英语听力精选进阶版 9864（在线收听）

The President of Ghana, John Atta Mills, had died. He was 68. According to a statement issued by the president's office in the Ghanaian capital Accra, the president was taken ill earlier today, and died a few hours later at a military hospital. He'd been suffering from throat cancer. Here's our West Africa correspondent Thomas Fessy.

加纳总统约翰·阿塔·米尔斯去世，终年68岁。在加纳首都阿克拉的总统办公室发布声明，称总统今天早些时候发病，几小时后在一所军医院去世。米尔斯一直身患喉癌，BBC驻北非记者Thomas Fessy报道。

This is the first time that a president has died while in office in Ghana. In a country hailed as a solid democracy, John Atta Mills' sudden death should not spark a political crisis but will certainly test the country's democratic institutions. As Vice-President John Dramani Mahama steps in as interim head of state, the question people are asking in the Ghanaian capital Accra is "Who is going to run for president with the ruling party in December?" Mr Atta Mills had just been nominated by the National Democratic Congress to stand for a second term.

这是首位在位时去世的加纳总统，加纳因坚实的民主而备受赞誉，约翰·阿塔·米尔斯去世一事不会引起政治危机，但势必会考验该国的民主体制。副总统约翰·德拉马尼·马哈马担任临时国家元首，而加纳首都阿克拉的人现在疑问是“谁会参选12月执政党的总统选举？”阿塔·米尔斯刚刚被全国民主大会党提名，将参加选举争取第二个任期。

In a significant escalation of the conflict in Syria, the government has used fighter jets to bomb parts of the city of Aleppo. The BBC's Ian Pannell witnessed the attacks.

叙利亚的冲突急剧升级，政府使用武装飞机轰炸阿勒颇市的部分地区。BBC记者伊恩·潘内尔目睹了袭击现场。

Helicopter gunships spun through the skies throughout the day firing bullets and rockets to the ground. But it was what happened late this afternoon that underlined the grave risk to the government of losing ground in what is Syria's largest city and its economic capital. First came an unmistakable sound that's so far been absent from this conflict: the roar of fighter jets. We watched as they dropped in, bombing and strafing rebel positions. Dead and wounded civilians and fighters were taken to hospitals and makeshift clinics as the human cost of this conflict continues to grow.

武装直升机在天空盘旋了一整天，不断向地面发射子弹和大炮。但今天下午所发生的事，凸显了政府面临的严重危机，政府已在叙利亚最大城市和经济中心失利。先是听到发生以来从未听到的明显的声音，那就是武装飞机的咆哮。我们看着飞机投下炸弹，猛烈轰击叛军阵地。死伤的平民被送往医院和临时诊所，这次冲突造成的人员损失仍在增加。

Prosecutors in Britain have said they will charge the prime minister's former media spokesman Andy Coulson in relation to a phone-hacking scandal that forced the closure of a tabloid newspaper, the News of the World. The paper's former chief executive Rebekah Brooks and six other people will also face charges as the Crown Prosecution Service legal advisor Alison Levitt explained.

英国检察官称将起诉总统的前媒体发言人安迪·库尔森，称他与迫使花边小报《世界新闻》关闭的电话窃听丑闻有关。报纸的前总裁布利百加·布鲁克斯和另外6人也将面临指控，皇家检察署法律顾问艾莉森·莱维特如是解释道：

"The communications in question are the voicemail messages of well-known people and those associated with them. There is a schedule containing the names of more than 600 people who in the prosecution will say are the victims of these offence. In addition, each will face a number of further charges of conspiracy unlawfully to intercept communications."

“上述谈到的对话是一些名人及相关人员的语音信息，其中谈到一个日程安排，涉及600多人的名字，都成为了这起窃听丑闻的受害者。另外，布利百加·布鲁克斯等人也将因共谋非法窃听他人交谈而面临更进一步的一系列指控。”

At least 12 government soldiers have been killed in Tajikistan during a major military operation against the former opposition warlord. State media says 30 rebel fighters were also killed in the clashes – the biggest outburst of violence in the country for several years. The attack in the eastern region of Gorno-Badakhshan follows the murder on Saturday of a top security official. The former warlord, Tolib Ayombekov, denies his supporters were responsible for the deaths, insisting the general fell during an argument in a bar.

塔吉克斯坦发生针对前反对派军阀的军事行动，至少12名政府士兵丧生。国家媒体称还有30名叛军武装人员在冲突中死亡，这是几年来该国发生的最严重暴力事件。就在戈尔诺巴达赫尚自治州东部地区发生的这次袭击事件之前，就在周六，一名高级安全官员被谋杀。前军阀艾耶姆别科夫否认其支持者应对死亡负责，称这位将军是在酒吧与人争执时倒地而亡的。

World News from the BBC

Pope Benedict's former butler, who was arrested two months ago on charges of stealing confidential Vatican documents, has written to the Pope to ask for forgiveness. Paolo Gabriele was detained in May after Vatican police discovered a stash of secret and confidential papal correspondence in his house. Observers say Pope Benedict is likely grant a formal pardon to Mr Gabriele to bring the case to a swift conclusion after a summary trial.

班尼迪克教皇的前管家两月前因被指控偷窃梵蒂冈机密文档被捕，如今他已向教皇写信请求原谅。五月，梵蒂冈警方在保罗·加布里家里发现教皇的大量机密文件，随后他就被捕了。观察家说班尼迪克教皇可能会正式宽恕加布里，在即决审判快速处理完这起案件。

The Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov has announced that a sophisticated group of conspirators was behind the suicide bus bomb attack that killed five Israeli tourists and a Bulgarian bus driver last week. Our central Europe correspondent Nick Thorpe has more.

保加利亚总理博伊科·鲍里索夫宣称，上周导致5名以色列游客和一名保加利亚司机身亡的自杀式汽车炸弹袭击案是一精密的阴谋者组织所为。BBC驻中欧记者尼克·索普报道。

Six days after the bomb blast which killed five Israeli tourists, the Bulgarian bus driver and the attacker, the identity of the bomber is still not known. But the Bulgarian prime minister has now given some clues about the progress of the investigation. The date and place of entry into the country have been uncovered. He was part of an extremely sophisticated group, he said, whose members arrived in the country a month in advance , leased vehicles and travelled to different cities in order to avoid being seen together.

这起杀害5名以色列游客和一名保加利亚司机和袭击者的爆炸弹过去6天了，但引爆者的身份尚不清楚。但保加利亚总理透露了调查进展的一些线索，袭击者进入该国的日期和地点已经弄清楚，他是一极端的精密组织的成员，该组织的成员提前一个月进入保加利亚，他们租用车辆，到各个城市以避免被人看到在一起。

Cuban police have arrested at least seven dissidents at the funeral of the prominent activist Oswaldo Paya, who died in a car crash on Sunday. Among those detained is (are) a leading human rights campaigner, Guillermo Farinas. According to reports, dissidents were picked up for questioning by plain-clothes police.

The Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has unveiled a 3-D reconstruction of the face of Simon Bolivar, who died in 1830 after leading the fight against Spanish colonial rule in the region. The computer-generated image was created by artists studying Bolivar's remains, and looks remarkably like known prints and paintings of the South American liberation hero. Simon Bolivar appears to have a strong chin, a large nose, bushy eyebrows and sideburns.

委内瑞拉总统雨果查韦斯揭开西蒙·玻利瓦面部的3D图像，玻利瓦领导过该国反对西班牙殖民统治的战斗，死于1830年。这张电脑合成的图片是由研究玻利瓦遗体的艺术家制作的，看上去很像这位南美自由英雄在印刷制品和绘画中的模样。西蒙·玻利瓦有着结实的下巴，大鼻子、粗粗的眉毛和鬓角。