英语听力精选进阶版 10242

Another boat carrying hundreds of migrants has sunk between Sicily and Tunisia with dozens of people reported dead. The Italian coastguard says that many of the estimated 250 on board have been rescued. Matthew Price reports from the Italian island of Lampedusa.

另一只载着数百名移民的船只在西西里岛和突尼斯之间沉没，导致数十人丧生。意大利海岸警卫称船上大概250人，已有多人获救。马修·普赖斯在意大利兰佩杜萨岛报道。

Just before sunset, way out in the Mediterranean¹ another migrant boat sank. Some reports say the people on board were trying to attract the attention of an aircraft flying overhead. They had crowded to one side of the boat and it capsized. The Italian navy had several vessels² in the area. They managed to get their helicopters to the scene quickly as did Maltese forces. They began hauling people out of the water. Many were saved, many were not. Others also perished in the Mediterranean today off the coast of Egypt and more people were rescued from flimsy craft elsewhere in the sea.

日落之前，另一只移民船在开往地中海的途中沉没。有报道称船上的人曾试图吸引头顶上飞机的注意力，他们挤到船的一头，结果船就沉没了。意大利海军在这一海域有几艘船，他们设法尽快将直升机驶到现场，然后开始从水中将移民救出。许多人获救了，也有人丧生了，也有的在离开埃及海岸后今天在地中海死亡，更多人的人被从海上其他地方脆弱的小船上救走。

The Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan has accused an unnamed political party in the country’s parliament of carrying out his brief abduction on Wednesday. Mr Zeidan said his captors had made clear who was behind their action, which he described as an attempted coup³. From Tripoli, Rana Jawad.

利比亚总理阿里·扎伊丹指控该国议会某政党周三对他实施了短暂的绑架，但他未指出是哪个党派。扎伊丹说他的绑架者明确说明了背后指使者，他称这是预谋未遂的政变。Jawad在首都的黎波里报道。

Describing his political opponents as a dangerous minority within the country’s elected national congress, Prime Minister Ali Zeidan stopped short of naming them. In an address to the nation with members of his cabinet standing⁴ staunchly around him, Mr Zeidan shed light on an internal political struggle that has long been seen here as the source of Libya’s lack of progress since the end of the war in 2011. He said his government’s plans to rebuild institutions have been opposed and that his opponents within the country’s legislative⁵ body make sure they failed or never happened. He blamed the unnamed political bloc⁶ within congress for his abduction.

总理阿里·扎伊丹称其政治对手是该国当选国会中危险的少数党派，但他没有指出该党的名称。扎伊丹对全国发表演讲，他的内阁成员坚定地站在他的周围，他解释了国内一场政治斗争，该斗争导致2011年战争结束以来利比亚一直无法取得进步。他说政府重建机构的计划遭到反对，本国立法机构的反对者们想让这些计划失败或根本没办法实施。他指责国会内这个未指明的政治集团绑架了自己。

The African Union says it will increase its force in Somalia by around a third to step up its fight against militants⁷ from the Islamist group al-Shabab. The AU said its mission in Somalia, Amisom, would have more than 6,000 additional troops, taking the total number to 24,000. The request must be approved by the UN Security Council.

非盟称将增加约三分之一的驻索马里部队，意在加大对伊斯兰阿尔沙巴布武装组织的打击力度。非盟称驻索马里特派团将增加6000多士兵，总人数将为2.4万。这一请求必须得到联合国安理会的批准。

President Obama has held more talks with Republicans.

总统奥巴马已与共和党做了进一步的对话。

1 Mediterranean   

adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的

参考例句：

• The houses are Mediterranean in character.这些房子都属地中海风格。
• Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.直布罗陀是地中海的要冲。

2 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

4 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

5 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

6 bloc   

n.集团；联盟

参考例句：

• A solid bloc of union members support the decision.工会会员团结起来支持该决定。
• There have been growing tensions within the trading bloc.贸易同盟国的关系越来越紧张。

7 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。