英语听力精选进阶版 10566

In his first comments after the Democratic Party's heavy defeat in Tuesday's midterm elections, President Obama has said the American people have sent a message that they wanted their politicians to work as hard as they did. Speaking at the White House Mr. Obama said he was eager to work with the new Congress to make the next two years as productive as possible.

在周二民主党在中期选举中失败后，奥巴马总统做了首次讲话，他说美国人民已经表示希望政客们一如既往地努力。奥巴马在白宫发表演讲，称他渴望与新国会合作，将未来两年尽可能地富有成效。

I am committed to making sure that I measure ideas not by whether they are from Democrat¹ or Republican but by whether they work for the American people. And that's not to say that we won't disagree over some issues that we're passionate² about, we will. Congress will pass some bills I cannot sign. I'm pretty sure I'll take some actions that some in Congress will not like. That's natural. That's how our democracy works. But we can surely find ways to work together on issues where there's broad agreement among the American people.

我承诺我会以观点来衡量事情，而不是看是民主党还是共和党，而是看是否对美国人民有帮助。这并不是说我们不会在某些问题上产生分歧，分歧肯定会存在的。国会将通过一些我不能签署的法案，我很确信我将采取一些不为国会所喜欢的行动，这都是自然的，我们的民主就是这样运作的。但我们肯定能找到办法就美国人普遍达成一致的问题上进行努力。

He also said he congratulated Mitch McConnell on becoming Senate Leader. For his part Mr. McConnell said that two sides could move forwards on trade agreements and tax reform.

他还表示庆祝明奇·麦康奈尔成为参议院领袖，而麦康奈尔表示双方将就贸易协议和税收改革向前推进。

The World Health Organization has slightly lowered its figures of the number of death from Ebola in West Africa, saying better laboratory testing is producing more reliable statistics. This may be the first indication that the huge effort to contain the virus is starting to have a moderate effect as I. F. reports from Geneva.

世卫组织称西非埃博拉死亡者有了轻微下降，称更好的实验室测试产生了更可靠的统计数据。这可能是第一个信号，表明遏制这场病毒的巨大努力开始产生一定的效果。记者在日内瓦报道。

The WHO believes that in Guinea the number of new cases is beginning to stabilize³. In Liberia they may actually be declining. But in Sierra Leone they continue to rise. But the WHO believes that despite this small size of hope, this is no time to relax. Transmission of Ebola remains⁴ widespread and it has now reached every district of Liberia and Sierra Leone. What's more the WHO is sure that overall both deaths and new cases of Ebola are still being underreported.

世卫组织认为几内亚的新病例数量开始趋稳，在利比里亚这个数字可能也在下降。但在塞拉利昂，这个数字却在继续上升。但世卫组织认为，尽管希望不大，但丝毫没有放松的时间。埃博拉传播依然很普遍，现在利比里亚和塞拉利昂的每个地区都已出现埃博拉。世卫组织确定的是，死亡总人数和埃博拉新病例的报道数字被低估了。

Myanmar's most prominent pro-democracy activist⁵ the Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has said the country's reform process has stalled over the last two years. Speaking at a news conference, she warned world leaders not to be too optimistic about the country's transition from military to civilian⁶ rule.

缅甸最著名的亲民主活动家诺奖得主昂山素季称过去两年该国的改革进程已经停滞，昂山素季在新闻发布会上警告世界领导人不要对该国从军事统治向民治过渡太过乐观。

The family of a British-Iranian woman on hunger strike in prison in the Iranian capital Tehran say they fear her condition is deteriorating⁷ rapidly. Ghoncheh Ghavami had been refusing solids and liquids since Saturday when she was sentenced to one year in prison for spreading anti-government propaganda. She was arrested in June when she tried to watch a men's volleyball match. Her brother Iman Ghavami said it was his sister's second protest while in custody⁸.

在伊朗首都德黑兰监狱中绝食的英籍伊朗女子的家人说，他们担心该女子状况在急剧恶化。周六葛罕法米因进行反政府宣传被判一年监禁，自那时起她就开始米水不进。6月份她因试图观看男子排球比赛而被捕。她的兄弟伊曼说这是她被囚禁期间第二次抗议了。

She hasn't recovered from that first hunger strike because first one lasted for two weeks. Then now she is on a dry hunger strike - no liquid and no solid food. So we fear that it might have a pretty serious, I mean fatal consequences.

她第一次绝食持续了两周，所以目前尚未从中恢复过来。现在她的绝食是不吃饭也不喝水。所以我们担心情况有些严重，我意思说会导致致命后果。

Jordan has recalled its ambassador to Israel in protest at what it calls increasing and unprecedented⁹ Israeli escalation¹⁰ at Jerusalem's Holy sites. It follows clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli police at al-Aqsa Mosque¹¹ Compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount. Jordan, which acts as custodian¹² of the mosque, said it would lodge¹³ a complaint to the UN Security Council.

约旦已经召回驻以色列大使，抗议所谓以色列在耶路撒冷圣地越发严重且史无前例的行为升级，此前巴勒斯坦抗议者和以色列警方在人称“圣殿山”的阿克萨清真寺发生冲突。作为这座清真寺的监管者，约旦称将向联合国安理会发起诉讼。

Boko Haram militants¹⁴ in northeastern Nigeria have renamed a recently captured town of Mubi, calling it Madinatu Islam - City of Islam. They seized Mubi, the second largest town in Adamawa State, at the end of last month. Residents told the BBC the militants had imposed Sharia - Islamic Law and it carried out executions and amputations.

尼日利亚东北部的博科圣地武装组织将最近占领的Mubi镇改名为“伊斯兰教之城”，他们上月底占领了阿达马瓦州第二大城市Mubi。当地居民告诉BBC这些武装分子推行了伊斯兰法，并实施处决和截肢的暴行。

The authorities in Brazil(s) are investigating reports that nine people were killed in the northern city of Belem in revenge attacks carried out overnight by off duty police officers. The attacks came hours after a policeman was shot dead by a unknown gunman outside his home on Tuesday night; nine people were killed in several areas of the city by men on motorbikes. Brazilian police said at least six of them were execution style killings¹⁵.

有报道称为了报复下班警察的袭击事件，巴西北部城市贝伦市有9人被杀，目前巴西当局正在对此案进行调查。周二晚上，就在袭击案发生的几小时前，一名警察在自家门外被无名持枪者开枪打死，该市不同城区还有9人被骑摩托者杀死。巴西警方称其中至少有6人被集体杀死。

Scientists are giving details of a 66-millions-year-old fossil resembling a modern-day groundhog which they say rewrites our understanding of early mammals. N. D. has more.

科学家称一块有着6600万年历史的化石与现代的土拨鼠很像，他们称这将让我们对早期哺乳动物有全新的认识。

The fossilized skull¹⁶ of this strange creature was discovered by chance in a block of sandstone taken from Madagascar to a New York lab. The scientists who discovered it have called it Vintana Sertici. They say it was about twice the size of a modern groundhog, have large eyes to see in low light and a downturned snout like a walrus¹⁷. Its existence means that mammals must have evolved millions of years earlier than previously¹⁸ thought. It's already been heralded¹⁹ as the discovery of a decade in the field of early mammal history.

这个奇怪生物的化石头颅是在马达加斯加岛一块岩石中被偶然发现的，然后被送往纽约一所实验室。发现这块化石的科学家称之为Vintana Sertici，他们说该生物的体型是现代土拨鼠的两倍，大大的眼睛能在弱光下看清楚，有着像海象一样往下翻的鼻子。该化石的发现意味着哺乳动物的演化肯定比我们之前认为的还要早几百万年。该发现被认为是10年来早期哺乳动物历史界的一大发现。

1 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

2 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。

3 stabilize   

vt.（使）稳定，使稳固，使稳定平衡；vi.稳定

参考例句：

• They are eager to stabilize currencies.他们急于稳定货币。
• His blood pressure tended to stabilize.他的血压趋向稳定。

4 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

5 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

6 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

7 deteriorating   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The weather conditions are deteriorating. 天气变得越来越糟。
• I was well aware of the bad morale and the deteriorating factories. 我很清楚，大家情绪低落，各个工厂越搞越坏。

8 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。

9 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

10 escalation   

n.扩大，增加

参考例句：

• The threat of nuclear escalation remains. 核升级的威胁仍旧存在。 来自辞典例句
• Escalation is thus an aspect of deterrence and of crisis management. 因此逐步升级是威慑和危机处理的一个方面。 来自辞典例句

11 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。

12 custodian   

n.保管人，监护人；公共建筑看守

参考例句：

• Benitez believes his custodian is among the top five in world football.贝尼特斯坚信他的门将是当今足坛最出色的五人之一。
• When his father died his uncle became his legal custodian.他父亲死后，他叔叔成了他的法定监护人。

13 lodge   

v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆

参考例句：

• Is there anywhere that I can lodge in the village tonight?村里有我今晚过夜的地方吗？
• I shall lodge at the inn for two nights.我要在这家小店住两个晚上。

14 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。

15 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

16 skull   

n.头骨；颅骨

参考例句：

• The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.头骨在15至25岁之间长合。
• He fell out of the window and cracked his skull.他从窗子摔了出去，跌裂了颅骨。

17 walrus   

n.海象

参考例句：

• He is the queer old duck with the knee-length gaiters and walrus mustache.他穿着高及膝盖的皮护腿，留着海象般的八字胡，真是个古怪的老家伙。
• He seemed hardly to notice the big walrus.他几乎没有注意到那只大海象。

18 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。

19 heralded   

v.预示( herald的过去式和过去分词 )；宣布（好或重要）

参考例句：

• The singing of the birds heralded in the day. 鸟鸣报晓。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A fanfare of trumpets heralded the arrival of the King. 嘹亮的小号声宣告了国王驾到。 来自《简明英汉词典》