英语听力精选进阶版 14169

BBC Learning English 

Words in the News  

30 January 2013 

Greeks cut forests to stay warm 

Transcript: 

Greece’s Mount Olympus is experiencing a rise in unauthorised logging. 

It’s estimated over 100,000 trees have been felled illegally. 

With fuel prices soaring and temperatures dropping, many people are turning to wood to heat their homes. 

Wood markets are thriving but not all  sources of wood are legitimate¹.  

Racketeers are among those who have been caught taking trees from the home of Greece’s ancient gods. 

Vocabulary: 

logging 

the cutting down of trees for wood, usually on a large scale for commercial 

purposes  

felled 

cut down 

soaring 

rising  quickly 

thriving   

doing very well, being successful 

racketeers 

people who make money from illegal  activities 

Exercise: 

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

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

correctly. 

logging / felled / soaring / thriving / racketeers 

1.  The classical  Indian  dance of Kathak originated in Northern India but its popularity is ____________ in and around London with hundreds of young British Asians. 

2.  He also claims  to have brought 232 criminals  to justice - including arms dealers² and immigration ____________  - by conning³ them with his disguise. 

3.  Many bears suffer from the effects of the ____________ industry and the spread of the human population. 

4.  Steve Bransgrove was woken up by the "sound of an engine revving⁴ and a loud bang" and found the 12m (40ft) pine in his garden had been ____________. 

5.  Car sales are ____________, carmakers  are hiring thousands of workers, and memories  of the recent bankruptcies⁵ of two of Detroit's "big three" companies already  seem like  distant memories. 

Answers: 

1.  The classical  Indian  dance of Kathak originated in Northern India but its popularity is thriving in and around London with hundreds of young British Asians. 

2.  He also claims  to have brought 232 criminals  to justice - including arms dealers and immigration racketeers - by conning them with his disguise. 

3.  Many bears suffer from the effects of the logging industry and the spread of the human population. 

4.  Steve Bransgrove was woken up by the "sound of an engine revving and a loud bang" and found the 12m (40ft) pine in his garden had been felled. 

5.  Car sales are soaring, carmakers are hiring thousands of workers, and memories of the recent bankruptcies of two of Detroit's "big three" companies already  seem like  distant memories. 

1 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

2 dealers   

n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者

参考例句：

• There was fast bidding between private collectors and dealers. 私人收藏家和交易商急速竞相喊价。
• The police were corrupt and were operating in collusion with the drug dealers. 警察腐败，与那伙毒品贩子内外勾结。

3 conning   

v.诈骗，哄骗( con的现在分词 )；指挥操舵( conn的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He climbed into the conning tower, his eyes haunted and sickly bright. 他爬上司令塔，两眼象见鬼似的亮得近乎病态。 来自辞典例句
• As for Mady, she enriched her record by conning you. 对马德琳来说，这次骗了你，又可在她的光荣历史上多了一笔。 来自辞典例句

4 revving   

v.（使）加速( rev的现在分词 )；（数量、活动等）激增；（使发动机）快速旋转；（使）活跃起来

参考例句：

• The team are revving up for next week's game. 这个队伍对下周的比赛跃跃欲试。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Since the introduction of new techniques, the production has been revving up. 自从新技术的引进，产量一直都在增加。 来自互联网

5 bankruptcies   

n.破产( bankruptcy的名词复数 )；倒闭；彻底失败；（名誉等的）完全丧失

参考例句：

• It's a matter of record that there were ten bankruptcies in the town last year. 去年这个城市有十家破产是事实。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Business bankruptcies rose 50 percent over the previous year. 破产企业的数量比前一年增加５０％。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件