英语听力精选进阶版 9957（在线收听）

The highest court in Venezuela has backed a decision by the country’s National Assembly to allow an indefinite delay in the inauguration of President Hugo Chavez. He’s in hospital in Cuba after undergoing cancer surgery. Sarah Grainger reports from Caracas.

委内瑞拉国民大会批准推迟总统乌戈·查韦斯的就职仪式，目前最高法院对此表示支持。查韦斯做完癌症手术后目前在古巴一家医院。Sarah Grainger加拉加斯报道。

Luisa Estella Morales, the president of the Supreme Court, said that judges of the court had agreed that the inauguration could take place at a later date. She said the court did not consider Mr Chavez to be absent from his duties and as an incumbent president, a new swearing-in ceremony was not necessary. That leaves the political opposition with few options. They had argued that the constitution sets the date of the 10th of January as the beginning of the new presidential term and in Mr Chavez’s absence an interim president should be appointed.

最高法院主席路易莎·埃斯特利亚·莫拉莱斯称，法院的法官们一致同意将就职仪式推迟一些时日，她说法院并不认为查韦斯缺席，而且作为在任总统，新的宣誓仪式并非必要。这样政治反对派们就没有多少选择，他们认为宪法规定1月10日为新总统任期的开始，查韦斯缺席时应任命其临时总统。

A group of 49 Iranians freed by Syrian rebels after months in captivity have arrived at a hotel in Damascus accompanied by the Iranian ambassador to Syria. The Iranians were freed in exchange for prisoners being held by the Syrian authorities. The deal hasn’t officially been confirmed by the Syrian government. The Turkish humanitarian aid agency IHH which said it helped secure the agreement said the Syrian authorities for their part were freeing more than 2,100 prisoners that they’ve been holding.

在伊朗驻叙利亚大使的陪同下，49名被叙利亚叛军拘数月的伊朗人目前获释，并已抵达大马士革一所酒店。同时，叙利亚当局释放一些囚犯作为交换条件，但是该协议并非得到叙利亚政府官方确认。土耳其人道主义援助机构IHH称帮助促成了该协定，称叙利亚当局已释放2100多名囚犯。

The Obama administration has signalled it may take unilateral action on gun control if Congress won’t cooperate on the issue. Vice President Joe Biden said Mr Obama was determined to curb gun violence and added that this could be done by legislation which requires working with Congress or executive action which doesn’t. Paul Adams reports from Washington.

奥巴马政府表示，如果国会不合作，将单方面采取控枪措施。副总统乔·拜登说，奥巴马总统决定控制枪支暴力，他说可以通过两种途径来实现，或者与国会合作实施该法，或者在国会不合作的条件下实行行政措施。Paul Adams在华盛顿报道。

This was the first time the vice president has hinted at the range of measures being considered by the White House. He said he and the president were determined to act. The tragedy at Newtown, Connecticut had, he said, awakened the conscience of the country and it was important not to be put off by the complexity of the task. Mr Biden didn’t say what those measures were, but they almost certainly include the reintroduction of a ban on so-called assault weapons as well as a more comprehensive system of background checks on those purchasing guns.

这是副总统首次透露白宫正在思考的系列措施，他说他和总统决定采取行动。他说，康涅狄格州纽镇的惨案惊醒了全国人民，而不让这件任务的复杂性来影响行动很重要。拜登并未透露具体措施，但其中肯定包括再度实施对所谓攻击性武器的进行，以及对购枪者实施的更全面的背景检查系统。

The American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has made her first public comments after a month away from her desk because of sickness. Mrs Clinton told reporters in Washington she was thrilled to be back at work. She said she was focusing on unresolved issues before handing over to her successor in President Obama’s new administration, Senator John Kerry.

美国国务卿希拉里·克林顿一个月来因病远离视线，目前首次再度露面。克林顿在华盛顿向记者表示，她很高兴能回来工作。她说目前在忙于一些未解决的问题，以便将职务转交给奥巴马新政府的新国务卿参议员约翰·克里。

“You know obviously somewhat bittersweet because I’ve had the most extraordinary experience, and I work with an amazing team of people, but I’m very much looking forward to doing everything we can these last few weeks to resolve and finish up wherever possible and then to have a very smooth, seamless transition to Senator Kerry to continue the work.”

“要知道这有点喜忧参半，因为我已有了最不平凡的体验，与一群卓越的人共事，但我也很希望能在最后几周内尽最大努力，解决并完成所有力所能及的事，然后实现平稳衔接，将工作交给参议员克里来继续。”

World News from the BBC

A British businessman extradited to the United States on charges of attempting to sell missile components to Iran has been jailed for 33 months. Christopher Tappin was also ordered to pay an $11,000 fine. In a plea bargain, he’d admitted to submitting false shipping documents to export batteries used for Hawk anti-aircraft missiles to Iran via the Netherlands.

一名被控试图向伊朗出售导弹零件的英国商人已被引渡至美国，目前他已被判定服刑33个月。法院还判定Christopher Tappin以1.1万美元的罚金。在诉讼交易中，他承认使用伪造的运货文件，通过荷兰向伊朗出口用于鹰防空导弹所用的电池。

The International Labour Organisation says the vast majority of domestic workers are excluded from employment protection and vulnerable to physical and sexual abuse. In the first report of its kind, the UN agency said only 10 per cent of them benefited from the same kind of protection as other workers. Mark Gregory has more.

国际劳工组织(ILO)称绝大多数家政工人都得不到雇用保护，易受身体和性虐待。这是该联合国机构首次发表此类报告，称只有10%的家政工人获得其他工人所能获得的保护。Mark Gregory报道。

Nobody really knows how many domestic servants are employed around the world. The ILO puts the figure at a minimum of 52 million, but says the actual number could be tens of millions higher. More than 80 per cent of them are women. Indeed domestic service accounts for more than seven per cent of all women’s waged employment. Many domestic workers migrate to other countries to find work. The ILO says their terms of employment turn to be worse than other workers.

没有人知道全世界究竟有多少家政工人，ILO称这个数字至少为5200万，但同时称实际数字应比这个多几千万。80%以上的家政人员为妇女，在所有有薪酬的女性职业中，家政工作占了7%以上。许多家政工人到国外找工作，但ILO称其待遇比其他工人要差。

The Sri Lankan government has said it deplores the beheading of a Sri Lankan domestic worker by authorities in Saudi Arabia. In a statement, the government said it had appealed for a pardon for Rizana Nafeek, who was convicted of killing a baby in her care in 2005, a charge she denied.

斯里兰卡政府称谴责了沙特当局将一名斯里兰卡仆人砍头一事，斯里兰卡政府在声明中称曾为蕾扎娜·那菲克求情，她被控2005年杀死自己照看的一名婴儿，她否认这个指控。

Police in South Africa have fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse hundreds of stone-throwing farm workers taking strike action in the wine-producing Western Cape province. More than 40 people were arrested. The strikers, most of them black seasonal workers employed in white-owned fruit farms, are demanding a doubling of their daily pay of about $8. At least two protesters were killed in similar violence in November.

在南非产酒的西开普省，数百名农场工人举行罢工，警察动用催泪弹和橡皮弹来驱赶这些投掷石块的游行者，40多人被捕。罢工者多为受雇于白人果园的黑人季节工，他们要求将8元日薪翻倍。11月份，至少两名抗议者在类似暴力中丧生。