英语听力精选进阶版 17231

 

WBR: Africa leaders sign 'Cape¹ to Cairo' free trade bloc² deal

Wed³, 10 Jun 15

African leaders have agreed to create the continent's largest free-trade zone, covering 26 countries in an area from Cape Town to Cairo. Supporters argue it could transform Africa's economic fortunes. Our Africa business reporter Matthew Davies helps us compare rhetoric⁴ with reality. Meanwhile another proposed trade deal has suffered a setback⁵, as a vote in Strasbourg on a major proposed EU-US free trade deal has been delayed. We discuss the proposed pact⁶ with Sander Loones, a Flemish MEP, and German MEP Ska Keller. Also, we hear how hackers⁷ have found a new way to make money out of software loopholes. We talk to Steve Jacques, an engineer at Juniper Networks, who helped write a report on an emerging grey market for information about software vulnerabilities. Plus, there's been a dramatic rise in the number of women drinking whisky. Our reporter Lucy Burton has been trying to find out why.

1 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

2 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。

3 wed   

v.娶，嫁，与…结婚

参考例句：

• The couple eventually wed after three year engagement.这对夫妇在订婚三年后终于结婚了。
• The prince was very determined to wed one of the king's daughters.王子下定决心要娶国王的其中一位女儿。

4 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

5 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。

6 pact   

n.合同，条约，公约，协定

参考例句：

• The two opposition parties made an electoral pact.那两个反对党订了一个有关选举的协定。
• The trade pact between those two countries came to an end.那两国的通商协定宣告结束。

7 hackers   

n.计算机迷( hacker的名词复数 )；私自存取或篡改电脑资料者，电脑“黑客”

参考例句：

• They think of viruses that infect an organization from the outside.They envision hackers breaking into their information vaults. 他们考虑来自外部的感染公司的病毒，他们设想黑客侵入到信息宝库中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Arranging a meeting with the hackers took weeks againoff-again email exchanges. 通过几星期电子邮件往来安排见面，他们最终同意了。 来自互联网