英语听力精选进阶版 10237（在线收听）

A day of intense diplomacy has failed to set a date for a long-awaited peace conference on Syria after the talks in Geneva involving officials from the U.S. Russia and other members of the UN Security Council. The International envoy on Syria Lakhdar Brahimi said he had been hoping to be in a position to announce a date today. But unfortunately, he was unable to do so. Lyse Doucet reports from Damascus.

一天紧张的外交活动未能为叙利亚期待已久的和平会谈设定日期，此前来自美国、俄罗斯和联合国安理会其他成员国的官员在日内瓦举行了会谈。驻叙利亚国际大使拉赫达尔·卜拉希米说他一直希望今天能宣布这一日期，但不幸的是他未能做到。Lyse Doucet从大马士革报道。

One of the major sticking points in many peace talks is president Assad. Some opposition leaders say he must to step down at some point in the political transition. Others insist he must go before talks can even start.But the president's adviser Dr Bouthaina Shaaban was clear this issue was not on the table. In a rare interview, he emphasized the president's role will be decided by the Syrian people at the ballot box, in elections, or in a referendum, Dr Shaaban was also scathing about the opposition, describing rival groups as creations of powerful backers, like Saudi Arabia.

在许多和谈中最关键的问题之一是总统阿萨德，有的反对派领袖说他必须在政治过渡期的某个时间下台，也有人说他必须在和谈之前离开。但总统的顾问布赛娜·沙班很清楚这个问题不在商谈之列，他在一次罕见的采访中强调说，总统的角色必须由叙利亚人民通过投票决定，或者选举，或者公投，沙班还严厉指责反对派，称反对组织创造了强大的支持者，比如沙特。

The American Secretary of State John Kerry has arrived in Israel following an earlier stop over in Saudi Arabia and Egypt. He is due to have separate meetings on Wednesday with Israeli and Palestinian leadership to try to revive the peace talks which were launched three months ago, they are due to end next April and so far there has been little sign of progress. On Monday, Israeli media reported that Mr. Kerry may propose a new interim in peace deal but he has denied the such plan exists.

美国国务卿约翰·克里抵达以色列，此前他刚在沙特和埃及暂停驻足。他计划周三与以色列和巴勒斯坦领导人分别举行会议，努力恢复三个月前启动的和谈，会议原定于明年四月结束，但到目前为止鲜有进展的迹象。周一，以色列媒体报道称克里或将提议和谈协议中设置新的过渡期，但他否认有此计划。

The authorities in Brazil have cancelled a major global football convention Soccerex due to place in the city Rio de Janeiro later this month. The State government said the decision was taken to avoid the use of public funds, the chief executive of Soccrex which brings together thousands of football executives and managers from around the world blamed continuing unrest. The organizers of next year's football world cup due to be held in the city said the protests will not mar the tournament.

巴西当局取消原定于本月晚些时候在里约热内卢举行的全球足球盛会足球博览会。国家政府称采取此决定是为了避免使用公共资金，将全世界数千名足球总裁和教练聚集这里的足球博览会董事长将之归咎于继续发生的动乱。明年足球世界杯即将在该市举行，其举办者称抗议将不会影响这次比赛。

The Brazilian Justice Minister has defended his country spying activities and said they were completely different from those carried out by the United States. Jose Eduardo Cardoso said the Brazilian agents who were reported to follow and photographed American, Russian and other diplomats in Brazil acted in compliance with the law.

巴西司法部长为本国的间谍活动辩护，称这与美国的刺探行为完全不同。若泽·爱德华多·卡多佐说据悉巴西特工在巴西依法对美国、俄罗斯等国外交官进行跟踪和拍照。

I don't say what was done as violation of privacy or rights, and what's done on the national territory. So, if you ask me how does this affect Brazil's image, I would say that there has been no damage. All countries have to do counter espionage, what I can't do is violate the rights of other people, what I can't do is violate the sovereignty of others.

我不能说他们的所为是对隐私或权利的违反，这是在本国领土内的行为。所以如果你问我这会对巴西的影响有什么影响，我会说没有任何损害。每个国家都要进行反间谍，我们不能做的是侵犯他人的权利，不能侵犯他国的主权。

The allegations about the 10-year-old activities by Brazilian agents were leaked in the national press. Recent reports of US email and phone spy on Brazil have prompted the country's president to postpone a visit to Washington.

国家媒体上曝光称巴西特工进行了10年的间谍活动，最近报道称美国对巴西进行邮件和电话间谍，这使得该国总统推迟了华盛顿之行。

The Vatican has taken an unusual step of launch global survey to find out what Roman Catholics really think about the church teachings on marriage and family life. Pope Francis is calling bishops to Roma here this time to discuss possible reform. David Willey in Roma has more details of the survey.

梵蒂冈采取不同寻常的步骤来进行全球调查，希望看看罗马天主教徒对有关婚姻和家庭生活的教堂讲道的真实看法。教皇方济各要求主教们来到罗马讨论可能的改革问题。大卫·维利在罗马报道。

It will cover such formally taboo subjects as how to include the adopted children of gay couples in the church. A question there joined up in Rome seeks to find out, for example, what the Catholics of the 21 century feel about the controversial ban on artificial contraception. The Pope also under pressure particularly from Catholics in Germany to reconsider the church's refusal to allow divorced and remarried Catholics to receive communion. The new Vatican buzzword is collegiality and this is something of a revolution.

调查包括正式的禁忌话题，比如同性恋夫妇收养儿童问题。还有个问题就是想知道21世纪的天主教徒如何看待禁止人工避孕这个争议话题。教皇还受到德国天主教徒方面的压力，他们要求他重新考虑教堂拒绝给离婚和再婚的天主教徒圣餐的问题。新教皇的时髦词是“主教与教皇共享权力”，这可算是一个革命。

The Irish government has announced it will hold a referendum on whether to allow same sex marriages. Civil partnership has been legal in Ireland since 2010, but activists have been campaigning to amend the constitution and give gay people equal access to civil marriage.

爱尔兰政府宣布将就是否允许同性婚姻进行公投，2010年起爱尔兰批准民间团体为合法，但活动人士一直希望修改宪法，允许同性恋者享有婚姻的同等权利。

The Mayor of Canada's biggest city Toronto Rob Ford has admitted that he once smoke the drug crack cocaine. The mayor surprised admission comes after the months of speculation began when the reports service to a video that appeared to show the Mayor smoking the drug. From Toronto Lee Carter reports.

加拿大最大城市多伦多的市长罗柏·福特承认曾吸食过毒品可卡因。市长此举令人吃惊，几个月来这方面的猜疑不断，原因是一段视频显示市长在吸毒。李·卡特在多伦多报道。

Speaking to reporters, Toronto's mayor Rob Ford finally admitted that he had smoked crack cocaine. But he said he was not an addict and insisted that he only tried it once a year ago, in his words probably in a drunken stupor. The admission just comes days after Mr.Ford's lawyer suggested that the substances that the mayor as apparently seems smoking in the video may not have been crack cocaine. One fellow city councillor says he is preparing a motion to suspend the mayor.

多伦多市长罗柏·福特面对记者终于承认曾吸食可卡因，但他说自己不是瘾君子，坚称只是一年前吸过一次，用他的话来说就是在大醉时吸的。就在几天前，福特的律师称市长在视频中吸的东西或许不是可卡因。一位市议员称他准备提议暂停市长的职务。