英语听力精选进阶版 9616

Hi there, I'm Ricky from the BBC World News for Schools. It's Monday the 9th of May. 

?Coming up: 

?Soldiers become litter pickers in Naples. 

?Manchester United's one step closer to clinching¹ the Premier² League title. 

CLIP: "Gets the ball onto his left foot, crosses in, it's headed in by Vidic! 

?And the American X Factor hosts are confirmed. 

But first, there are reports of heavy shooting in Syria's capital city, Damascus. Human Rights activists³ say clouds of black smoke can be seen over a neighbourhood in the west of the city and electricity has been cut off. It's the latest in an ongoing⁴ government crack down on anti government protests. Meanwhile, European politicians are deciding whether to punish the Syrian government by making it harder for top officials to access money. 

Now to the city of Memphis, in the American south, where thousands of people are being told to leave their homes because of rising flood waters. Heavy rain, as well as melting snow further up the Mississippi river, have caused record water levels - submerging whole neighbourhoods. These locals have never seen anything like it... 

CLIP: "I call it a water event, because a lot of people who are coming down have never seen anything like this, including me." "This is all astounding⁵. It's just overwhelming to see it so high. Hopefully it won't get much worse." 

Now, when you think about what the big jobs of the army are, litter picking probably doesn't spring to mind. But in the Italian city of Naples that's exactly what 170 soldiers have been ordered to do. Thousands of tonnes of rubbish have been left on the streets and this Naples resident says it's only being cleaned up now because there's an election coming up... 

CLIP: "Politicians clean up only in the areas where elections are to be held in the coming weeks. Children fall ill!" 

Problems with incinerators, a lack of investment and even the mafia have been blamed for the mess - but it's the soldiers who have been stuck cleaning it all up. 

And for today's question we want to know what famous volcano can be found in the Bay of Naples? 

Footy now and Manchester United need just one point to win a record 19th league title after beating Chelsea yesterday.The reds won 2-1 with Javier Hernandez putting them ahead after just 36 seconds. Nemanya Vidic sealed it when he doubled their lead before the end of the first half... 

CLIP: "To Giggs again, on the left hand side, gets the ball onto his left foot, crosses in, it's headed in by Vidic!" 

And finally one for all you XFactor fans - it's been announced that former Pussycat doll, Nicole Scherzinger and the British TV presenter⁶ Steve Jones will host the American version of the hit show. It comes after Thursday's news that the British popstar, Cheryl Cole will join Simon Cowell and Antonio LA Reid on the judging panel. 

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

1 clinching   

v.（尤指两人）互相紧紧抱[扭]住( clinch的现在分词 )；解决（争端、交易），达成（协议）

参考例句：

• Joe gets clinching evidence of the brains role when he dreams. 乔做梦时得到了大脑发生作用的决定性依据。 来自辞典例句
• Clinching, wrestling, pushing, or seizing, without attempting a throw or other technique. 抱，扭摔，推或抓而没有摔或其它的技术。 来自互联网

2 premier   

adj.首要的；n.总理，首相

参考例句：

• The Irish Premier is paying an official visit to Britain.爱尔兰总理正在对英国进行正式访问。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。

3 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 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。

5 astounding   

adj.使人震惊的vt.使震惊，使大吃一惊astound的现在分词)

参考例句：

• There was an astounding 20% increase in sales. 销售量惊人地增加了20%。
• The Chairman's remarks were so astounding that the audience listened to him with bated breath. 主席说的话令人吃惊，所以听众都屏息听他说。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 presenter   

n.（电视、广播的）主持人，赠与者

参考例句：

• Most people think being a television presenter is exciting.很多人认为当电视节目主持人是一件刺激的事情。
• The programme dispensed with its most popular presenter.这个节目最受欢迎的主持人被换掉了。