一切将给我带来无穷的烦恼。

13 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

14 martial   

adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的

参考例句：

• The sound of martial music is always inspiring.军乐声总是鼓舞人心的。
• The officer was convicted of desertion at a court martial.这名军官在军事法庭上被判犯了擅离职守罪。

15 offenses   

n.进攻( offense的名词复数 )；（球队的）前锋；进攻方法；攻势

参考例句：

• It's wrong of you to take the child to task for such trifling offenses. 因这类小毛病责备那孩子是你的不对。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Thus, Congress cannot remove an executive official except for impeachable offenses. 因此，除非有可弹劾的行为，否则国会不能罢免行政官员。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法

16 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

17 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

18 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

19 unearthed   

出土的（考古）

参考例句：

• Many unearthed cultural relics are set forth in the exhibition hall. 展览馆里陈列着许多出土文物。
• Some utensils were in a state of decay when they were unearthed. 有些器皿在出土时已经残破。

20 excavated   

v.挖掘( excavate的过去式和过去分词 )；开凿；挖出；发掘

参考例句：

• The site has been excavated by archaeologists. 这个遗址已被考古学家发掘出来。
• The archaeologists excavated an ancient fortress. 考古学家们发掘出一个古堡。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 flakes   

小薄片( flake的名词复数 )； （尤指）碎片； 雪花； 古怪的人

参考例句：

• It's snowing in great flakes. 天下着鹅毛大雪。
• It is snowing in great flakes. 正值大雪纷飞。

22 anvils   

n.（铁）砧( anvil的名词复数 )；砧骨

参考例句：

23 primitive   

adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物

参考例句：

• It is a primitive instinct to flee a place of danger.逃离危险的地方是一种原始本能。
• His book describes the march of the civilization of a primitive society.他的著作描述了一个原始社会的开化过程。

24 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。

25 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。

26 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

27 smuggle   

vt.私运；vi.走私

参考例句：

• Friends managed to smuggle him secretly out of the country.朋友们想方设法将他秘密送出国了。
• She has managed to smuggle out the antiques without getting caught.她成功将古董走私出境，没有被逮捕。

28 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。