英语听力精选进阶版 9609

Hi there, I'm Sonali from the BBC World News for Schools. It's Tuesday the 26th of April. 

Coming up: 

?Trouble continues in Syria 

?The 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster 

?And compulsory¹ chess lessons at school! 

But first, America has warned its citizens to leave Syria, in the Middle East, as the country's government intensifies² its campaign against protestors. Tanks have been sent into Deraa, the town at the centre of protests. There have been many reports of crackdowns and arrests around Syria over recent days, despite the lifting of an emergency law last week. But it's difficult to know exactly what's happening there as foreign journalists aren't being allowed in. Ausama Monajed, a Syrian political activist⁴ in Britain, said the protestors hadn't started the violence. 

CLIP: "We can see through videos how army snipers and army personnel in armour⁵ are shooting at people, rifles, automatic guns, tanks are deployed⁶ in corners and in roads, and we don't know, how that is going to be effective when people are going without even stones in their hands? And they keep shouting 'peaceful, peaceful' as they are being fired upon." 

Next to Afghanistan where nearly 500 Taliban prisoners have escaped through a tunnel. The secret getaway was carefully planned with digging equipment and engineers involved, but it comes as bad news to the British, Americans and Afghans who have been fighting the Taliban armies in the country since 2001. 

Now 25 years ago today the Chernobyl power plant, in Ukraine, was the scene of the world's worst nuclear accident. An explosion at one of the plant's reactors⁷ sent a plume⁸ of radiation across Europe. There is still a 30km exclusion⁹ zone around the plant. Andriy Gusin worked there - he describes what he saw when he arrived 25 years ago... 

CLIP: "We saw the power plant and we could see the destruction to the outside clearly. When we started our shift we didn't yet know what kind of destruction it was, but it was clear it was big." 

Wedding fever is hotting up in Britain and all over the world for the marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton. One man from London has already set up camp in front of Westminster Abbey, where the couple will wed³, to make sure he's got a prime spot for the big day on Friday. He'll be one of millions of people around the world watching Will and Kate get married. 

And finally, what subjects are compulsory at your school? Maths and science perhaps, but for kids in Armenia, in Europe, chess is going to be on that list too! The game is really popular in the country - chess grandmasters are huge stars and important match results make headline news. Children from the age of six will learn the game each week as a separate subject and it's hoped compulsory lessons will help students' thinking skills and intellectual development. 

Staying with chess for today's question - we want to know how many pieces are there in a chess set? 

And just before we go, a big shout out to students from 9J of St.Andrews International School in Bangkok, Thailand. 

That's all from the team. We're back tomorrow.

1 compulsory   

n.强制的，必修的；规定的，义务的

参考例句：

• Is English a compulsory subject?英语是必修课吗？
• Compulsory schooling ends at sixteen.义务教育至16岁为止。

2 intensifies   

n.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的名词复数 )v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• A clear atmosphere intensifies the blue of the sky. 纯净的空气使天空变得更蓝。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Blowing on fire intensifies the heat. 吹火使热度加强。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 wed   

v.娶，嫁，与…结婚

参考例句：

• The couple eventually wed after three year engagement.这对夫妇在订婚三年后终于结婚了。
• The prince was very determined to wed one of the king's daughters.王子下定决心要娶国王的其中一位女儿。

4 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

5 armour   

（=armor）n.盔甲；装甲部队

参考例句：

• His body was encased in shining armour.他全身披着明晃晃的甲胄。
• Bulletproof cars sheathed in armour.防弹车护有装甲。

6 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

7 reactors   

起反应的人( reactor的名词复数 )； 反应装置； 原子炉； 核反应堆

参考例句：

• The TMI nuclear facility has two reactors. 三哩岛核设施有两个反应堆。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• The earliest production reactors necessarily used normal uranium as fuel. 最早为生产用的反应堆，必须使用普通铀作为燃料。

8 plume   

n.羽毛；v.整理羽毛，骚首弄姿，用羽毛装饰

参考例句：

• Her hat was adorned with a plume.她帽子上饰着羽毛。
• He does not plume himself on these achievements.他并不因这些成就而自夸。

9 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。