英语听力精选进阶版 9640

Hi there, I'm Ore from the BBC World News for Schools. It's Tuesday the 14th of June. 

Coming up: 

?Billions of dollars pledged to vaccinate¹ kids against diseases, 

?Tennis star Serena Williams back on top form 

?And a 112-kilometre swim for a record-breaking granny! 

But first to Tunisia in North Africa, where the former President, Zine al-Abidi-ene Ben Ali, is to go on trial next week. He's been accused of a number of crimes, but as he's currently in Saudi Arabia, the trial will go ahead without him present. 

Ben Ali was ousted² from his role as President in January after mass protests in Tunisia. What happened there inspired protesters in other countries such as Egypt, Libya and Syria to demonstrate against their rulers. 

Last week we told you that world governments were being asked to do more to help children get vaccinated³ against deadly diseases. Well good news - lots of countries have now pledged money - around 4.3 billion dollars - which exceeded expectations. Officials say this funding milestone⁴ will save more than four million lives in the next few years. 

As well as countries, American computing⁵ tycoon⁶ Bill Gates also pledged a billion dollars to the cause, saying in the past the kids who needed the vaccines⁸ the most were the ones that didn't get them: 

CLIP: "The poorest children, who are actually the most susceptible⁹ to these diseases, and the benefit of giving them the vaccine⁷ is the highest - and yet in the past they've been the ones that don't get it." 

It's a week until tennis most famous Grand Slam tournament Wimbledon begins and 2010 winner Serena Williams is back in action. She suffered health problems after last year's Wimbledon final, and has admitted that she feared she'd never make a return to the game. Serena says she missed the tennis way of life: 

CLIP: "When you're on the tour for so many years like I have been, and I don't even want to say how long, it's like a big family - you see these players every week or you see the staff on the tour and it's just like your life. You totally miss your life and your way of being. And you miss trophies¹⁰ and then you miss opportunities and you think maybe I could have won that, or maybe I couldn't have and gosh, that's what I missed a lot!" 

Serena Williams has won lots of tennis tournaments and for today's question we want to know how many Grand Slam tournaments there are each year? 

Yesterday we asked you what's special about a tiger's stripes. 

And the answer is... 

That a tiger's stripes are unique - no two tigers have the same pattern! 

And just before we go, an Australian grandmother has set a new world record for an unassisted solo ocean swim. Penny swam 112 kilometres between Grand Cayman island and Little Cayman in the Caribbean, braving the waters for almost 41 hours to complete the journey! 

But she's no stranger to record-breaking - Penny was the first woman to swim the Alenuihaha Channel from Hawaii to Maui and the first person to swim from Santa Barbara Island to Point Vincente on the Los Angeles coast. What will she do next?? 

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

1 vaccinate   

vt.给…接种疫苗；种牛痘

参考例句：

• Local health officials then can plan the best times to vaccinate people.这样，当地的卫生官员就可以安排最佳时间给人们接种疫苗。
• Doctors vaccinate us so that we do not catch smallpox.医生给我们打预防针使我们不会得天花。

2 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

3 vaccinated   

[医]已接种的，种痘的，接种过疫菌的

参考例句：

• I was vaccinated against tetanus. 我接种了破伤风疫苗。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child? 你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？

4 milestone   

n.里程碑；划时代的事件

参考例句：

• The film proved to be a milestone in the history of cinema.事实证明这部影片是电影史上的一个里程碑。
• I think this is a very important milestone in the relations between our two countries.我认为这是我们两国关系中一个十分重要的里程碑。

5 computing   

n.计算

参考例句：

• to work in computing 从事信息处理
• Back in the dark ages of computing, in about 1980, they started a software company. 早在计算机尚未普及的时代（约1980年），他们就创办了软件公司。

6 tycoon   

n.有钱有势的企业家，大亨

参考例句：

• The tycoon is on the verge of bankruptcy.那名大亨濒临破产的边缘。
• The tycoon has many servants to minister to his needs.那位大亨有很多人服侍他。

7 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

8 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

9 susceptible   

adj.过敏的，敏感的；易动感情的，易受感动的

参考例句：

• Children are more susceptible than adults.孩子比成人易受感动。
• We are all susceptible to advertising.我们都易受广告的影响。

10 trophies   

n.（为竞赛获胜者颁发的）奖品( trophy的名词复数 )；奖杯；（尤指狩猎或战争中获得的）纪念品；（用于比赛或赛跑名称）奖

参考例句：

• His football trophies were prominently displayed in the kitchen. 他的足球奖杯陈列在厨房里显眼的位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The hunter kept the lion's skin and head as trophies. 这猎人保存狮子的皮和头作为纪念品。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》