英语听力精选进阶版 7605（在线收听）

The man accused of trying to blow up an airliner over the American city of Detroit on Christmas Day in 2009 has dramatically changed all his pleas to guilty. Nigerian-born Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is facing charges of trying to kill the 300 people on board the Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam. Jonny Dymond reports.

2009年圣诞节，一名男子因试图炸毁飞行在底特律上空的飞机被指控，嫌疑人奥马尔·法鲁克·阿卜杜勒－穆塔拉布目前令人意外地对起诉他的全部罪名供认不讳。他因试图杀害300名乘坐西北航空公司航班从阿姆斯特丹起飞的乘客被起诉。Jonny Dymond报道。

After a 45-minute recess at the start of proceedings, US District Judge Nancy Edmunds asked Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab if he wanted to plead guilty and waive his right to a trial. "That's right," he replied. Then each charge was read out to him. Standing in front of the judge, flanked by the defence and prosecution lawyers, he replied to each one "I plead guilty." In a statement to the court, Abdulmutallab said his attempted bombing of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 was a religious obligation driven by what he called US attacks upon Muslims.

审讯开始后休庭了45分钟，美国地区法官南希·埃德蒙审问奥马尔·法鲁克·阿卜杜勒－穆塔拉布是否服罪，放弃审判，奥马尔说“好吧”，然后法官公布对他的全部指控。奥马尔站在法官面前，两边分别是辩护律师和控方律师，他对每项指控都回答“我服罪”。阿卜杜勒－穆塔拉布在法庭陈词中说，轰炸西北航空253航班是一项宗教使命，是被所谓美国对穆斯林的打击所逼的。

The American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has described an alleged Iranian plot to kill the Saudi ambassador to the US as a dangerous escalation of Iran's sponsorship of terrorism. Speaking earlier at a conference in London, Prince Turki al-Faisal, the former Saudi ambassador to the US, said the plot was criminal.

美国国务卿希拉里·克林顿认为伊朗杀害美国驻沙特大使的阴谋是伊朗对恐怖主义支持的危险升级。沙特王子Turki al-Faisal曾是沙特驻美国大使，他早些时候在伦敦的一次会议上表示，这个阴谋是犯罪行为。

"This has been a case that has been followed from the very beginning by authorities in various countries. The amount of evidence on the case is overwhelming and clearly shows official Iranian responsibility for it. This is unacceptable."

“这起事件一发生就受到各国当局的持续关注，案件有关证据确凿清楚，伊朗官方对此负有责任，这是难以接受的。”

Earlier, Iran's foreign minister warned the US against confrontation over the accusations. The US has charged two Iranians and imposed sanctions against senior members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard and an Iranian airline.

早些时候，伊朗外长就指控对美国进行警告。美国已对两名伊朗人进行指控，对伊朗革命卫队高级官员和一架伊朗飞机采取制裁。

A UK-based oil company has strenuously denied allegations made in Ugandan parliament that it had offered financial inducements to government ministers there to facilitate contracts. The chief executive of Tullow Oil, Aidan Heavey, told the BBC that forged documents, which he said had been investigated a year ago and proved to be false, have been presented in Uganda's parliament to taint a firm that had invested billions of dollars in the country. Earlier, Ugandan MPs voted unanimously to call on three senior government ministers, including the prime minister, to be suspended.

在乌干达国会，英国一家石油公司极力否认对自己的指控，指控声称该公司贿赂政府部长，以获取合同便利。图洛石油公司总裁艾丹·希维告诉BBC，一年前调查的伪造文件已经证明为假，是给这个对该国投资了数亿美国的公司泼脏水，文件已递交至乌干达国会。早些时候，乌干达国会一致同意将包括总理在内的三名政府高级部长停职。

Lawyers representing Michael Jackson's doctor say they are dropping their claim that the singer caused his own death. From Los Angeles, Peter Bowes.

迈克尔·杰克逊医生的律师表示，将收回杰克逊自己服下致命剂量麻醉药物的说法。Peter Bowes在洛杉矶报道。

According to the defence, a study they commissioned has shown that any effect from swallowing the anaesthetic propofol would be trivial. Doctor Murray's legal team had previously claimed that Michael Jackson killed himself by ingesting the drug while his doctor was out of the room. A latest witness, a cardiologist who reviewed Doctor Murray's care of Michael Jackson, has told the court the physician made six extreme deviations from the expected standard of care. Doctor Murray denies a charge of involuntary manslaughter.

据辩护律师说，他们的研究表明，吞服异丙酚几乎没有什么影响。默里医生的律师团队之前声称迈克尔·杰克逊是自行吞下药物而死，当时医生不在房间。最后的见证者是一名心脏病医生，他回忆了默里对杰克逊的治疗，他在法庭上说，相较于通常采用的护理标准，默里存在6项严重“偏差”。默里医生否认犯有过失杀人罪。

BBC News

A Syrian-born American man has been charged in the United States with spying for Syria. The US Justice Department said Mohamad Anas Haitham Soueid had gathered information on people protesting in America against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad. He was allegedly directed by Syrian intelligence agencies to collect video and audio recordings, phone numbers and emails. Many Syrians abroad have complained of systematic harassment by agents of the Syrian government.

一名叙利亚出生的美国人在美国因涉嫌为叙利亚刺探情报被指控，美国司法部声称，Mohamad Anas Haitham Soueid收集了有关美国人抗议总统巴沙尔·阿萨德统治的情报。他被指控直接受叙利亚情报部门指示，收集视频和音频资料，电话号码和电子邮件。许多在国外的叙利亚人都抱怨不断受到叙利亚政府机构的骚扰。

The president of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, has set out a plan for tackling the crisis in the eurozone. He said it was time to remove doubts about whether the EU could cope. Part of the plan will be to strengthen banks against losses on loans to Greece, which is at risk of default. Mr Barroso said struggling banks must improve their capital reserves, or he said they should face a ban on paying dividends or bonuses.

欧盟委员会主席约瑟·曼纽尔·巴罗索已制定计划解决欧元区危机，他说此时应摈弃欧盟是否能对付的疑问，计划中的一项，便是减少银行因希腊债务造成的损失，这些债务面临违约的危险。巴罗索说，处于困境的银行必须提高资本储备能力，或许将被取缔支付股息或红利的权力。

Scientists have reconstructed the entire genetic map of the germ that caused the Black Death, the bubonic plague that has killed millions in the 14th century. Matt McGrath has the details.

科学家复原出黑死病菌的全部基因图谱，14世纪，数以百万的人死于这种腺鼠疫。Matt McGrath报道。

Humans have rarely encountered an enemy as devastating as the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Between 1347 and 1351, it sparked the Black Death, an infection carried by fleas that spread rapidly across Europe, killing around 50 million people. Now scientists have uncovered some of the genetic secrets of the plague thanks to DNA fragments drilled from the teeth of victims buried in a graveyard in east London. The researchers say that all current strains circulating in the world are directly related to the medieval bacterium.

除了鼠疫耶尔森氏杆菌，人们还几乎没遭遇更具毁灭性的敌人。1347到1351年，这种病菌引发了黑死病，跳蚤携带这种病菌很快传遍了欧洲，5000人死亡。如今，在英国东部黑死病死者墓穴中，科学家从死者牙齿中发现DNA破片。研究人员说，现代世界上所有瘟疫病菌都直接与中世纪黑死病菌有直接关系。

Masked thieves have stolen an invaluable Christian relic from an ancient monastery in the south of the Irish Republic. The relic, said to be part of the cross on which Jesus died, was kept in a gold and bronze case in the shape of a cross. A local priest appealed to the thieves to return the relic, which he said had an immeasurable religious and emotional value.

蒙面盗贼进入爱尔兰共和国南部的一个古老修道院，盗取价值连城的基督教文物一件，据说这是耶稣死时所用十字架的一部分，被保存在一个金铜铸造的十字架型盒子里，一位当地牧师要求盗贼返还文物，他说此物具有极重要的宗教和情感价值。