英语听力精选进阶版 9939（在线收听）

The White House has denounced as an exercising futility the Republican’s proposal for avoiding the looming with fiscal cliff. A set of budgetary constraints due to kick in by the end of the year, which unless averted could tip the US economy back into recession. The Republicans want to limit any tax rises to those Americans earning more than $1m a year. President Obama is seeking a much lower threshold. Correspondents say the Republican proposal, which has been put to a vote in the House of Representatives, is almost guaranteed to die in the Senate and will be vetoed by Mr Obama if it didn’t. The Republican speaker in the US House of Representatives, John Boehner, urged the Senate to act.

白宫称共和党意在避免财政悬崖的提案为徒劳。美国的预算紧缩措施将于年度开始，如果无法避免之，美国经济将再度陷入衰退。共和党希望限制对年收入100万以上的美国人的增税，而总统奥巴马希望降低税收门槛。记者称共和党向众议院提交的提案即将在参议院夭折，如果幸免，也会得到奥巴马的否决。共和党在美国众议院的发言人约翰·博纳敦促参议院采取行动。

“I am not convinced at all that when the bill passes the House today that it will die in the Senate. At some point, the Senate has to act. We have a bill sitting at the desk in the Senate that projects all Americans from an increase of taxes. They could take up that bill sitting at the desk, they could pass it, they could amend it and they could help move the process. But to date they’ve done nothing.”

“有人认为今天众议院通过的提案会在参议院夭折，我不这么认为。到了一定时候，参议院必须采取行动。我们向参议院桌上提交了法案，希望使所有美国人免于增税。他们本应该拿起桌子上的这份法案，通过它，修订它，从而促进这个进程。但到目前为止他们无所作为。”

The company that owns the New York Stock Exchange has been sold to a rival—the American firm Intercontinental Exchange for more than $8bn dollars. Our business reporter is Mark Gregory.

纽约证券交易所的母公司已被对手洲际交易所集团以80多亿美元收购，商业记者Mark Gregory报道。

One of the symbols of American capitalism, the two-centuries-old New York Stock Exchange, is giving up its independence to a rival that’s only been in business 12 years. However, the new owner intends to make few changes in how the New York market operates. This is intended to smooth the path to approval for the deal by financial regulators. Exchanges are keen to merge as a way of cutting costs.

拥有200多年历史的纽约证券交易所是美国资本主义的象征，该公司目前已被12年前才成立的对手收购。然而，新主人无意在纽约市场运作上做多少调整。这是为了方便金融监管机构批准交易，而各交易所希望通过兼并来削减成本。

The United Nations Security Council has unanimously approved the deployment of an African-led military force to northern Mali now under the control of Islamist militants and separatist rebels. The resolution authorizes the force to use all necessary measures to help Mali’s government recover the north from the rebels. But it first requires progress to be made on political reconciliation.

联合国安理会一致批准向马里北部派出一支由非洲为主导的军队，马里北部目前在伊斯兰武装分子和分裂主义叛军控制之下。决议批准军队采取一切措施帮助马里政府从叛军手中夺回北部。但决议首先要求在政治和解上取得进展。

The United Nations says 55 Somalis and Ethiopians are feared dead after their boat capsized off the coast of Somalia. Tens of thousands of people from the Horn of Africa cross the gulf every year fleeing violence and economic hardship. Mary Harper has the details.

联合国称55名索马里人和埃塞俄比亚人在索马里翻船后可能已死亡。为逃避暴力和经济困境，每年非洲之角有数万人越过海湾。Mary Harper报道。

The United Nations says the over-crowded boat ran into trouble almost as soon as it left the port of Bossaso in north-eastern Somalia. It’s common for boats to capsize and migrants to drown in the stretch of sea between Somalia and Yemen. But it’s the scale of this accident that’s striking. The UN says this is the biggest loss of life in the Gulf of Aden since February last year when 57 Somali migrants drowned.

联合国称这艘超载的船在刚离开索马里东北部的萨索港就遇到了麻烦。索马里和也门之间海域翻船和移民淹死都是常事，但这次事故规模大令人吃惊。联合国称这是自去年2月份57名索马里溺水后亚丁海湾发生的最大事故。

In Somalia itself, there have been fierce clashes in the port town of Kismayo, which in September was seized from the Islamist group al-Shabab by Kenyan and Somali forces. A number of people are said to have been killed.

在索马里国内，港口城镇基斯马尤冲突激烈，9月份该市被肯尼亚和索马里军队从伊斯兰阿尔沙巴布手中夺回。据悉大批人被杀。

World News from the BBC

President Putin has expressed support for retaliatory legislation against a US move to blacklist Russian officials suspected of human rights abuses. The controversial bill bans adoptions of Russian children by Americans, about 1,000 of which take place every year. Mr Putin described the bill as emotional but appropriate, although he did not commit to signing it until he’d seen the final version.

由于美国将嫌疑违反人权的俄罗斯官员列入黑名单，总统普京表示支持对美国采取报复法规。这项有争议的法案禁止美国人收养俄罗斯儿童，每年约有1000名儿童被美国人收养。普京称这项法案很情绪化，但很合适，尽管他要在看到最终版本后再签署。

The Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has said his organization will release a million more secret documents. He was speaking from a balcony at the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where he claimed asylum six months ago to avoid extradition to Sweden to face allegations of sexual assault.

维基解密的创始者朱利安·阿桑奇称他的组织将公开100万份机密文档。他在伦敦厄瓜多尔使馆的阳台上发表讲话，6个月前他在这里寻求避难，以免于被遣送瑞典并接受性侵指控。

“Next year we will be equally busy. Wikileaks has already over a million documents being prepared to be released, documents that affect every country in the world, every country in this world.”

“明年我们会很忙，维基解密将公开100多万份文档，这些文档将影响到全世界的各个国家。”

Mr Assange said an investigation by the US authorities over the publication of secret documents posed a continued threat to his life and work.

阿桑奇称美国当局对秘密文档的出版进行调查，这对他的生活和工作都造成了威胁。

A woman in the Canadian province of Ontario has gone to court to regain custody of her monkey after the animal was found on its own at an IKEA furniture store. Lee Carter has more.

加拿大安大略省一名妇女的猴子被发现出现在宜家商店，这名妇女已经从法院再次得到对猴子的监护权。Lee Carter报道。

Millions of people have viewed the video of Darwin, the young Japanese macaque running loose shortly after he apparently escaped from a locked vehicle in an IKEA car park. After being seized by city of Toronto animal control officials, he was moved to a primate sanctuary where he is reported to be settling in. It is illegal to have this kind of exotic pet in Toronto. But in court today the former owner Yasmin Nakhuda argued that the seizure was not legal because she claimed she was made to hand over ownership of the monkey under threats of criminal prosecution.

无数人都看到一段视频，显示这只从宜家停车场锁着的车辆跑出来的日本小猕猴达尔文肆意横行。猕猴后来被安大略省动物管理办公室捉住，然后被送到据说是他居住地的灵长动物庇护所。在安大略省，收养这种珍奇动物是非法的，但今天在法庭上，猴子的原主人纳赫达称没收猴子是非法的，因为她说她是在刑事指控的威胁下被要求接管这只猴子的。