英语听力精选进阶版 9646

Hi there, I'm Leah from BBC World News for Schools. It's Thursday the 23rd of June. 

Coming up: 

?French and American troops to leave Afghanistan 

?And how the earthquake and tsunami¹ affected² Japan's animals. 

First, France and America have announced important plans about when their troops will be leaving Afghanistan. Here's what American President Barack Obama said: 

CLIP:"Starting next month, we will be able to remove 10,000 of our troops from Afghanistan by the end of this year, and we will bring home a total of 33,000 troops by next summer." 

This is a quicker and bigger withdrawal³ than his military commanders advised. France also says its 4,000 soldiers in Afghanistan will leave. The Afghan President Hamid Karzai welcomed America's announcement, but the Taliban group dismissed it as "symbolic⁴" and said they'll continue fighting until all foreign forces leave. The plan is for the remaining 68,000 US troops to leave by 2013, provided that Afghan forces are ready to take over security of the country. 

To Japan now and the Fukushima nuclear disaster which happened after the earthquake there back in March. Everyone who lived nearby was evacuated⁵ and many haven't been allowed back. It means hundreds of pets and other animals have been left stranded⁶. Charities are feeding and looking after any animals they can, but Dr. Woodbury from the World Society for the Protection of Animals says it's hard for pet owners: 

CLIP:"Like anywhere, pets are part of their family, so many people are quite upset that they're not able to go back in and get their pets." 

He hopes that the Fukushima government will work more with charities to help rescue the remaining animals who are stranded. 

A famous Chinese artist has been released from detention⁷ after a global campaign. Ai Weiwei was arrested in April and since then lots of people have been asking that he be freed. He's known for speaking against the Chinese government - and that's why his family and supporters say he was arrested. Even though he's been freed, the artist says he's not allowed to talk to journalists and officials say he's not allowed to leave the city of Beijing without permission. 

Now for today's question. We want to know what's the capital city of Afghanistan? 

Yesterday, we asked you how many member states are there in the United Nations? 

And the answer is... 

192 

And finally, people who wanted to wish Prince William and Kate Middleton well for their wedding have raised over one and a half million dollars. The couple set up a fund so that anyone who wanted to give a wedding gift could make a donation to one of their chosen charities instead. The money will be shared between 26 charities in the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand and includes those that help children and conservation projects. 

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

1 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

2 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

3 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

4 symbolic   

adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的

参考例句：

• It is symbolic of the fighting spirit of modern womanhood.它象征着现代妇女的战斗精神。
• The Christian ceremony of baptism is a symbolic act.基督教的洗礼仪式是一种象征性的做法。

5 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。

6 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。

7 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。