英语听力精选进阶版 9241

Reports from northern Syria say there have been further air attacks by Syrian government forces on rebel-held areas in Idlib province with some sources suggesting that toxic¹ gas was used. Residents and medical staff report the smell of a foul² odour as helicopters passed overhead. Our correspondent in Beirut Martin Patience has more details. One doctor told the BBC that helicopters dropped barrel bombs on the town of Saraqeb which has seen some of the fiercest fighting. He said 15 people were brought to hospitals after the suspected chemical attack. They smelt³ of chlorine he said and were suffering breathing problems and irritation⁴ in their eyes. Damascus has denied US allegations that there has been using chemical weapons on opposition⁵ forces. The Syria regime is currently fighting to regain⁶ control of Idlib province, one of the last major areas still under opposition control.

这里是BBC新闻，大家好，我是乔纳森·伊泽德。

根据叙利亚北方报道，叙政府对叛军控制的伊德利卜省地区再次发动空袭，有消息人士指出他们使用了毒气。当地居民和医务人员报告称，在直升机飞过头顶时，他们闻到了难闻的气味。请听本台驻贝鲁特记者马丁·帕申斯特带来的报道。一名医生对本台表示称，直升机在萨拉基卜镇投下了桶状炸弹，该地区曾进行过激烈的战斗，他表示称疑似化学袭击过后，15人被送往医院治疗。他说闻到了氯气的味道，而且感到呼吸困难，眼睛感到刺激。美国指责叙政府使用化学武器对抗反叛军，大马士革方面给予否认。叙利亚政府最近正在争夺伊德利卜省的控制权，伊德利卜省也是反对武装控制的最后几个地区之一。

Senior figures in the African National Congress are to hold an emergency meeting today to decide the future of President Jacob Zuma who has resisted intense pressure to step down. The Party's popularity has already waning⁷ amid a weakening economy and the claims of corruption⁸ surrounding the President. From Johannesburg, Andrew Harding reports. The pressure on Jacob Zuma is growing relentlessly⁹. On Sunday, a small ANC delegation¹⁰ reportedly failed to convince him to step down. Now a larger group is expected to gather in Jahannesburg to discuss his removal and to pave the way for the Party's executive committee to turn a polite request into a formal instruction. President Zuma, already facing substantial corruption charges, has seen his power base collapse¹¹ after his allies lost control of the ANC in December and the Party's new leader Cyril Ramaphosa promised to tackle high-level corruption.

非国大高级官员将要在今天召开一场紧急会议，讨论总统雅各布?祖玛的去留问题，祖玛目前备受下台压力。随着经济不景气，执政党受欢迎度一落千丈，还有关于总统涉嫌贪污指控，以下是安德鲁?哈丁在约翰内斯堡发回的报道。雅各布?祖玛压力日益增大。周日，有报道称小型非国大代表未能劝说他下台。如今，约翰内斯堡有望组成大团体来讨论他的下台，这也是为执政党执行委员会铺平道路，委员会将从之前的礼貌请求变成正式命令。总统祖玛面临大量贪污指控，去年12月，其盟友失去了对非国大的控制权，祖玛的权力基础也就此坍塌，该党新领袖西里尔?拉马福萨承诺将打击高层腐败问题。

The sole surviving suspect from the Jihadist attack in Paris in 2015 has gone on trial in Belgium. Salah Abdeslam engaged in the gun battle with Belgium police while he is hiding in Brussels. He was Europe's most wanted man until his capture four months after the gun and suicide bomb attacks that killed 130 people in Paris. Abdeslam was brought to Belgium overnight from France when he has been held in solitary¹² confinement¹³. This is the World News from the BBC.

2015年，巴黎遭到伊斯兰圣战袭击，唯一一名生还的恐怖分子今天在比利时受审。萨拉赫?阿卜杜勒-萨拉姆在布鲁塞尔躲避之时，曾与比利时警方发生过枪战。巴黎当时发生了枪击和自杀式袭击，造成130人死亡，四个月后他成为了欧洲头号通缉犯。阿卜杜勒-萨拉姆被连夜从法国带到比利时，在此之前他一直都被单独监禁。BBC国际新闻

1 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

2 foul   

adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规

参考例句：

• Take off those foul clothes and let me wash them.脱下那些脏衣服让我洗一洗。
• What a foul day it is!多么恶劣的天气！

3 smelt   

v.熔解，熔炼；n.银白鱼，胡瓜鱼

参考例句：

• Tin is a comparatively easy metal to smelt.锡是比较容易熔化的金属。
• Darby was looking for a way to improve iron when he hit upon the idea of smelting it with coke instead of charcoal.达比一直在寻找改善铁质的方法，他猛然想到可以不用木炭熔炼，而改用焦炭。

4 irritation   

n.激怒，恼怒，生气

参考例句：

• He could not hide his irritation that he had not been invited.他无法掩饰因未被邀请而生的气恼。
• Barbicane said nothing,but his silence covered serious irritation.巴比康什么也不说，但是他的沉默里潜伏着阴郁的怒火。

5 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。

6 regain   

vt.重新获得，收复，恢复

参考例句：

• He is making a bid to regain his World No.1 ranking.他正为重登世界排名第一位而努力。
• The government is desperate to regain credibility with the public.政府急于重新获取公众的信任。

7 waning   

adj.（月亮）渐亏的，逐渐减弱或变小的n.月亏v.衰落( wane的现在分词 )；（月）亏；变小；变暗淡

参考例句：

• Her enthusiasm for the whole idea was waning rapidly. 她对整个想法的热情迅速冷淡了下来。
• The day is waning and the road is ending. 日暮途穷。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

9 relentlessly   

adv.不屈不挠地；残酷地；不间断

参考例句：

• The African sun beat relentlessly down on his aching head. 非洲的太阳无情地照射在他那发痛的头上。
• He pursued her relentlessly, refusing to take 'no' for an answer. 他锲而不舍地追求她，拒不接受“不”的回答。

10 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

11 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

12 solitary   

adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士

参考例句：

• I am rather fond of a solitary stroll in the country.我颇喜欢在乡间独自徜徉。
• The castle rises in solitary splendour on the fringe of the desert.这座城堡巍然耸立在沙漠的边际，显得十分壮美。

13 confinement   

n.幽禁，拘留，监禁；分娩；限制，局限

参考例句：

• He spent eleven years in solitary confinement.他度过了11年的单独监禁。
• The date for my wife's confinement was approaching closer and closer.妻子分娩的日子越来越近了。