英语听力精选进阶版 9600

Hi there, I'm Ore from the BBC World News for Schools. It's Monday the eleventh of April. 

Coming up: France bans the veil.. 

And the silent stars puzzling astronomers¹! 

But first there's been another earthquake in Japan -- exactly one month since the devastating² tremor³ and tsunami⁴ which is thought to have killed at least 25-thousand people. It happened after a minute's silence was held across the country for those who died. The ground shook so badly around the damaged nuclear plant there that all the safety workers had to be evacuated⁵. Tsunami expert Barry Hirshon works in the Pacific warning centre: 

CLIP: About a magnitude seven earthquake in the aftershock zone of the big event. The epicentre's under land, so there's more felt groundshaking. This quake was larger at frequencies that buildings are sensitive to. 

Japan had already announced it was going to move more people away from towns near the nuclear plant. They're going to widen the exclusion⁶ zone -- that's the area they want to get everyone away from -- to thirty kilometres instead of twenty. Our reporter Roland Buerk told us more: 

CLIP: What they're concerned about is the exposure that people might get in those places if they stayed there over a long period of time. I think what we've been hearing are concerns about radiation in vegetables, concerns about the levels of radiation perhaps in some tap water. So this kind of thing just adds to the general unease about this nuclear power station and the continuing problems that it has, one month on. 

There've been important talks in Libya to try to stop the fighting there. Leaders from African countries have met Libya's ruler Colonel Gaddafi -- and they say he's accepted a peace deal. But now they've got to meet the rebel groups who want Colonel Gaddafi to go. 

Now -- a new law has come into force in France today, banning women from veiling their faces in public. It's aimed mainly at people who wear the Muslim burkha and niquab. One covers the whole face, while the other has a gap for the eyes. The French government says it's because France is NOT a religious country and face-covering isn't traditional there. But many people are angry and are holding a protest. A spokesman explained why: 

CLIP: France is a country of freedom and of human rights. So with this law French government doesn't respect this principle. That's why we are going to protest with European Court of Human Rights. 

In northwest China, investigators⁷ have found that bad milk which killed three children under the age of two seems to have been deliberately⁸ poisoned. One person has been arrested. 

One of the world's biggest golf tournaments, the Masters at Augusta had a more dramatic finish than ever before. Favourite Rory McIlroy led for 65 holes but then collapsed⁹ to end in fifteenth place -- while the South African Charl Schwartzel won in the end fourteen under par¹⁰. Tiger Woods was 4 shots behind him. 

Now for today's question: in golf, what EXACTLY is a bogey¹¹? On Friday we asked you : where do penguins¹² live -- the north or the south pole? The answer is -- the South Pole, in Antarctica. 

Finally -- out of all the billions of stars in the universe, three are puzzling scientists in particular. Why? Because they aren't joining in the music that every other star makes. Most create big booming noises that can be spotted¹³ by a special telescope as changes in light. But these three stars are silent as they orbit round each other. Scientist say they SHOULD be pulsating¹⁴ -- but they're not, and they've no idea why. 

OK, that's all from the World News for Schools team. We're back tomorrow.

1 astronomers   

n.天文学者，天文学家( astronomer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Astronomers can accurately foretell the date,time,and length of future eclipses. 天文学家能精确地预告未来日食月食的日期、时刻和时长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Astronomers used to ask why only Saturn has rings. 天文学家们过去一直感到奇怪，为什么只有土星有光环。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

3 tremor   

n.震动，颤动，战栗，兴奋，地震

参考例句：

• There was a slight tremor in his voice.他的声音有点颤抖。
• A slight earth tremor was felt in California.加利福尼亚发生了轻微的地震。

4 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

5 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

6 exclusion   

n.拒绝，排除，排斥，远足，远途旅行

参考例句：

• Don't revise a few topics to the exclusion of all others.不要修改少数论题以致排除所有其他的。
• He plays golf to the exclusion of all other sports.他专打高尔夫球，其他运动一概不参加。

7 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

9 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

10 par   

n.标准，票面价值，平均数量；adj.票面的，平常的，标准的

参考例句：

• Sales of nylon have been below par in recent years.近年来尼龙织品的销售额一直不及以往。
• I don't think his ability is on a par with yours.我认为他的能力不能与你的能力相媲美。

11 bogey   

n.令人谈之变色之物；妖怪，幽灵

参考例句：

• The universal bogey is AIDS.艾滋病是所有人唯恐避之不及的东西。
• Age is another bogey for actresses.年龄是另一个让女演员头疼的问题。

12 penguins   

n.企鹅( penguin的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Why can penguins live in cold environment? 为什么企鹅能生活在寒冷的环境中？ 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Whales, seals, penguins, and turtles have flippers. 鲸、海豹，企鹅和海龟均有鳍形肢。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

13 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

14 pulsating   

adj.搏动的，脉冲的v.有节奏地舒张及收缩( pulsate的现在分词 )；跳动；脉动；受（激情）震动

参考例句：

• Lights were pulsating in the sky. 天空有闪烁的光。
• Spindles and fingers moved so quickly that the workshop seemed to be one great nervously-pulsating machine. 工作很紧张，全车间是一个飞快的转轮。 来自子夜部分