英语听力精选进阶版 9589

Hi there, I'm Leah from the BBC World News for Schools. It's Monday the 28th of March. 

Coming up: 

Tiger numbers are rising in India. 

Thousands audition¹ for the American XFactor! 

CLIP: Singing 

And snakes on a plane. 

But first, In Libya international forces have been bombing Colonel Gaddafi's home town, Sirte. Meanwhile, the rebels - who are trying to force him to step down as leader - are capturing more and more land. But even though the rebels have been advancing, Gaddafi is not giving in and he still has control over the capital, Tripoli which is very important. 

Next, we're not used to hearing good news about tigers but in India researchers reckon their numbers are on the up. A big survey by the Indian government says that there are around 300 more of the wild animals than in 2007, but tigers are still very endangered with fewer than 3,500 left in the whole world. 

And for today's question we want to know what country has the most tigers? 

Now to racing² and Redbull's world champion Sebastian Vettel began the Formula One season with victory in the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne... 

CLIP "Sebastian Vettel victorious³ in 2010, victorious at the start of 2011, and I'm sure we'll get the number one held up on that hand and he doesn't disappoint me." 

The German finished ahead of McLaren's Lewis Hamilton and Renault's Vitaly Petrov, who managed his first ever podium finish. 

More news now and airport officials in Indonesia have arrested two men suspected of trying to sneak⁴ 40 snakes onto a plane! It seems the two were about to enter the departure area at Jakarta airport when x-rays showed their bags were filled with pythons. Officials reckon the suspects were planning to sell the animals to collectors in the United Arab Emirates! 

Now, some iPhone owners in the UK were heading in to school late this morning after a glitch⁵ caused their alarms not to go off. Users found their wake-up alert coming one hour late, one hour early or not at all.The problem's to do with the clocks going forward for British Summer Time. Luckily not everyone was affected⁶! 

And Britain's biggest TV talent show, the XFactor has kicked off in the U.S. 18 thousand hopefuls queued up for the first auditions⁷ in LA. Here's a taster of what's in store for the judges... 

CLIP: Singing fx 

OK, that's all from the World News for Schools team. We're back tomorrow, but between now and then we want to hear from you. Send us an e-mail and tell us where in the world you're listening. The address is [email protected]. Bye for now.

1 audition   

n.(对志愿艺人等的)面试(指试读、试唱等)

参考例句：

• I'm going to the audition but I don't expect I'll get a part.我去试音，可并不指望会给我个角色演出。
• At first,they said he was too young,but later they called him for an audition.起初，他们说他太小，但后来他们叫他去试听。

2 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

3 victorious   

adj.胜利的，得胜的

参考例句：

• We are certain to be victorious.我们定会胜利。
• The victorious army returned in triumph.获胜的部队凯旋而归。

4 sneak   

vt.潜行(隐藏,填石缝)；偷偷摸摸做；n.潜行；adj.暗中进行

参考例句：

• He raised his spear and sneak forward.他提起长矛悄悄地前进。
• I saw him sneak away from us.我看见他悄悄地从我们身边走开。

5 glitch   

n.干扰；误操作，小故障

参考例句：

• There is a glitch in the computer program somewhere.这个计算机程序中的某个部分有点小问题。
• It could just be a random glitch that can be solved by restarting the machine.可能只是一个小故障，重新启动主机就能解决了。

6 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。

7 auditions   

n.（对拟做演员、歌手、乐师等人的）试听，试音( audition的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Find modeling auditions, casting calls& acting auditions, all in one place. 找一个立体感试听，铸造呼叫和表演试听一体的地方。 来自互联网
• We are now about to start auditions to find a touring guitarist. 我们现在准备找一个新的吉他手。 来自互联网