英国新闻听力 10

BBC News with Sue Montgomery.

The US administration is coming to terms with another set of bad financial statistics. The annual budget deficit¹ has reached 455 billion dollars, it's the highest ever figure and represents more than 3% of the country's Gross Domestic Product. From Washington, here's Rachel Harvey.

There’s been no shortage of big numbers being bandied about, but the soaring budget deficit is amongst the most troubling, it's now reached an all-time high. President Bush and the two men who‘re vying² to succeed him have all laid out new plans to boost the ailing³ economy. Barack Obama is concentrating his ideas on job creation, increasing taxes on the rich while cutting them for the middle-class; John McCain wants to cut taxes for everyone, particularly pensioners⁴. The bottom line is that all the plans on the table are likely to add to America's spiraling national debt.

Trading in America ended calmly after President Bush announced measures which he said were designed to save the US financial system. Shares in Wall Street closed fractionally down, as investors⁵ decided⁶ to take some profits after the big rises in stocks on Monday. 250 billion dollars of US government money will be spent in buying shares in struggling American banks. The Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, said the measures would ease the financial crisis.

“Americans can be confident that every resource is being brought to bear. I’m not suggesting that the way forward would be easy, but I strongly believe that the application of these tools together with the underlying⁷ vitality⁸ and resilience of the American economy will help to restore confidence to our financial system and place our economy back on the path to healthy, vigorous growth.“

A research team in Tanzania says it’s developed a new cherry-flavored anti-malaria pill, which works just as well as current treatments, and it is easier for children to swallow. Writing in the medical journal, The Lancet, the team says the new tablet is not as bitter as current drugs, and does not need to be crushed before eating, making it easier for children to stick to the treatment.

A man has been executed in the United States despite his plea that the method was inhumane because of his obesity⁹. Richard Cooey, who was convicted of killing¹⁰ two students in 1986, was executed by lethal¹¹ injection at a prison in Ohio. Warren Bull reports.

Lawyers for Richard Cooey had brought an appeal saying he was so overweight at 120 kilograms that prison staff would have trouble finding a suitable vein¹² to administer the injection. They’d also said the medication he was taking to ease migraines would interfere¹³ with the lethal dose and cause him to suffer an agonizing¹⁴ death. This, they argued, would amount to cruel and unusual punishment which is unconstitutional in the United States. But the Supreme¹⁵ Court rejected Richard Cooey's appeal and allowed the execution to proceed.

World News from the BBC

Scientists from six countries have announced what's described as one of the most ambitious explorations of the Antarctic ever. They want to discover how a hidden mountain range,( as high) as big as the Alps, was formed. Our environment correspondent Matt McGrath has the details.

Locked four kilometers below the ice, these mountains are of the size of the Alps and are believed to be the birthplace of the huge east Antarctic ice sheet. The scientists will use ice-penetrating radar¹⁶ on board two aircraft [aircrafts] to build up a detailed¹⁷ picture of this mountain range. The researchers would also be hunting for ice that’s believed to be 1.2 million years old. They believed that locked in the ancient samples will be important information about climate change in the past that could help us better predict the changes in climate that lie ahead.

The most prestigious¹⁸ literary award for English fiction, the Man Booker Prize, has been awarded to Aravind Adiga for his novel, the White Tiger. The Chairman of the judges, Michael Portillo, described the book as being in the tradition of Macbeth with a delicious twist. Aravind Adiga, who is 33, was born in Madras, and White Tiger set in contemporary India, is his debut¹⁹ novel. He paid tribute to those who helped him win the prize and had particular thanks for his home city.

All that is good and all that is bad in India comes to Delhi for resolution and I hope that everyone in Delhi, rich and poor, will get together in the next few years to make sure that what is good will win.

Scientists in the United States say surfing the Internet can sharpen the brains of older people. A team from the University of California found searching the web stimulates²⁰ parts of the brain that control decision-making and complex reasoning. They say using the Internet may help combat physiological²¹ changes that cause the brain to slow down, and that it uses different mental processes from those needed for reading books.

And that's the latest BBC News.

1 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

2 vying   

adj.竞争的；比赛的

参考例句：

• California is vying with other states to capture a piece of the growing communications market.为了在日渐扩大的通讯市场分得一杯羹，加利福尼亚正在和其他州展开竞争。
• Four rescue plans are vying to save the zoo.4个拯救动物园的方案正争得不可开交。

3 ailing   

v.生病

参考例句：

• They discussed the problems ailing the steel industry. 他们讨论了困扰钢铁工业的问题。
• She looked after her ailing father. 她照顾有病的父亲。

4 pensioners   

n.领取退休、养老金或抚恤金的人( pensioner的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He intends to redistribute income from the middle class to poorer paid employees and pensioners. 他意图把中产阶级到低薪雇员和退休人员的收入做重新分配。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I am myself one of the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. 我自己就是一个我们的高贵的施主遗留基金的养老金领取者。 来自辞典例句

5 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

8 vitality   

n.活力，生命力，效力

参考例句：

• He came back from his holiday bursting with vitality and good health.他度假归来之后，身强体壮，充满活力。
• He is an ambitious young man full of enthusiasm and vitality.他是个充满热情与活力的有远大抱负的青年。

9 obesity   

n.肥胖，肥大

参考例句：

• One effect of overeating may be obesity.吃得过多能导致肥胖。
• Sugar and fat can more easily lead to obesity than some other foods.糖和脂肪比其他食物更容易导致肥胖。

10 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

11 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

12 vein   

n.血管，静脉；叶脉，纹理；情绪；vt.使成脉络

参考例句：

• The girl is not in the vein for singing today.那女孩今天没有心情唱歌。
• The doctor injects glucose into the patient's vein.医生把葡萄糖注射入病人的静脉。

13 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

14 agonizing   

adj.痛苦难忍的；使人苦恼的v.使极度痛苦；折磨(agonize的ing形式)

参考例句：

• I spent days agonizing over whether to take the job or not. 我用了好些天苦苦思考是否接受这个工作。
• his father's agonizing death 他父亲极度痛苦的死

15 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

16 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。

17 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

18 prestigious   

adj.有威望的，有声望的，受尊敬的

参考例句：

• The young man graduated from a prestigious university.这个年轻人毕业于一所名牌大学。
• You may even join a prestigious magazine as a contributing editor.甚至可能会加入一个知名杂志做编辑。

19 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。

20 stimulates   

v.刺激( stimulate的第三人称单数 )；激励；使兴奋；起兴奋作用，起刺激作用，起促进作用

参考例句：

• Exercise stimulates the body. 运动促进身体健康。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Alcohol stimulates the action of the heart. 酒刺激心脏的活动。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

21 physiological   

adj.生理学的，生理学上的

参考例句：

• He bought a physiological book.他买了一本生理学方面的书。
• Every individual has a physiological requirement for each nutrient.每个人对每种营养成分都有一种生理上的需要。