英语听力精选进阶版 13845

BBC Learning English 

Words in the News  

25 April 2012 

Football crosses ocean 

Transcript: 

This is a well-travelled football! 

Identified thanks to the names written on it, the ball was set adrift by the tsunami¹ that 

hit Japan over a year ago. It was washed ashore² in Alaska! 

Its proud owner is Misaki Murakami: he received this treasured possession from his 

schoolmates when he got transferred to another school. The teenager became a 

minor³ celebrity⁴ after it was located. 

Vocabulary: 

well-travelled  

(someone or something) that has been to lots of places 

set adrift  

carried away by the sea with no specific direction 

washed ashore  

brought to the coast by the sea 

possession  

someone's belonging  

located  

found somewhere  

Exercise: 

Use one of the words or phrases below to complete each of these sentences from 

BBC news reports.  

Note that you may have to change the form of a word to complete the sentence 

correctly. 

well-travelled / set adrift / washed ashore / possession / located 

1.  By the end of the morning, dozens of boxes have ___________, and 

fishermen run around trying to gather as many as possible. 

2.  The explorer who ________ the wreck⁵ of the Titanic⁶ nearly 30 years ago 

says more needs to be done to protect it from damage. 

3.  Last month around a thousand Rohingyas were towed out to sea and 

_______ by the Thai military, said survivors⁷ who reached India and Indonesia. 

4.  Seventy-year-old Mohammed Islamta arranges his few meagre __________ 

carefully in the dust: a mat, a cooking pot and traditional Tuareg tea-pot and 

stove, the only things he managed to bring as he fled his home near Menaka in 

Mali just over a month ago. 

5.  They are ________ - in reality as well as in cyberspace⁸ - and are familiar 

with different societies and different ways of doing politics. 

Answers: 

1. By the end of the morning, dozens of boxes have washed ashore, and 

fishermen run around trying to gather as many as possible. 

Source:  Ecuador film shows growing reach of drugs trade 

2.  The explorer who located the wreck of the Titanic nearly 30 years ago says 

more needs to be done to protect it from damage.   

Source:  Titanic anniversary: Explorer wants more preservation 

3.  Last month around a thousand Rohingyas were towed out to sea and set 

adrift by the Thai military, said survivors who reached India and Indonesia. 

Source:  UN awaits Thai reply on migrants 

4. Seventy-year-old Mohammed Islamta arranges his few meagre possessions 

carefully in the dust: a mat, a cooking pot and traditional Tuareg tea-pot and 

stove, the only things he managed to bring as he fled his home near Menaka in 

Mali just over a month ago. 

Source:  Tuareg rebels make troubled return from Libya to Mali 

5. They are well-travelled - in reality as well as in cyberspace - and are familiar 

with different societies and different ways of doing politics. 

Source:  Italians find voice and punish Silvio Berlusconi 

1 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

2 ashore   

adv.在(向)岸上，上岸

参考例句：

• The children got ashore before the tide came in.涨潮前，孩子们就上岸了。
• He laid hold of the rope and pulled the boat ashore.他抓住绳子拉船靠岸。

3 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

4 celebrity   

n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望

参考例句：

• Tom found himself something of a celebrity. 汤姆意识到自己已小有名气了。
• He haunted famous men, hoping to get celebrity for himself. 他常和名人在一起, 希望借此使自己获得名气。

5 wreck   

n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难

参考例句：

• Weather may have been a factor in the wreck.天气可能是造成这次失事的原因之一。
• No one can wreck the friendship between us.没有人能够破坏我们之间的友谊。

6 titanic   

adj.巨人的，庞大的，强大的

参考例句：

• We have been making titanic effort to achieve our purpose.我们一直在作极大的努力，以达到我们的目的。
• The island was created by titanic powers and they are still at work today.台湾岛是由一个至今仍然在运作的巨大力量塑造出来的。

7 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

8 cyberspace   

n.虚拟信息空间，网络空间，计算机化世界

参考例句：

• She travels in cyberspace by sending messages to friends around the world.她利用电子空间给世界各地的朋友们发送信件。
• The teens spend more time in cyberspace than in the real world of friends and family.青少年花费在电脑上的时间比他们和真正的朋友及家人在一起的时间要多。