英语听力精选进阶版 9838（在线收听）

There's been a roller-coaster day of trading in shares in the social networking site Facebook after one of the world's biggest ever business floatations. Facebook shares jumped by more than 10% within minutes of making their stock market debut on New York's Nasdaq exchange, but they later dropped back to close just 23 cents above their initial offering price. Mark Gregory reports from New York.

社交网络Facebook进行全世界最大规模的商业融资后股价大起大落。Facebook在纽约纳斯达克证券交易所上市后数分钟内股价就下降了至少10%，不过后来又上涨到仅比首次发行价高23美分的水平。Mark Gregory在纽约报道。

Widespread predictions that Facebook shares would soar in value on the first day's trading turned out to be wrong. The shares rose just 23 cents - a gain of about 0.5% - after a volatile session. It's early days yet, but this won't be seen as a good start. It could suggest investors don't believe that Facebook is really worth the $104bn its opening valuation set.

普遍的预测是，Facebook股价会在第一天交易日内飙升，结果证明这观点是错的。股价只上涨了23美分，大起大落后仅上涨0.5%。现在为时还早，但也不会是个好开端。这表明投资者认为Facebook的价值并不值1040亿美元的估价。

World leaders are gathering for talks in the United States expected to be dominated by the crisis in the eurozone. President Obama, the host of the G8 summit at Camp David, has already said he wants to focus on measures to promote growth. That policy is shared by the new French President Francois Hollande, who's had his first meeting with Mr Obama. Paul Adams reports from Washington.

世界领导人齐聚美国，他们可能主要谈论欧元区的危机问题。总统奥巴马支持了戴维营举行的G8峰会，他说希望集中精力制定促进发展的措施。首次与奥巴马会晤的法国新总统弗朗索瓦·奥朗德对此表示同意。Paul Adams在华盛顿报道。

This was President Obama's first opportunity to take the measure of the new French leader. He said he was looking forward to discussing what he called a responsible approach to fiscal consolidation coupled with a strong growth agenda. For his part, Mr Hollande said as he has before that growth must be a priority . But if the two leaders sounded similar notes on the global economy, the subject of Afghanistan revealed differences. Mr Hollande repeated his election pledge to withdraw combat troops by the end of this year. Mr Obama said it was important that the allies maintained their efforts to build security in Afghanistan.

这是奥巴马总统首次与法国新领导人会面，他说希望讨论寻找可靠途径并制定强有力的发展议程来巩固财政。奥朗德一如以往，依旧表示首要任务必须是发展。但尽管两位领导人在全球经济问题上意见相似，但在阿富汗问题上却有异议。奥朗德反复强调他的选举承诺，即在今年年底从阿富汗撤军。而奥巴马称盟军能继续稳固阿富汗的安全很重要。

Syrian activists have posted videos online showing, they say, unprecedented protests in the city of Aleppo. There have been demonstrations across Syria in support of students at Aleppo University, where security forces have carried out violent raids. Jonathan Head reports.

Aleppo is Syria's largest city, its main commercial centre. There have been protests there since last year but not on the scale seen elsewhere in Syria, and President Assad's authority has seemed secure. But the demonstrations this week have been much bigger.

Activists say today's were the largest they've ever seen in Aleppo involving people from many different backgrounds. It is possible a threshold has been crossed in Aleppo and that President Assad will face mounting opposition from its inhabitants. That would be a blow to his prestige and perhaps to his hold on power.

Thousands of Bahrainis have held a rally outside the capital Manama against a plan for union between Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. They held banners saying "Bahrain is not for sale". They are angry at what they see as an attempt by Saudi Arabia to exert more control on Bahrain.

数千名巴林人在首都麦纳麦外举行集会，抗议巴林和沙特的联盟计划。他们手持的小旗写道“不要出卖巴林”，对沙特企图加紧控制巴林感到愤怒。

World News from the BBC

The UN nuclear agency has announced that its Director General Yukiya Amano will travel to Tehran on Sunday following signs of progress in talks over Iran's nuclear programme. The IAEA, which has been unable to carry out full inspections in Iran, wants to investigate possible military aspects of its nuclear activities. Iran says its programme is for peaceful purposes.

有迹象表明伊朗的核项目取得进展，因此联合国核机构宣布负责人天野之弥周日将访问德黑兰。虽然国际原子能机构一直无法对伊朗进行全面检查，但仍希望调查到其核活动的军事用途。伊朗称其核项目是为和平目的。

President Obama says dozens of private companies have promised to give more than $3bn to help feed people living in poverty in Africa. Speaking in Washington, Mr Obama said nations and corporations needed to step up to the challenge of feeding the poor. Duncan Bartlett has more details.

总统奥巴马称已有数十家私人公司承诺提供30多亿美元资金，用于帮助解决非洲饥饿问题。奥巴马在华盛顿发表讲话，称各国和公司要加大力度，应对解决穷人饥饿问题的挑战。

In a major speech on food security, President Obama says there's no reason why Africa can't feed itself and asserted it was a moral, economic and security imperative to address the issue of hunger. He announced a new project to encourage private companies to share the financial burden of fighting hunger and malnutrition. Agribusiness giants like DuPont, Monsanto and Cargill are among the firms which have pledged $3bn to fund programmes to help farmers produce more food. Local African companies have signed up too.

奥巴马对食品安全发表重要讲话，称无须解释非洲为何无法自给自足，因为解决饥饿问题是涉及道德、经济和安全的重要问题。他宣布一项新计划，鼓励私人公司在应对饥饿和营养不良问题上更承担更大财政负担。诸如杜邦、孟山都和嘉吉公司在内的农业公司纷纷承诺提供30亿美元，用于资助帮助农民生产更多粮食的项目。非洲当地一些公司也签署了协议。

Three Irish republican dissidents in Northern Ireland have been charged with a series of terrorist offences, including conspiracy to murder and cause explosions. The men, members of the Republican group known as the Real IRA, were arrested in security operations in the town of Lurgan near the Northern Irish capital Belfast. The Real IRA is one of several hard-line republican groups opposed to the peace agreement signed in 1998.

北爱尔兰自治区三名爱尔兰共和国异见者被指控以系列恐怖袭击罪，包括阴谋谋杀和爆炸罪。三人是被称为“真正北爱尔兰共和军”的共和国组织成员，现已在北爱尔兰首府贝尔法斯特附近小镇Lurgan安全基地被捕。“真正北爱尔兰共和军”是反对1998年签署的和平协议的强硬派共和国组织之一。

The Olympic flame has arrived on British soil ahead of the games in London which get underway in July. The flame, carried inside a lamp, was aboard a plane from Athens. It arrived at a naval airbase in Cornwall. On Saturday, the Olympic torch relay begins at Land's End with a 70-day journey to the opening ceremony.

奥运火炬现已抵达英国本土，7月份奥运会就要在伦敦举行。火把被放在一个照射器中用飞机从雅典运来，然后抵达康沃尔一处海军空军基地，周六，奥运火炬接力将从兰兹角开始，70天后抵达开幕式。