英语听力精选进阶版 9639

Hi there, I'm Sonali from BBC World News for Schools. It's Monday the 13th of June. 

Coming up: 

?Spaceships at the edge of the solar system, 

?More earthquakes hit New Zealand, 

?And the quest¹ to save tigers in Bangladesh. 

But first to Syria, in the Middle East. The country's army has taken control of the northern town of Jisr al-Shughour after reported heavy fighting. The government said it was trying to restore order to the town after members of the security forces were killed there last week. 

But it's meant that thousands of people from the town have fled their homes and crossed the border to neighbouring Turkey for safety. There, refugee² camps have been set up for the Syrians, but as so many people are coming, the camps are filling up very fast. 

Next to the New Zealand city of Christchurch where there's been a series of earthquakes. It's left about 50,000 people without power and led to the evacuation of shopping centres, office blocks and the local airport. Officials say many schools will be closed on Tuesday. 

It comes almost four months after an earthquake devastated³ the city. Since then, thousands of residents have moved to other parts of New Zealand and Australia and this quake has made more families consider moving: 

CLIP⁴:" We ought to think about whether we stay here or not. Because we can't bring up our kids in an atmosphere where they're frightened to go home, to go out or to be with their friends." 

In Bangladesh a special team of 300 people is being set up to save the endangered royal Bengal tiger and other animals. They'll work around the Sundarbans forest, which stretches between India and Bangladesh and the home to around 400 tigers. Until recently poaching wasn't thought to be the main threat to the country's tiger population. But the capture of a poacher with tiger skins and bones earlier this year raised fears that organised poachers were operating in the forests. Bangladesh's environment minister Hasan Mahmud said the team need more training to deal with the poachers: 

CLIP: "The forest department staff in Bangladesh need more training, because now the poachers are very sophisticated⁵." 

For today's question, we want to know what's special about a tiger's stripes? 

Ever wondered what would happen if a spaceship set off from Earth and just kept on going? Back in the 1970's, American space agency Nasa sent two probes⁶ up to study Jupiter⁷ and Saturn⁸. They're still up there and nothing made by humans has ever been further away from Earth. They're so far away, the sun's light barely⁹ reaches them and it takes 16 hours for a message from it to get back to us. Professor Ed Stone worked on the project when it started and is still excited about it now: 

CLIP: "This is the only journey I am aware of that has lasted now 33 years since launch and probably has another 10 years before we finally start loosing enough electrical power to power the mission. So this is an incredibly long journey, but more importantly it is one where it keeps on discovering new things year after year." 

And there are even messages from kids on them - in case aliens ever get hold of the probes: 

CLIP: "Hello from the children of planet earth." 

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

1 quest   

n.寻求，搜索，追求

参考例句：

• Man will suffer many disappointments in his quest for truth.人类在探索真理过程中必然会遭受挫折。
• His quest for perfection is relentless.他不断追求完美。

2 refugee   

n.难民，流亡者

参考例句：

• The refugee was condemned to a life of wandering.这个难民注定要过流浪的生活。
• The refugee is suffering for want of food and medical supplies.难民苦于缺少食物和医药用品。

3 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

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 sophisticated   

adj.老练的，精密的，尖端的，高雅的

参考例句：

• She has become very sophisticated since she went to live in London.移居伦敦后她变得世故多了。
• This is a very sophisticated machine.这是一台非常精密的机器。

6 probes   

n.探针( probe的名词复数 )；探索；探头；探测仪v.探索，用探针（或探测器等）探查，探测( probe的第三人称单数 )；盘问；（用试探性袭击等）侦察（敌情）；用尖物刺穿（物件）

参考例句：

• Several different types of sampling probes are shown in Fig. 1-图1-1示出几种取样管。 来自辞典例句
• An array of wave probes can be used as a directional antenna. 排成阵列的测波仪，可作为波浪传播方向的感触器。 来自辞典例句

7 Jupiter   

n.木星

参考例句：

• Jupiter is unlike the Earth in almost every way.木星与地球几乎完全不同。
• The astronomers were taking an observation of Jupiter.天文学家们正在观测木星。

8 Saturn   

n.农神，土星

参考例句：

• 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。
• These comparisons suggested that Saturn is made of lighter materials.这些比较告诉我们，土星由较轻的物质构成。

9 barely   

adv.仅仅，几乎没有，几乎不

参考例句：

• The male bird is barely distinguishable from the female.雄鸟和雌鸟几乎无法辨别。
• He took barely enough money to keep the children in bread.他赚很少的钱仅够孩子们勉强糊口。