英语听力精选进阶版 9948

Leaders of the bitterly divided American Congress are making last-minute attempts to stop significant new spending cuts and tax rises automatically taking effect on January first. Both houses are ready for rare Sunday sessions. They are trying to prevent the United States economy from falling off what been dubbed¹ the fiscal² cliff, the automatic imposition of some $600bn worth of taxing increase and spending cuts dating back to the Bush era. From Washington Jonny Dymond.

美国国会议员在最后时刻仍争论不休，试图阻止1月1日自动实施的新开支削减和增税政策。周日开会很罕见，而两院都为此做好了准备。他们努力阻止美国经济陷入所谓的财政悬崖，即自动增加价值6000万美元的税收和开支削减，该政策可追溯到布什时代。Jonny Dymond在华盛顿报道。

One nation with a very divided government. President Obama and congress are grappling for a deal with just 36 hours before time runs out. If there is no deal, the press of failure could be high. The average American family will see that tax rise by more than $2,000 a year. As money sucked out the economy, a second American recession is thought likely to begin. And confidence in the American government around the world would plummet³. Financial markets would probably take fright.

美国政府内部目前争议很大，总统奥巴马和国会争取在最后36小时内达成协议。如果协商未果，失败的代价会很高。每户美国家庭每年将承担额外2000美元税收。随着资金从经济中被抽出，美国很可能陷入第二场衰退中。这样全世界对美国政府的信心就会猛跌，金融市场可能出现恐慌。

Meanwhile President Obama says he will put his full weight to behind getting new gun control measures approved the United States within 12 months. Mr Obama expressed doubt about the idea put forward by the pro-gun lobby to position armed guards in every school.

同时，总统奥巴马表示将权力支持在未来一年内通过新的枪支控制措施。支持枪支拥有的游说团建议在每所学校配置武装警卫，对此奥巴马表示怀疑。

I'm skeptical⁴ that the only answer is putting more guns in schools. And I think the vast majority of the American people are skeptical that that somehow is going to solve our problem. And here is the bottom line, we're not going to get this done unless the American people decide it's important.

他们称解决的唯一办法是向学校提供更多枪支，对此我很怀疑。我想绝大多数美国人都不相信这会解决问题。我们的底线是，除非美国人认为这样做很重要，否则我们不会这么做的。

After the mass shooting in Connecticut earlier this month, in which 26 children and teachers were killed, President Obama said will task force to come up with urgent suggestions and how such massacres⁵ could be avoided in future.

本月初康涅狄格州导致26名儿童和教师丧生的枪击案发生后，总统奥巴马称将成立工作组来提出紧急建议和未来避免类似惨案的办法。

The President of the Central African Republican Francois Bozize says he's ready to form a government of national unity⁶ with a rebel coalition⁷ that has seized several key towns in the country. Here is Mary Harper.

中非共和国总统弗朗索瓦·博齐泽称将与某叛军联盟成立全国统一政府，这支叛军现已夺取该国几处重镇。Mary Harper报道。

Mr Bozize who was speaking after a meeting with the head of the African Union Yayi Boni said he would not stand for re-election in 2016. He said he was ready for immediate⁸ talks with the rebel coalition. The rebel says they will consider the president's offer. After seizing a town on Saturday, just 150km from the capital, they are in a very strong position. The government army supported by troops from Chad, failed to contain the rebel advance, in some cases, abandoning towns without a fight.

博齐泽与非盟首脑亚伊·博尼会谈后表示，他将不参加2016年的竞选连任，他说自己随时准备与叛军联盟进行对话。叛军称将考虑总统的提议。周六夺取距离首都150公里处的某城镇后，叛军目前处于非常有利的地位。由乍得军队支持的政府军未能阻挡叛军的进攻，甚至还不战而弃城。

A security forces in Lybia say an investigation⁹ is underway after a bomb blast at a Coptic Christian¹⁰ church, in which two people were killed. The explosion happened at Dafniya, near the city of Misrata, those dead were Egyptian. Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians living and work in Libya.

利比亚安全部队一座科普特基督教堂发生爆炸案，导致两人死亡，目前正对此进行调查。爆炸发生在米苏拉特市附近的Dafniya，死者均为埃及人。数十万埃及人居住和工作在利比亚。

World News from the BBC

One of Italy's foremost scientists, Rita Levi Montalcini who was a joint¹¹ winner of the Nobel Prize for medicine has died in Rome aged¹² 103. She overcame Fascist¹³ and anti-Semitic discrimination before and during the second World War and went on to carry out a hugely important research into the development of the cells and the human body. Alan Johnston reports from Rome.

意大利最顶尖的科学家、诺贝尔医学奖得主丽塔·列维·蒙塔尔奇尼在罗马去世，享年103岁。二战前后，她经历过法西斯和反犹太歧视，随后在细胞和人体方面进行了重大研究。Alan Johnston在罗马报道。

Rita Levi Montalcini was born into an intellectual and artistic¹⁴ Jewish family in 1909. She graduated from a medical school in Turin and went on to working academia. But her career soon ran fell of anti-Semitic laws introduced under Italy's Fascist leader, Benito Mussolini. With the coming of peace, she took her research forward at a university in the United States, there she made discoveries that shed light on the mystery surrounding abnormal cell development in humans.

丽塔·列维·蒙塔尔奇尼1909年出生在有文化和艺术修养的犹太家庭。她毕业于都灵一所医学院，后来从事学术工作。但她的事业违反了意大利法西斯领袖墨索里尼推行的反犹太法。战争结束后，她在美国一所大学继续从事研究，她在那里的发现阐明了人类异常细胞的发展。

A court in Bahrain has jailed two policemen for seven years for beating a man to death where he was held in police custody¹⁵ during the political unrest last year. They are among a number of officers on trial or under an investigation for allegedly torturing Shia detainees. Last month the international panel of legal experts accused the Bahraini security force of routinely using torture to punish or extracted confession¹⁶ from hundreds of Shia protesters. Bahrain's Interior minister rejected the allegations.

去年巴林政治暴乱期间，一名男子在警局拘留期间遭受两名警察毒打并死去，目前巴林法庭已逮捕这两名警察。目前有大批警察因虐待什叶派拘留者指控而受审或接受调查。上月，国际法律专家小组指控巴林安全部队经常对数百名什叶派抗议者拷打或刑讯逼供。巴林内政部长否认这些指控。

The Egyptian football association says their premier¹⁷ League matches will resume in February after a year suspension. It was agreed that game restart in February 1st, exactly a year after a riot that killed more than 70 people. The violence happened during a match in Port Said between the country's top teams, Al-Ahly and Al-Masry. None spectators are to be allowed into stadiums during the first season.

埃及足球协会称其超级联赛将在一年暂停后于二月份重新开始，据悉比赛将于2月1日重启，就在一年前，70多人在一场暴乱中丧生，当时该国两大球队阿赫利和马斯里正在塞得港举行比赛。第一赛季期间观众一律不许进入比赛场馆。

 

1 dubbed   

v.给…起绰号( dub的过去式和过去分词 )；把…称为；配音；复制

参考例句：

• Mathematics was once dubbed the handmaiden of the sciences. 数学曾一度被视为各门科学的基础。
• Is the movie dubbed or does it have subtitles? 这部电影是配音的还是打字幕的？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

3 plummet   

vi.(价格、水平等)骤然下跌；n.铅坠；重压物

参考例句：

• Mengniu and Yili have seen their shares plummet since the incident broke.自事件发生以来，蒙牛和伊利的股票大幅下跌。
• Even if rice prices were to plummet,other brakes on poverty alleviation remain.就算大米价格下跌，其它阻止导致贫困的因素仍然存在。

4 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

5 massacres   

大屠杀( massacre的名词复数 )； 惨败

参考例句：

• The time is past for guns and killings and massacres. 动不动就用枪、动不动就杀、大规模屠杀的时代已经过去了。 来自教父部分
• Numberless recent massacres were still vivid in their recollection. 近来那些不可胜数的屠杀，在他们的头脑中记忆犹新。

6 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

7 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

8 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

9 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

10 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

11 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

12 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

13 fascist   

adj.法西斯主义的；法西斯党的；n.法西斯主义者，法西斯分子

参考例句：

• The strikers were roughed up by the fascist cops.罢工工人遭到法西斯警察的殴打。
• They succeeded in overthrowing the fascist dictatorship.他们成功推翻了法西斯独裁统治。

14 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

15 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

16 confession   

n.自白，供认，承认

参考例句：

• Her confession was simply tantamount to a casual explanation.她的自白简直等于一篇即席说明。
• The police used torture to extort a confession from him.警察对他用刑逼供。

17 premier   

adj.首要的；n.总理，首相

参考例句：

• The Irish Premier is paying an official visit to Britain.爱尔兰总理正在对英国进行正式访问。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。