英语听力精选进阶版 10231

Thousands of civilians¹ have been fleeing of the sea suburb of the Syrian capital Damascus after a relaxation² of a barricade³ by government forces. Food, water and other supplies have been running desperately⁴ short. Lyse Doucet who is in Damascus described desperate people fleeing the rebel held suburb of Moadamiya which’s been under siege since March.

数千叙利亚平民在政府军队解除路障后涌往首都大马士革郊区，这里急缺食物、饮水等供应物资。记者Lyse Doucet在大马士革描述了绝望的人们逃离三月以来被包围且在叛军控制之下的 Moadamiya。

A tide of people fled Moadamiya today some on stretchers, some crying, all showing severe strain of a life under siege. “We didn’t seen a piece of bread for nine months.” one woman told me, “We were eating leaves and grass.” A little girl in a pink dress showed me her trembling hands. “We are all sick.” She said as she and her little sister clutched pieces of bread distributed by the Syrian-Arab Red Crescent Society.

今天有大批人离开 Moadamiya，有的躺在担架上，有的哭着，每个人都表现出包围下的紧张状态。一位妇女告诉我，“我们9个月来都没见到一片面包，我们只能吃树叶和草。”一个身穿粉色衣服的小女孩让我看她颤抖的双手，“我们都生病了。”她一边说着，一边和小妹妹抓着叙利亚红新月会分发的面包片。

The Syrian army had previously⁵ said rebel held areas of Damascus could surrender or starve.

叙利亚军队之前说叛军占领的部分大马士革地区可能要么投降，要么饿死。

The Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad has dismissed his deputy Prime Minister Qadri Jamil after he met an American diplomat⁶ in Geneva. Syrian state media said the talks were unauthorized. The American he met, the former ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford⁷ told the BBC Mr. Jamil had requested the meeting in a personal capacity.

叙利亚总统巴沙尔·阿萨德在副总理加德里·贾米勒于日内瓦会见美国外交官后就辞掉了他。叙利亚国家媒体称其会面没有得到授权，与之相见的美国人是前驻叙利亚大使罗伯特·福特，福特告诉BBC贾米勒请求以私人身份会面。

“To be very frank, from although I was willing to meet with Qadri Jamil he made clear that he was meeting me in a personal capacity not as a deputy prime minister of the Syrian government. And we had a long and very thorough discussion but I cannot say that we agreed on many issues they clipped. For one agreement we had that Syria does need to revolve⁸ its conflict through political means.”

“坦率地说，尽管我愿意同贾米勒会面，但他明确表示以私人身份见面，而非以叙利亚政府副总理身份相见。我们谈了很久，谈的很深入，但我并不能说我们在很多问题上达成一致。我们都认同的一点是，叙利亚确实需要通过政治途径解决冲突。”

America’s top intelligence chiefs have defended the activities of the national security agency in the wake of allegations that it’s been spying on European allies and unlawfully monitoring American citizens. Johnny Diamond reports.

美国高级情报长官为国家安全局的活动辩护，此前有传闻称该机构一直刺探欧洲盟国，并非法地监控美国公民。约翰尼·戴蒙德报道。

If anyone was expecting apologies or embarrassment⁹ from the leaders of America’s intelligence community, they were in for disappointment. Mistakes had been made said James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, but they were human or technical. There is, he said, no other country on this planet that has the magnitude of oversight¹⁰ that the US does. He said that what he described as the torrent¹¹ of disclosures about American surveillance had been extremely damaging and he anticipated even more. And asked whether America’s allies spied on the US, he replied with just one word, ‘Absolutely’.

如果任何人期望美国情报部门领导人能做出道歉或表现出尴尬，那么他们就失望了。国家情报主任詹姆斯·克莱佩说确实做了错事，但这是人道的或技术性问题。他说全世界没有哪个国家的监控范围比美国更广泛了，他说这种对美国监控的泄密行为已经造成了极大的破坏，他估计还会有更大影响。当被问及美国的盟国是否刺探美国，他回答说，“绝对的！”

The head of the NSA said reports about mass phone surveillance in France, Italy and Spain were false.

国安局局长说有关对法国、意大利和西班牙的大规模电话监控是假的。

President Putin’s most high-profile political opponent in Russia is facing new criminal charges. Alexei Navalny who’s stood for election as mayor of Moscow has already been giving a five-year suspended sentence for embezzlement¹². Now he’s been charged with money laundry along with his brother. Alexei Navalny has always insisted accusations¹³ against him are politically motivated.

总统普京在俄罗斯最高调的政治对手面临新的刑事指控，竞选莫斯科市长的阿里克谢·纳瓦林因贪污罪被判五年缓刑。现在他又被控与兄弟合伙洗钱，阿里克谢·纳瓦林一直坚称针对他的指控出于政治动机。

The Supreme¹⁴ Court in Argentina has ruled that a controversial media bill passed four years ago is constitutional, clearing the way for the breakup of large media groups. Argentina’s biggest broadcasting and newspaper company Clarin had appealed against the law starting a bitter dispute with the government of President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. Following the ruling, Clarin’s share prices fell sharply.

阿根廷最高法院判定4年前通过的有争议的媒体法案合宪，这就为分解大媒体组织扫清了道路。阿根廷最大的广播和新闻公司号角报就该法提起上诉，并与总统克里斯蒂娜·费尔南德斯·基什内尔的政府开始了激烈的争执。在这项判决宣布后，号角报的股价急剧下跌。

The president of France, Francois Hollande says four French hostages seized by Islamist militants¹⁵ in Niger more than three years ago has been released. They were kidnapped by al-Qaeda in Islamist Maghreb from the uranium mining town of Arlit. The foreign minister Laurent Fabius said no ransom¹⁶ had been paid. Now our West Africa correspondent Tomas Fessy reports.

法国总统弗朗索瓦·奥朗德称三年多前在尼日尔被伊斯兰武装分子劫持的4名法国人质现已获释，他们在铀矿城镇阿尔利特被基地组织在马格利布地区的分支组织绑架的。外长洛朗·法比尤斯称已经付了赎金，西非记者Tomas Fessy报道。

The details of how the hostages were released have yet to emerge but the French President Francois Hollande has thanked his Nigerian counterpart for securing their freedom. The four men working for the French mining company Areva were captured more than 1,000 days ago in September 2010 by al-Qaeda militants. Both French ministers of foreign affairs and defense¹⁷ are on their way to the western African countries to bring the four free men back home.

有关如何释放人质的细节尚未公布，但法国总统弗朗索瓦·奥朗德已感谢尼日利亚总统设法相助。这四名在法国矿业公司阿海珐工作的员工是2010年9月被基地武装分子绑架的，距现在已经1000多天。法国外事部长和国防部长都在去尼日尔的路上，准备将这四人接回国。

The United Nations General Assembly has voted overwhelming to condemn¹⁸ the US embargo¹⁹ against Cuba. Only two out of 200 countries, the US and Israel voted against the resolution. The American sanctions against Communist Cuba have been in place for more than five decades.

联合国大会压倒性通过决议谴责美国对古巴的禁运，200个国家中只有美国和以色列反对该决议。美国对共产主义古巴的制裁已经实施了50多年。

A Brazilian surfer is thought to have broken the record for the largest wave ever surfed during the storm that battered²⁰ Western Europe on Monday. Carlos Burle was filmed riding a wall of water around 13 meters high off the coast of Portugal. He also said the life of a fellow Brazilian surfer who nearly drowned in the huge swill²¹.

周一在冲击西欧的风暴中，一名巴西冲浪者在有史以来最大海浪中冲浪并打破记录。Carlos Burle被拍到在葡萄牙海岸冲过高达13米的水墙，他还提到另一名巴西冲浪者在大浪中几乎被淹。

1 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

2 relaxation   

n.松弛，放松；休息；消遣；娱乐

参考例句：

• The minister has consistently opposed any relaxation in the law.部长一向反对法律上的任何放宽。
• She listens to classical music for relaxation.她听古典音乐放松。

3 barricade   

n.路障，栅栏，障碍；vt.设路障挡住

参考例句：

• The soldiers make a barricade across the road.士兵在路上设路障。
• It is difficult to break through a steel barricade.冲破钢铁障碍很难。

4 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

5 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

6 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

7 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

8 revolve   

vi.(使)旋转；循环出现

参考例句：

• The planets revolve around the sun.行星绕着太阳运转。
• The wheels began to revolve slowly.车轮开始慢慢转动。

9 embarrassment   

n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫

参考例句：

• She could have died away with embarrassment.她窘迫得要死。
• Coughing at a concert can be a real embarrassment.在音乐会上咳嗽真会使人难堪。

10 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

11 torrent   

n.激流，洪流；爆发，(话语等的)连发

参考例句：

• The torrent scoured a channel down the hillside. 急流沿着山坡冲出了一条沟。
• Her pent-up anger was released in a torrent of words.她压抑的愤怒以滔滔不绝的话爆发了出来。

12 embezzlement   

n.盗用，贪污

参考例句：

• He was accused of graft and embezzlement and was chained and thrown into prison.他因被指控贪污盗窃而锒铛入狱。
• The judge sent him to prison for embezzlement of funds.法官因他盗用公款将其送入监牢。

13 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

14 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

15 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

16 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。

17 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。

18 condemn   

vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑

参考例句：

• Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他，而有些人谴责他。
• We mustn't condemn him on mere suppositions.我们不可全凭臆测来指责他。

19 embargo   

n.禁运（令）；vt.对...实行禁运，禁止（通商）

参考例句：

• This country put an oil embargo on an enemy country.该国对敌国实行石油禁运。
• During the war,they laid an embargo on commerce with enemy countries.在战争期间，他们禁止与敌国通商。

20 battered   

adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损

参考例句：

• He drove up in a battered old car.他开着一辆又老又破的旧车。
• The world was brutally battered but it survived.这个世界遭受了惨重的创伤,但它还是生存下来了。

21 swill   

v.冲洗；痛饮；n.泔脚饲料；猪食；（谈话或写作中的）无意义的话

参考例句：

• Having finished his coffee,he swilled out the mug and left it on the draining board.喝完咖啡后，他涮了涮杯子然后把它放在滴水板上。
• A crowd of men were standing around swilling beer.一群人正站在一起痛饮啤酒。