英语听力精选进阶版 14131

Zimbabwean diamonds "still bloody¹"

Summary

14 June 2010

Global Witness, the human rights watchdog, has warned that the Kimberley Process, the scheme that is meant to certify² diamonds, could be funding political violence in Zimbabwe.

Reporter:

Karen Allen

Report

The Marange diamond fields are among the richest in the world. They've been widely linked to human rights abuses and have reportedly been a source of revenue to win support for President Robert Mugabe's Zanu PF party. But despite this the Kimberly Process has stopped short of expelling Zimbabwe from its certification scheme.

Now a report by Global Witness claims that by turning a blind eye to alleged³ abuses, the Kimberley Process has effectively condoned⁴ a system that has swapped⁵ military control of the diamond fields to the establishment of joint⁶ venture companies. Companies which allegedly break Zimbabwean law and which reinforce a system of patronage⁷ which Global Witness claims "facilitates state looting".

An investigation⁸ into the joint venture companies revealed a lack of transparency and also the presence of dubious⁹ individuals who've been arrested in the past for diamond smuggling¹⁰.

The report concludes that given Zimbawe's fragile coalition¹¹ government, and history of political violence, the Zimbabwean authorities are simply "exchanging one form of criminality for another".

Karen Allen, BBC News

1 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

2 certify   

vt.证明，证实；发证书(或执照)给

参考例句：

• I can certify to his good character.我可以证明他品德好。
• This swimming certificate is to certify that I can swim one hundred meters.这张游泳证是用以证明我可以游100米远。

3 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

4 condoned   

v.容忍，宽恕，原谅( condone的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Terrorism can never be condoned. 决不能容忍恐怖主义。
• They condoned his sins because he repented. 由于他的悔悟，他们宽恕了他的罪。 来自辞典例句

5 swapped   

交换（工作）( swap的过去式和过去分词 )； 用…替换，把…换成，掉换（过来）

参考例句：

• I liked her coat and she liked mine, so we swapped. 我喜欢她的外套，她喜欢我的外套，于是我们就交换了。
• At half-time the manager swapped some of the players around. 经理在半场时把几名队员换下了场。

6 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

7 patronage   

n.赞助，支援，援助；光顾，捧场

参考例句：

• Though it was not yet noon,there was considerable patronage.虽然时间未到中午，店中已有许多顾客惠顾。
• I am sorry to say that my patronage ends with this.很抱歉，我的赞助只能到此为止。

8 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。

9 dubious   

adj.怀疑的，无把握的；有问题的，靠不住的

参考例句：

• What he said yesterday was dubious.他昨天说的话很含糊。
• He uses some dubious shifts to get money.他用一些可疑的手段去赚钱。

10 smuggling   

n.走私

参考例句：

• Some claimed that the docker's union fronted for the smuggling ring.某些人声称码头工人工会是走私集团的掩护所。
• The evidence pointed to the existence of an international smuggling network.证据表明很可能有一个国际走私网络存在。

11 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。