英语听力精选进阶版 7432（在线收听）

Thousands of people have demonstrated in cities and towns across Syria, calling for more freedom. In the southern city of Deraa, protesters said at least 20 people were reported to have been killed when shots rang out after a statue of the former President Hafez al-Assad was set alight. The Syrian authorities prevented journalists from entering Deraa. Lina Sinjab sent this report from Damascus.

数千人在叙利亚全国各地的城镇举行示威活动，要求更大限度的自由。在南部城市德拉，抗议者表示，前总统阿萨德(Hafez al-Assad)的一座雕像被点燃之后安全力量开枪，造成至少20人死亡。叙利亚当局阻止记者进入德拉境内。Lina Sinjab从大马士革发回报道。

Heavy gunfire was heard in Deraa following an attempt by protesters to destroy a statue of the late President Hafez al-Assad. They were chanting for freedom and criticising Maher al-Assad, the brother of President Bashar al-Assad and the head of the presidential guards. Meanwhile, there are more reports of protests across the country, most significantly in the city of Hama that was attacked by the government of the late Hafez al-Assad in the 1980s. Despite the violence and bloodshed, it appears that Syrians are losing their fear of their rulers.

示威者试图点燃已故总统阿萨德(Hafez al-Assad)的雕像时，人们听到德拉市发出了猛烈的枪声。抗议者高呼口号，要求更大限度的自由，并谴责现任总统巴沙尔·阿萨德(Bashar al-Assad)的兄弟马赫尔·阿萨德(Maher al-Assad)以及总统卫队首领。同时，全国各地出现了更多关于抗议活动的报告，最严重的是在哈马市，该市在80年代曾经受到已故总统阿萨德政府的袭击。尽管目前是血腥和暴力的形势，叙利亚人似乎已经不再惧怕他们的统治者。

Several other countries in the region have also seen mass protests. In Yemen, tens of thousands of people took part in peaceful demonstrations both for and against the government in the capital Sanaa. The President Ali Abdullah Saleh addressed a crowd of his supporters.

该地区其他国家也出现了大规模的抗议活动。在也门，数万人在首都萨那参加了支持或反对政府的示威活动。总统萨利赫(Ali Abdullah Saleh)向他的支持者发表了讲话。

"We don't want power, but we need to hand power over to safe hands, not to sick, resentful or corrupt hands. We are ready to leave power but only for safe hands chosen by the people. Our people has the final word in choosing its leadership."

“我们不想要执掌权力，但是我们需要把权力移交给安全的人，而不是移交给病态，愤怒或腐败的人的手中。我们已经准备好出让权力，但是只会交给安全的人们。我们的人民在选择领导方面拥有最终的决定权。”

In Jordan, fighting broke out when supporters of the monarchy threw stones at demonstrators demanding political reform. And in the Gulf kingdom of Bahrain, pro-democracy demonstrators held several short rallies before they were broken up by police using tear gas.

在约旦，君主政体的支持者向要求政治变革的示威者扔石头，双方爆发打斗。在海湾王国巴林，支持民主的示威者举行了几次简短的集会，但是被警方用催泪弹驱散。

France and Nigeria have presented a draft resolution to the UN Security Council, calling for sanctions against Laurent Gbagbo, who's refusing to relinquish the presidency in Ivory Coast. The resolution also bans the use of heavy weapons around the city of Abidjan. Tom Lane reports.

法国和尼日利亚向联合国安理会递交了一份决议草案，要求对拒绝让出科特迪瓦总统职位的巴博实施制裁。该决议还禁止在阿比让周边地区使用重武器。Tom Lane报道。

Nigeria and France are the two countries pushing hardest for this resolution. However, what is most interesting about the proposed text is what it does not say. Ever since the council authorised the use of force in Libya, some have asked whether it will do the same for the Ivory Coast. This text does not do that, though diplomats here have called on the beleaguered UN peacekeeping force in the country to adopt what they call a "more robust posture".

尼日利亚和法国是最极力推行该决议的两个国家。然而，该决议提案中最有趣的部分是没有明确表示的内容。自安理会授权对利比亚使用武力以来，一些人就开始问是否同样会对科特迪瓦使用武力。这份决议草案并没有这样做，然而，这里的外交官已经呼吁科特迪瓦被围困的联合国维和部队采取“更加强硬的姿态”。

The Jesuit religious order in the United States has agreed to pay more than $160m to victims of sex abuse. Almost 500 Native Americans and Alaska natives have been abused by the Catholic priests at schools in five states in the northwest. The Jesuits also agreed to send written apologies to their victims. One of their lawyers said that some of them had waited nearly 40 years for the settlement.

美国耶稣会同意向性虐待的受害者支付超过1.6亿美元的赔偿。西北部五个州共有大约500名土著美国人和土著阿拉斯加人遭受到天主教神父的虐待。耶稣会还同意向受害者书面道歉。他们的其中一名律师表示，一些受害者等待调停已经接近40年的时间。

World News from the BBC

Officials from the United Nations Environment Programme have held a news conference high in the Himalayas to underline the dangers still facing the ozone layer from carbon compounds known as HCFCs. Their chemical cousins CFCs, which were used in refrigerators and aerosols, have already been phased out. But HCFCs are still in use mainly in air conditioners and building materials.

联合国环境规划署(United Nations Environment Programme，简称UNEP)在喜马拉雅山召开新闻发布会，强调碳化合物HCFC对臭氧层的危害。他们的化学近亲CFC主要用于冰箱和喷雾，现已逐步被淘汰。但是HCFC仍然被用于空调和建筑材料中。

The Conservative minority government in Canada has lost a no-confidence vote in parliament, a move that will trigger the fourth federal election in seven years. Lee Carter reports from Toronto.

加拿大保守党少数派在议会不信任投票中失败，此举将导致七年来第四次联邦选举。Lee Carter在多伦多报道。

Nobody was surprised by the result of this vote in the Canadian parliament. The no-confidence motion simply confirms the conclusions of a group of MPs that on Monday found the minority Conservative government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper in contempt of parliament for failing to provide the estimated costs for a number of spending programmes. Having led two minority governments, Mr Harper is hoping his party will win a majority. Coming from behind in the opinion polls, former author and broadcaster Michael Ignatieff will fight his first election as leader of the main opposition Liberal Party.

无人对加拿大议会这次投票结果感到惊讶。这次无信心投票仅仅证实了一些议员的结论，他们于周一发现总理斯蒂芬·哈珀(Stephen Harper)的保守党少数派政府蔑视议会，未递交一些支出项目的估算费用。哈珀曾领导两届少数派政府，他非常希望自己的党派能够赢得大多数席位。在民意测验中，前作家和播音员Michael Ignatieff将首次以主要的反对派自由党领袖的身份参加选举。

A number of BBC radio services are coming to an end. They include the BBC Caribbean Service, which began in 1939, one of the oldest services the BBC has provided in English. It's the last of five language services being shut down by the BBC because of cuts in government funding. Mandarin Chinese and Azeri language broadcasts on radio also stopped today. A number of World Service programmes in English are ending, including Europe Today, which has made its final broadcast.

BBC一些服务节目宣告结束，包括从1939年开播的BBC加勒比服务，这是BBC以英语播出的最古老的节目之一。这是BBC由于政府预算削减而被迫停播的五种语言节目中的最后一个。中文普通话和阿塞拜疆语广播也于今天停播。还有几个英语世界服务节目停播，包括今日欧洲节目，最后一期节目已经播出。

Airport workers in Spain have voted to call off strike action threatening to paralyse the country's airports over the Easter holiday. Trade union members of the Spanish national airport operator said they'd reached agreement with the government over job security and conditions.

西班牙机场工作人员举行投票，取消威胁在复活节期间使全国机场瘫痪的罢工活动。西班牙国家机场运营商工会成员表示，他们已经就工作保障和工作条件与政府达成了一致。