英语听力精选进阶版 10559（在线收听）

The American Central Bank, the Federal Reserve, has decided to end the program of buying financial assets known as quantitative easing. The scheme under which the Fed bought up financial assets with newly created money is estimated to have involved 3.5 trillion dollars. Andrew Walker reports.

美国央行美联储决定结束名为“量化宽松”金融资产购买项目，估计美联储已用新印刷的3.5万亿美元购买了有关金融资产。安德鲁·沃克报道。

Quantitative easing involved the Federal Reserve creating new money to buy financial assets in an attempt to stimulate economic recovery. It was a very unusual step and has been described as the world's biggest economic experiment. It began in 2008 at the height of the financial crisis and was driven by fears of an extremely severe recession. The Fed's decision to end QE reflects the view that the economy has regained some strength. Critics of the policy say it created a danger of inflation and further financial instability.

量化宽松即美联储通过印刷新币来购买金融资产，从而刺激金融复苏，此举并不寻常，一直被称作是全世界最大的经济实验。量化宽松开始于2008年金融危机爆发之时，对极端严重衰退的恐惧迫使美国采取该措施。美联储决定结束量化宽松反映了这样一个观点，即经济已经恢复动力。批评者称该政策制造了通胀危险，并加剧了金融不稳定。

American troops working in West Africa to help stop the spread of Ebola have been ordered to undergo 21 days of quarantine on their return home. The US Defense Secretary Chuck Hegel says the move is prudent given the large number of servicemen being sent to combat the disease. Around 1,000 troops have been deployed to build treatment units in Liberia and Senegal. Barbara Plett Usher reports from Washington.

在西非帮助遏制埃博拉蔓延的美国军队获令要在回国时接受21天的隔离，美国国防部长查克·黑格称考虑到被派去对付埃博拉的人员数量很大，所以处于慎重考虑采取该措施。约有1000名士兵已被派遣到利比里亚和塞内加尔去建造治疗中心。芭芭拉·亚瑟在华盛顿报道。

The army had already ordered a 21-day isolation period for troops returning from West Africa. Mr. Hegel's decision expands that to all parts of the military - this even though the soldier's mission won't bring them in contact with Ebola patients. Medical experts here have sharply criticized strict quarantine measures as unnecessary and even counterproductive. But the Defense Secretary said the position of military personnel was different in that of civilian relief workers. They are not volunteers, he said. There are large numbers of them, and many military families have urged extra safety measures.

军队已经下令对从西非回国的士兵进行21天的隔离，黑格的该命令将适用于军队全体，即使是没有与埃博拉进行接触的士兵团也要进行隔离。医疗专家已严词批评严厉的隔离措施是不必要的，称甚至会产生相反后果。但国防部称军事人员所处的地点和平民救援工作者的不同。他说他们不是志愿者，而且人数很多，很多军人家属已经要求采取额外的安全措施。

Boko Haram militants are reported to have taken the northeastern Nigerian town of Mubi after clashes with government forces. Thousands of people have fled the town. Residents told the BBC the militants raised their flag over the town and blocked the main access roads. Our Africa Editor Richard Hamilton reports.

据悉博科圣地武装组织在与政府军发生冲突后占领了尼日利亚东北部的Mubi镇，数千平民已经逃离此镇。当地居民告诉BBC，武装分子在该镇竖起大旗，并封锁了主要道路。非洲编辑理查德·汉密尔顿报道。

Many people from Mubi are believed to be fleeing towards neighbouring Cameroun. Some are said to be hiding in the hills and forests fearing for their lives. Earlier residents spoke of hearing heavy gunfire, and seeing military fighter jets overheads. Mubi is a commercial hub and the second largest town in Adamawa State. The Nigerian military has not commented on the reports. The government had announced a ceasefire agreement with Boko Haram that was supposed to lead to the release of more than 200 kidnapped school girls. That deal is now looking increasingly hollow.

据悉Mubi镇的很多人已经逃往邻国喀麦隆，有的人害怕生命危险而藏在山上或森林里。早些时候，当地居民听到了重型枪炮声，还看到头顶有军事战斗机。Mubi是个商业枢纽，也是阿达马瓦州第二大城市。尼日利亚部队尚未对该报道发表意见，政府已宣布与博科圣地的停火协议，被该组织绑架的200多名女生也应该获释。但目前看来该协议很空洞。

The authorities in Egypt are going ahead with creating a buffer zone along its border with Gaza to prevent the smuggling of weapons. People living on the Egyptian side of the border had been given 48 hours to leave their homes ready for demolition. Those refusing to leave will have their homes seized by force. North Sinai's governor General Abdel Fatah H. said 800 houses in Rafa have been evacuated.

埃及当局继续在与加沙接壤处建造缓冲区来预防武器走私，埃及这边的居民要在48小时内撤离该镇，以备房屋拆除。拒绝离开者的房屋将被强力占领，北西奈省总督称拉法已有800座房屋的人撤离。

The Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin has said Russian officials have been invited for the handover ceremony held for the first of two French-produced Mistral helicopter carriers. Mr. Rogozin twitted the scan of the invitation letter sent to Moscow, saying the ceremony was scheduled for November the 14th, but the French presidency said there had been no decision yet on the deal. And the French manufacturer said the handover date had not been set.

俄罗斯副总理德米特里·罗戈津称俄罗斯官方已获邀参加法国生产的两艘Mistral直升机航空母舰中第一艘的交接仪式。罗戈津在推特上发了莫斯科接受的邀请函的扫描图片，称仪式将举行在11月14日，但法国总统称尚未对该协议做出最后决定。法国制造商称尚未决定交接日期。

A Syrian human rights group says Islamic State militants have freed 25 Kurdish school children they had kidnapped in northern Syria in May. The Britain-based Syrian observatory for human rights said they were the last of the 153 school children aged between 13 and 15 who had been taken hostage as they were returning to Kobani after sitting exams in Aleppo City. Five children had managed to escape earlier.

叙利亚人权组织称IS武装分子释放了5月份在叙利亚北部绑架的25名库尔德学生，总部在英国叙利亚人权观察组织称共有153名年龄在13岁到15岁的学生在阿勒颇市考试后回科巴尼的路上被劫持，目前的25人是最后一批获释者。早些时候已有5名儿童设法逃离。

A 14-year-old boy has been detained in Austria on suspicion of planning acts of terror. Bethany Bell reports from Vienna.

奥地利一名14岁男孩因涉嫌策划恐怖活动被捕，贝珊·贝尔在维也纳报道。

A spokeswoman for the State Prosecutor's Office M. O. said the boy is a Turkish citizen who has lived in Austria for eight years with his family. She said he'd expressed sympathy with the Islamic State, and often said he wanted to go to Syria. She said he'd also done research on the Internet about explosives and had planned an attack on one of Vienna's main railway stations. The boy's been detained for two weeks while investigations continue.

州检察官办公室发言人称这名男孩是土耳其公民，曾和家人在奥地利居住8年。发言人称这名男孩表示同情IS，经常表示想去叙利亚。她说男孩还在互联网上对炸药进行了研究，还策划对维亚纳一个重要的火车站进行袭击。男孩已被拘留两周，调查仍在进行中。

The authorities in Chile have begun planting hundreds of cannabis seeds as part of the first medical marijuana project of its kind in Latin America. The cannabis would be harvested next year to make painkillers for dozens of cancer patients. The seeds were imported from the Netherlands and had been planted in the suburb of the Chilean capital Santiago. If the project is successful, it could be widened and used to treat other illnesses as well as cancer. But some doctors are against using cannabis as medicine, saying more research is needed. It's illegal to grow marijuana in Chile for personal use.

智利当局开始种植数百个大麻种子，这是拉美第一个此类医用大麻项目。这些大麻将于明年收获，将用来做十几名癌症患者的止痛药。种子是从荷兰进口的，已在智利首都圣地亚哥的郊区种植过。如果该项目成功，将会加以推广，用于治疗癌症之外的其他疾病。但有的医生反对使用大麻做药物，称需要做更多研究。目前在智利种植大麻用作私人用途是非法的。