英语听力精选进阶版 9622

Hi there, I'm John from the BBC World News for Schools. It's Tuesday the 17th of MAY. 

Coming up: 

?The Queen makes a historic¹ visit to Ireland. 

?A man and his dog survive falling off a cliff. 

?And Gaga says she still gets bullied²! 

First, the Irish army have defused a bomb just hours before a historic visit by Queen Elizabeth II. The explosive was found in County Kildare - an area the Queen was due to visit. There's a lot of media attention on the Queen's trip because it's the first by a British monarch³ since the Republic of Ireland won independence from the British ninety years ago. So what do the irish people make of it... 

CLIP⁴: "I think it's actually quite nice that the two countries are getting back together and being friends." "It's so historic. It's just time that we had a visit from the head of our neighbouring state." 

And for today's question we want to know what musical instrument is Ireland's national symbol? 

Next, dozens of wildfires are blazing⁵ out of control in western Canada, forcing thousands of people to leave their homes. Loads of buildings in the Alberta province are being destroyed. But so far, local official Dana Woodworth says there have been no reports of anyone being hurt... 

CLIP: "Due to the fast action of the local responders... the majority of the Slave Lake residents have been evacuated⁶ safely." 

Next to England, where a man and his dog have survived falling off a cliff! It seems the 53-year-old was trying to rescue his pet when he too fell 200ft down a cliff in North Yorkshire. Police said it was "absolutely remarkable⁷" that the man escaped with only broken bones. 

Now, she might be one of the biggest pop stars on the planet, but Lady Gaga's been telling reporters she still suffers from bullying⁸.The singer swapped⁹ the stage for a role guest editing¹⁰ a morning newspaper here in the UK, and says even with her fame she still gets bullied... 

CLIP: "Some of us aren't popular. Some of us aren't in the in-crowd. I'm still not in the in-crowd. I still get bullied by tons of people all the time, everyday." 

And yesterday's question was all about Lady Gaga. We wanted to know what her real name is? And the answer is.....Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta! 

And finally, to the mystery of the exploding watermelons. Farmers in China have been left a bit puzzled after their watermelon crops began to explode one by one. It seems farms in Jiangsu Province are losing acres of fruit because of the problem. Some media reports had blamed the overuse of a chemical that helps fruit grow faster, but farming experts can't explain why chemical-free melons have been exploding too! 

OK, that's all from the World News for Schools team. We're back tomorrow. Just before we go, we want to say a big shout out to all the listeners who've been in touch; 8th grader Ayush Kumar e-mailed us from Bangladesh, and we also want to say hi to Therese and all her classmates who got in touch from Belgium. They are sitting exams at the moment - so good luck guys! Bye for now!

1 historic   

adj.历史上著名的，具有历史意义的

参考例句：

• This is a historic occasion.这是具有重大历史意义的时刻。
• We are living in a great historic era.我们正处在一个伟大的历史时代。

2 bullied   

adj.被欺负了v.恐吓，威逼( bully的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• My son is being bullied at school. 我儿子在学校里受欺负。
• The boy bullied the small girl into giving him all her money. 那男孩威逼那个小女孩把所有的钱都给他。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 monarch   

n.帝王，君主，最高统治者

参考例句：

• The monarch's role is purely ceremonial.君主纯粹是个礼仪职位。
• I think myself happier now than the greatest monarch upon earth.我觉得这个时候比世界上什么帝王都快乐。

4 clip   

n.夹子，别针，弹夹，片断；vt.夹住，修剪

参考例句：

• May I clip out the report on my performance?我能把报道我的文章剪下来吗？
• She fastened the papers together with a paper clip.她用曲别针把文件别在一起。

5 blazing   

a.强烈的，燃烧的，炫目的

参考例句：

• A huge fire was blazing in the fireplace. 壁炉中火烧得正旺。
• a blazing hot day 大热天

6 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。

7 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

8 bullying   

v.恐吓，威逼( bully的现在分词 )；豪；跋扈

参考例句：

• Many cases of bullying go unreported . 很多恐吓案件都没有人告发。
• All cases of bullying will be severely dealt with. 所有以大欺小的情况都将受到严肃处理。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 swapped   

交换（工作）( swap的过去式和过去分词 )； 用…替换，把…换成，掉换（过来）

参考例句：

• I liked her coat and she liked mine, so we swapped. 我喜欢她的外套，她喜欢我的外套，于是我们就交换了。
• At half-time the manager swapped some of the players around. 经理在半场时把几名队员换下了场。

10 editing   

adj.编辑的

参考例句：

• The processing of data in random order,not subject to preliminary editing or sorting.未经预先编辑或分类，以任意次序对数据进行的处理的做法。