英语听力精选进阶版 9625

Hi there, I'm Ricky from the BBC World News for Schools. It's Friday the 20th of May! 

Coming up: 

?Doctors help paralysed man walk again. 

?The $2 billion dollar space experiment. 

?And the bears that are invading towns! 

First, to an amazing medical breakthrough. A man paralysed from the chest down is now able to stand and move his legs, thanks to doctors in America. Baseball player Rob Summers was injured after being hit by a car 5 years ago. At the time he was told he'd never walk again... 

"The moment I stood up I was in disbelief, I was amazed, I was shocked, I didn't think it would happen that fast. The doctors had anticipated maybe five years I could stand, and standing¹ on the third day, I blew all the doctors out of the water." 

Doctors applied² electrical pulses along his spinal³ cord and he can now walk on a treadmill⁴. But experts say we should be careful not to call this a cure. Just because it worked in one person doesn't mean it will work for others, but doctors say it does give them hope! 

Next to Scotland where the race is on to rescue 100 pilot whales that have become stranded⁵. The animals have become stuck in a loch, and appear to trying to beach themselves on its rocky foreshore. Alasdair Jack⁶ is one of the marine⁷ rescuers trying to help the animals. He says pilot whales are very sociable⁸, and if one beached it would be difficult to stop the rest from following suit... 

CLIP: "When one of them becomes sick or injured their family members will not leave them. They come ashore⁹ to die basically and they will just follow suit and come straight in after them." 

Now, astronauts have kick started a $2 billion dollar physics experiment in space. Earlier they set of on a spacewalk to install the main peace of kit¹⁰, it's called an Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer.... 

FX of spacewalk 

The gadget¹¹ is being placed on top of the International Space Station. The idea is that by analysing high energy particles, it will be able to tell us more about how the universe began! 

And finally, to the bears that are causing a bit of a problem in Slovakia. It seems efforts to protect the animals have been so successful that not only are their numbers growing, but they're taking over more space - even moving into towns!....Graham Bishop¹² is from Project Bear. Graham and his team are taking some pretty risky¹³ action to track the bears' movements ... 

CLIP: "We sedate¹⁴ the bear using a low power gas rifle. We approach the bear, make sure it is asleep, put the collar on. We're using GPS collars so that we can see exactly what they're doing through the night, through the day. You have to work quite quickly because the drugs aren't fail-safe and there've been a number of cases worldwide where bears have woken up." 

They reckon if they know what's attracting them to the towns in the first place, they might be able to figure out how to stop them. 

Just before we go we have the answer to yesterday's question. We asked you what dinosaur¹⁵ is famous for its long neck and tail? And the answer is...the Diplodocus! 

OK, that's all from the World News for Schools team but fear not, we're back next week.

1 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

2 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

3 spinal   

adj.针的，尖刺的，尖刺状突起的；adj.脊骨的，脊髓的

参考例句：

• After three days in Japan,the spinal column becomes extraordinarily flexible.在日本三天，就已经使脊椎骨变得富有弹性了。
• Your spinal column is made up of 24 movable vertebrae.你的脊柱由24个活动的脊椎骨构成。

4 treadmill   

n.踏车；单调的工作

参考例句：

• The treadmill has a heart rate monitor.跑步机上有个脉搏监视器。
• Drugs remove man from the treadmill of routine.药物可以使人摆脱日常单调的工作带来的疲劳。

5 stranded   

a.搁浅的，进退两难的

参考例句：

• He was stranded in a strange city without money. 他流落在一个陌生的城市里， 身无分文，一筹莫展。
• I was stranded in the strange town without money or friends. 我困在那陌生的城市，既没有钱，又没有朋友。

6 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

7 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

8 sociable   

adj.好交际的，友好的，合群的

参考例句：

• Roger is a very sociable person.罗杰是个非常好交际的人。
• Some children have more sociable personalities than others.有些孩子比其他孩子更善于交际。

9 ashore   

adv.在(向)岸上，上岸

参考例句：

• The children got ashore before the tide came in.涨潮前，孩子们就上岸了。
• He laid hold of the rope and pulled the boat ashore.他抓住绳子拉船靠岸。

10 kit   

n.用具包，成套工具；随身携带物

参考例句：

• The kit consisted of about twenty cosmetic items.整套工具包括大约20种化妆用品。
• The captain wants to inspect your kit.船长想检查你的行装。

11 gadget   

n.小巧的机械，精巧的装置，小玩意儿

参考例句：

• This gadget isn't much good.这小机械没什么用处。
• She has invented a nifty little gadget for undoing stubborn nuts and bolts.她发明了一种灵巧的小工具用来松开紧固的螺母和螺栓。

12 bishop   

n.主教，（国际象棋）象

参考例句：

• He was a bishop who was held in reverence by all.他是一位被大家都尊敬的主教。
• Two years after his death the bishop was canonised.主教逝世两年后被正式封为圣者。

13 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

14 sedate   

adj.沉着的，镇静的，安静的

参考例句：

• After the accident,the doctor gave her some pills to sedate her.事故发生后，医生让她服了些药片使她镇静下来。
• We spent a sedate evening at home.我们在家里过了一个恬静的夜晚。

15 dinosaur   

n.恐龙

参考例句：

• Are you trying to tell me that David was attacked by a dinosaur?你是想要告诉我大卫被一支恐龙所攻击？
• He stared at the faithful miniature of the dinosaur.他凝视著精确的恐龙缩小模型。