英国新闻听力 智利暴雨洪水，沙特慷慨解囊

 

The government in Chile says heavy rain and flooding have displaced 15,000 people and shut down the world's largest copper¹ mine. Road and rail bridges collapsed² and at least 7 rivers burst their banks. So far 5 people have died in several days of flooding. There is a shortage of drinking water.

World News from the BBC.

The World Food Programme says an urgent appeal for more than 700 million dollars to counter the effects of rising food prices has been met. UN official says 500 million dollars given by Saudi Arabia means that it has now exceeded the target with more than 30 other countries, donating more 400 million dollars. The BBC's Tom Lane reports from UN headquarters in New York.

The key donation was a windfall from Saudi Arabia -- 500 million dollars. The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who was currently travelling in the Far East, has released a statement calling this contribution of unprecedented³ size. It comes on sort of 460 million dollars already raised by more than 30 other countries. Agency officials say the extra money will be spent on further pressing causes.

1 copper   

n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的

参考例句：

• The students are asked to prove the purity of copper.要求学生们检验铜的纯度。
• Copper is a good medium for the conduction of heat and electricity.铜是热和电的良导体。

2 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。

3 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。