英国新闻听力 埃塞俄比亚发现450万年前人类化石

The United Nations says at least 1,100 people were killed in the huge earthquake that struck the Indonesian island of Sumatra on Wednesday. A large number of people are still believed to be trapped under rubble¹ and the UN humanitarian² chief John Holmes says the number of fatalities³ is likely to rise. Karishma Vaswani is in one of the worst affected⁴ cities, Padang.

As every hour passes, the scale of this disaster becomes all too clear. Dozens of homes and office buildings have collapsed⁵ in the city of Padang. A restaurant frequented by young college students is now a pile of rubble. Officials say at least 60 people are trapped underneath⁶. Scenes like this are repeated all across Padang. Rescue efforts have been hampered⁷ by poor communication lines and bad roads. The first flights carrying food and aid arrived this morning, but it’s nowhere near enough.

President Obama has described international talks on Iran’s nuclear programs “constructive”. However, he said he now wanted to see concrete action from Iran to prove its intentions were peaceful. The negotiations⁹ between Iran, the US and other powers took place in Geneva from where Jeremy Bowen reports.

It looks as if the meeting went better than expected. For the first time, the Americans took a full part in a negotiation⁸, and the Russians and the Chinese apparently¹⁰ stood together with the western powers. A potentially highly significant development is an Iranian agreement in principle to allow significant proportion of its stock of low-enriched uranium out of the country to be made into fuel for nuclear reactor¹¹. If that happens, it would take out of the equation material that the big powers here feared could be made into a nuclear bomb.

The former Argentine President Carlos Menem has been charged with obstruction¹² of justice in connection with the 1994 bombing of a Jewish cultural centre in which 85 people were killed. Several other former officials were also charged. Candy Sperest reports from Buenos Aires.

In his statement the judge said Carlos Menem had covered up what was called at the time “the Syrian connection”. Right at the beginning of the investigation¹³, the spotlight¹⁴ had turned on an Argentine Syrian friend of the Menem family. The judge accused Mr. Menem of covering up and destroying evidence and abusing his authority. His brother, Munir Menem, who was presidential chief of staff at the time, a formal federal judge, two intelligence officers and two police officers were also indicted¹⁵. The chief prosecutor¹⁶ in the investigation, Alberto Nissman, said he had requested this indictment¹⁷ a long time ago

Opposition¹⁸ leaders in the West African state of Guinea have rejected a proposal by the country’s military leader to form a government of national unity¹⁹. Captain Moussa Dadis Camara made the offer amid mounting international condemnation²⁰ of the shooting dead by the army of dozens of opposition demonstrators. They’ve been protesting following reports that Captain Camara plans to run for president.

Reports from Somalia say the Islamist group Al-Shabaab has now taken control of the strategic port of Kismayo, following clashes with another Islamist militia²¹ Hizbul-Islam. At least 12 people were killed and nearly 60 injured in the fighting. The two factions²² used to share control of Kismayo, but relations have deteriorated²³ in recent weeks.

Police in Bangladesh say they’ve arrested a senior member of the banned Pakistan-based militant²⁴ group Lashkar-e-Taiba suspected of planning attacks in India. Mohammad Emdadullah was captured in Dhaka following a tip-off.

Scientists say the remains²⁵ of a 4.5 million-year-old creature formed the earliest known skeleton of a human ancestor. The research reported in the Journal Science says the 1.2-metre-tall skeleton found in Ethiopia in 1994 show signs of the first stage of human evolution better than anything seen to date. Dr. Owen Lovejoy was one of the scientists involved in the discovery.

“Part of the tooth led to a finger bone, and a finger bone led to the size of a portion of skeleton that is 4.4 million years old. She has a pelvis that allows her to negotiate tree branches rather well, so half of her life is spent in the trees. She would have nested in trees and occasionally fed in trees, but when she was on the ground, she walked upright pretty close to how you and I walk.”

The finds nicknamed Ardi is more than a million years older than the fossil Lucy, which has long been considered the earliest remains of human ancestor.

The pilot and co-pilot who’s successfully landed the stricken airliner²⁶ in New York’s Hudson River in January have made their first flight together since the incident. Passengers applauded when they were told Captain Chesley Sullenberger and his co-pilot Jeffrey Skiles were in the cockpit. The team flew the same route as in January when Captain Sullenberger landed in Hudson after his jet struck a flock of geese and lost power in both engines.

联合国称，在周三袭击印度尼西亚苏门答腊岛的强烈地震中，至少1,100人死亡。相关部门相信，仍有多人被困在废墟下，联合国人道主义负责人John Holmes称，遇难者人数仍然可能上升。

随着每个小时的过去，这场灾难的规模越来越明晰。在巴东市，数十座房屋和政府建筑倒塌。年轻大学生经常光顾的一个餐馆现在变成了一堆废墟。相关官员表示，至少有60人被埋在地下。巴东市到处都是这样的景象。由于通讯线路和交通状况恶劣，搜救工作受到阻碍。今早，第一批运载食物和救援物资的飞机已经抵达，但是难以找到足够近的投放地点。

奥巴马总统称，关于伊朗核项目的国际对话是“建设性的。”然而，他表示，现在，他希望伊朗能够采取具体行动，证明其核项目是出于和平目的。伊朗，美国和其他大国之间的协商在日内瓦举行。

会议状况似乎好于预期。这是美国首次在协商中发挥充分作用，而俄罗斯和中国则很明显地与西方大国站在了统一战线上。事情有望取得重大进展，伊朗或许原则上允许大部分低浓缩铀出口到国外加工成核反应堆燃料。如果这成为事实，这会消除西方大国担心将用于制造核弹的物质。

阿根廷前总统卡洛斯·梅内姆(Carlos Menem)被控在1994年犹太文化中心爆炸事件中妨碍司法。在这场爆炸中，85人死亡。同时被控诉的还有其他几名政府前官员。Candy Sperest在布宜诺斯艾利斯报道。

在声明中，法官称，卡洛斯·梅内姆(Carlos Menem)隐瞒他与叙利亚人之间的联系。在调查初期，线索指向梅内姆家族的叙利亚朋友。法官指控梅内姆隐藏和销毁证据并滥用职权。而他的兄弟，当时担任参谋长的Munir Menem，前联邦法官，两名情报官员和两名警官也被指控。这次调查的检察长Alberto Nissman表示，很久以前，他就曾要求对他们提起诉讼。

西非国家几内亚反对派领袖拒绝了军方领导提出的建立全国统一政府的提议。由于数十名反对派示威者被军方射死，国际社会的批评声逐渐高涨，Moussa Dadis Camara上尉提出了该建议。继报道称Moussa Dadis Camara上尉将竞选总统之后，反对派开始发起抗议游行。

来自索马里的报道称，经过与伊斯兰圣战组织的激烈冲突之后，激进伊斯兰组织青年党现已控制了战略性港口基斯马尤。在冲突中，至少12人死亡，接近60人受伤。两个好战组织一直共同管理基斯马尤，但是最近几周，双方关系恶化。

孟加拉警方称，他们逮捕了被禁止的位于巴基斯坦的好战组织虔诚军队高级成员。此人涉嫌密谋在印度发起攻击。在收到警告之后，Mohammad Emdadullah在达卡被捕。

科学家称，最近发现的拥有450万年历史的遗骸可能是人类最早的祖先的化石。该研究报道发表在《科学》期刊上。研究称，这副骨骸于1994年在埃塞俄比亚发现，比其他任何骨骸更好地反映出人类进化的阶段。Owen Lovejoy博士是此重大发现中的一位科学家。

“从牙齿片段可以推断出手指骨，从手指骨可以推断出这具440万年的骨骸的比例。她拥有骨盆，这样可以使她更好的在树枝之间盘旋，所以，她的生命有一半是在树林中度过的。她可能巢居在树林中，偶尔在树林中膳食。但是当她到达地面时，她可以直立行走，姿势与你我都差不多。”

该发现被命名为Ardi，比Lucy化石的历史悠久100多万年。Lucy长期以来一直被认为人类祖先最古老的残骸。

今年1月份，一架飞机受到袭击，驾驶员和副驾驶员在纽约哈德逊河上空成功迫降。现在，这两位驾驶员和副驾驶员进行事故后第一次飞行。当广播宣布飞行员上尉Chesley Sullenberger和副驾驶员 Jeffrey Skiles已经就坐时，乘客们不约而同地为他们鼓掌。一月份，飞机经过哈德逊河上空时遭遇飞鸟袭击，两个引擎同时失灵，而Sullenberger成功使飞机在哈德逊河降落。这次的航行路线与上次一致。

1 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

2 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

3 fatalities   

n.恶性事故( fatality的名词复数 )；死亡；致命性；命运

参考例句：

• Several people were injured, but there were no fatalities. 有几个人受伤，但没有人死亡。
• The accident resulted in fatalities. 那宗意外道致多人死亡。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

5 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

6 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

7 hampered   

妨碍，束缚，限制( hamper的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The search was hampered by appalling weather conditions. 恶劣的天气妨碍了搜寻工作。
• So thought every harassed, hampered, respectable boy in St. Petersburg. 圣彼德堡镇的那些受折磨、受拘束的体面孩子们个个都是这么想的。

8 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

9 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

10 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

11 reactor   

n.反应器；反应堆

参考例句：

• The atomic reactor generates enormous amounts of thermal energy.原子反应堆发出大量的热能。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules.在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

12 obstruction   

n.阻塞，堵塞；障碍物

参考例句：

• She was charged with obstruction of a police officer in the execution of his duty.她被指控妨碍警察执行任务。
• The road was cleared from obstruction.那条路已被清除了障碍。

13 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

14 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

15 indicted   

控告，起诉( indict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The senator was indicted for murder. 那位参议员被控犯谋杀罪。
• He was indicted by a grand jury on two counts of murder. 他被大陪审团以两项谋杀罪名起诉。

16 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

17 indictment   

n.起诉；诉状

参考例句：

• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。
• They issued an indictment against them.他们起诉了他们。

18 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

19 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

20 condemnation   

n.谴责; 定罪

参考例句：

• There was widespread condemnation of the invasion. 那次侵略遭到了人们普遍的谴责。
• The jury's condemnation was a shock to the suspect. 陪审团宣告有罪使嫌疑犯大为震惊。

21 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

22 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别

23 deteriorated   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Her health deteriorated rapidly, and she died shortly afterwards. 她的健康状况急剧恶化，不久便去世了。
• His condition steadily deteriorated. 他的病情恶化，日甚一日。

24 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

25 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

26 airliner   

n.客机，班机

参考例句：

• The pilot landed the airliner safely.驾驶员使客机安全着陆。
• The passengers were shepherded across the tarmac to the airliner.旅客们被引导走过跑道去上飞机。