英语听力精选进阶版 10055

France’s national assembly has voted overwhelmingly in favor of legalizing same sex marriage. The new law will also allow gay couples to adopt children. President Francois Hollande’s proposal has led to huge pro¹ and anti demonstrations² across the country. From Paris here is Christian³ Fraser.

法国国民议会以绝大多数支持投票通过同性婚姻合法化法律。新法将允许同性夫妇手养孩子，总统弗朗索瓦·奥朗德的提案在全国引发支持和抗议游行。克里斯蒂安·弗雷泽在巴黎报道。

They decriminalized homosexuality in France in 1791, not long after the revolution. But the bill to give gay and lesbian couples equal rights in marriage and adoption⁴ has brought them back to the barricades⁵ in their thousands. The more contentious⁶ issues of surrogacy and assisted fertility will now be debated later in the year, which threatens to prolong what has been a poisonous few months. The mood was encapsulated by the chaos⁷ in parliament, at one point, the speaker called for demonstrators to be forcibly ejected from the chamber⁸. Interior minister said the tenor⁹ of the debate has reflected some of the darkest times in the country’s history.

1791年大革命之后不久合法化了同性恋，但在允许同性夫妇婚姻和收养的问题又引起数千人的争论，引发更多争议的代孕和辅助生育问题将在今年下半年讨论，这些讨论可能要拖上好几个月。议会的吵闹使得气氛很压抑，演讲者一度呼吁将游行者赶走。内政部长称，辩论的进程反映了该国历史上最黑暗的时刻。

The two orthodox bishops¹⁰ kidnapped in Syria on Monday have been freed. Yohanna Ibrahim and Boulos Yaziji were released on Tuesday and are back in the city of Aleppo. A French organization working with churches in the Middle East told the BBC the bishops had been kidnapped by an unknown rebel group, their driver was killed during the abduction.

周一在叙利亚被绑架的两名东正教主教现已获释，Yohanna Ibrahim和Boulos Yaziji周二获释，现已回到阿勒颇。与中东教堂合作的一家法国组织告诉BBC，这两名主教是被未知身份的叛军组织绑架的，他们的司机在绑架中被杀。

A White House spokesman says the United States has not yet concluded that the Syrian government has used chemical weapons but backs an investigation¹¹ into allegations that it may have. The comments follow claims from Israeli official that Syria used such weapons against rebels. Our Middle East correspondent Wyre Davies reports.

白宫发言人称美国尚未得出叙利亚政府使用化学武器的结论，但支持对此进行调查。此前以色列官方称叙利亚使用这类武器对付叛军，BBC中东记者怀尔·戴维斯报道。

The CIA and the West agencies have repeatedly alleged¹² that the Bashar al-Assad's regime possesses a substantial stockpile of chemical weapons. Speaking at an intelligence conference in Tel Aviv, Brigadier-General Itai Brun said Israel believed the Assad regime had probably used the nerve agent sarin a number of times. The senior intelligence official said among the evidence it had examined were images of victims with foam¹³ coming from their mouths and other signs consistent with the effects of sarin nerve gas.

中央情报局和维斯特机构多次宣称巴沙尔·阿萨德政权拥有大量囤积的化学武器，准将Itai Brun在特拉维夫市情报会议上说，以色列认为阿萨德政权可能使用过神经性毒剂沙林几次。该高级情报官员称获得的证据中有些图片，显示有的受害者口吐泡沫，还有其他显示神经性毒剂沙林效果的迹象。

The British government is to outlaw¹⁴ discrimination on the bases of caste, giving improved legal protection to an estimated 400,000 people whom the Hindu and Sikh communities have classed as Dailts or untouchables. Here is our religious affair correspondent Robert Piggott.

英国政府将废除种姓制度基础上的歧视，将进一步向印度教和锡克教社区40万名贱民提供法律保护。BBC宗教事务记者罗伯特·皮戈特报道。

The caste system is parts of ancient culture of India, stratifying society rigidly¹⁵ into four tiers and leaving a fifth group as outcastes or untouchables. This group has historically been consigned¹⁶ to unclean and to menial jobs in India. A government report acknowledged that immigrants had brought elements of caste system with them to the UK and the Dailts has suffered discrimination here. Dailts have complained of bullying¹⁷ at work and school, discrimination in getting services and have been denied promotion¹⁸ by higher caste Hindu or Sikh managers.

种姓制度是古印度文化的一部分，该制度将社会武断地划分为四个等级，留下第五个等级为贱民。历史上印度的这个阶级一直坐着肮脏和卑贱的工作。政府报告发现移民将种姓制度的元素带入英国，贱民们在这里也受到歧视。他们抱怨在工作和学校受到欺负，接受服务时受歧视，高级的印度和锡克教管理者还不给他们提升的机会。

World News from the BBC

这里是BBC新闻报道。

A man charged with sending letters containing the deadly poison ricin to President Obama has been released on bail¹⁹. Paul Kevin Curtis from Mississippi has denied charges that he sent letters laced with ricin to a US senator and a judge as well as to Mr. Obama. In a separate development, the US Defense²⁰ Intelligence Agency says its staff detected a potentially harmful substance.

被控向总统奥巴马发送含有致命毒品蓖麻毒素的男子现已保释出狱。保罗·凯文·柯蒂斯否认曾向一名参议员、一名法官和奥巴马发送含有蓖麻毒素的信件。另据报道，美国国防部情报机构称其人员已侦查出可能有害的物质。

Two men accused of plotting to derail a passenger train in Canada have appeared in court. Raed Jaser and Chiheb Esseghaier who are not Canadian citizens are charged with conspiracy²¹ to murder and association with the terrorist group that Canadian police say is al-Qaeda in Iran. Both men were remained in custody²².

被控阴谋将加拿大一列客运列车撬出轨的两名男子现已出庭，Raed Jaser和Chiheb Esseghaier都不是加拿大人，他们被控犯下阴谋谋杀罪，还与恐怖组织有关联，加拿大警方说该组织是伊朗的基地组织。两人目前都仍在关押中。

The Associated Press news agency in the United States has confirmed that one of its messages on the social networking site Twitter reporting explosions at the White House was bogus. Adam Brookes reports from Washington.

美国美联社称，社交网站Twitter上发布的白宫爆炸案的信息是假的。亚当·布鲁克斯在华盛顿报道。

Shortly after one o’clock local time, a message appeared on Twitter purportedly²³ coming from Associated Press. It's said there had been explosions at the White House and President Obama was injured. The message was fake. Someone had hacked²⁴ into the AP’s Twitter account to post it. Nonetheless within minutes, the Dow Jones Index stock prices dropped 150 points and the bond market erupted. A clearly and impressed Jay Carney spokesman for Mr Obama quickly assures everybody that the president was fine, the market’s rally is quickly and whole business was over. The Associated Press says its Twitter account has been suspended while it works to correct the issue.

当地时间一点刚过，Twitter上发布一条据说来自美联社的消息。消息称白宫发生爆炸案，总统奥巴马受伤。这条消息是假的，是有人黑客进入美联社的网站发布的。然而，就在几分钟内，道琼斯指数价格下降了150点，债券市场也出现大爆发。奥巴马发言人杰伊·卡尼安慰大家，称总统一切都好，于是债市很快好转，整件事就结束了。美联社称其Twitter账户已经暂停使用以纠正错误。

The mobile phone and computer giant Apple has reported its first quarterly drop in profits for almost a decade. Apple made 9.5 billion dollars in profits in the first three months this year, 2.1 billion less than during the same period last year but there was an overall rise in revenue.

手机和电脑巨头苹果公司报道其第一季度的利润有所下降，这是近十年来的首次。苹果今年前三个月的利润为95亿美元，比去年同期降低21亿美元，但总收入有所增加。

1 pro   

n.赞成，赞成的意见，赞成者

参考例句：

• The two debating teams argued the question pro and con.辩论的两组从赞成与反对两方面辩这一问题。
• Are you pro or con nuclear disarmament?你是赞成还是反对核裁军？

2 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

3 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。

4 adoption   

n.采用，采纳，通过；收养

参考例句：

• An adoption agency had sent the boys to two different families.一个收养机构把他们送给两个不同的家庭。
• The adoption of this policy would relieve them of a tremendous burden.采取这一政策会给他们解除一个巨大的负担。

5 barricades   

路障，障碍物( barricade的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The police stormed the barricades the demonstrators had put up. 警察冲破了示威者筑起的街垒。
• Others died young, in prison or on the barricades. 另一些人年轻时就死在监牢里或街垒旁。

6 contentious   

adj.好辩的，善争吵的

参考例句：

• She was really not of the contentious fighting sort.她委实不是好吵好闹的人。
• Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.从那时起，他们总想方设法避开有争议的问题。

7 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

8 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

9 tenor   

n.男高音（歌手），次中音（乐器），要旨，大意

参考例句：

• The tenor of his speech was that war would come.他讲话的大意是战争将要发生。
• The four parts in singing are soprano,alto,tenor and bass.唱歌的四个声部是女高音、女低音、男高音和男低音。

10 bishops   

（基督教某些教派管辖大教区的）主教( bishop的名词复数 )； （国际象棋的）象

参考例句：

• Each player has two bishops at the start of the game. 棋赛开始时，每名棋手有两只象。
• "Only sheriffs and bishops and rich people and kings, and such like. “他劫富济贫，抢的都是郡长、主教、国王之类的富人。

11 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。

12 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

13 foam   

v./n.泡沫，起泡沫

参考例句：

• The glass of beer was mostly foam.这杯啤酒大部分是泡沫。
• The surface of the water is full of foam.水面都是泡沫。

14 outlaw   

n.歹徒，亡命之徒；vt.宣布…为不合法

参考例句：

• The outlaw hid out in the hills for several months.逃犯在山里隐藏了几个月。
• The outlaw has been caught.歹徒已被抓住了。

15 rigidly   

adv.刻板地，僵化地

参考例句：

• Life today is rigidly compartmentalized into work and leisure. 当今的生活被严格划分为工作和休闲两部分。
• The curriculum is rigidly prescribed from an early age. 自儿童时起即已开始有严格的课程设置。

16 consigned   

v.把…置于（令人不快的境地）( consign的过去式和过去分词 )；把…托付给；把…托人代售；丟弃

参考例句：

• I consigned her letter to the waste basket. 我把她的信丢进了废纸篓。
• The father consigned the child to his sister's care. 那位父亲把孩子托付给他妹妹照看。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

17 bullying   

v.恐吓，威逼( bully的现在分词 )；豪；跋扈

参考例句：

• Many cases of bullying go unreported . 很多恐吓案件都没有人告发。
• All cases of bullying will be severely dealt with. 所有以大欺小的情况都将受到严肃处理。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 promotion   

n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传

参考例句：

• The teacher conferred with the principal about Dick's promotion.教师与校长商谈了迪克的升级问题。
• The clerk was given a promotion and an increase in salary.那个职员升了级，加了薪。

19 bail   

v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人

参考例句：

• One of the prisoner's friends offered to bail him out.犯人的一个朋友答应保释他出来。
• She has been granted conditional bail.她被准予有条件保释。

20 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

21 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

22 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。

23 purportedly   

adv.据称

参考例句：

• This is purportedly the oldest tree in the world. 据称这是世界上最古老的一棵树。 来自互联网
• Mayor Oh Se-Hoon launched the campaign last year, purportedly to improve efficiency. 据悉，首尔市市长吴世勋于去年提出了这项旨在提高工作效率的计划。 来自互联网

24 hacked   

生气

参考例句：

• I hacked the dead branches off. 我把枯树枝砍掉了。
• I'm really hacked off. 我真是很恼火。