英国新闻听力 44

BBC News with Michael Poles.

The Chief Executives of the big American carmakers, Ford¹, Chrysler and General Motors, have each promised to work for a dollar a year if Congress approves emergency aid for the ailing² industry. The three companies are returning to Washington later this week to make a renewed plea for 25 billion dollars in government loans. General Motors says it needs 12 billion dollars by March to survive. It also announced plans to shed a further 30,000 jobs, close nine plants and reduce the number of its brands to just four. Ford meanwhile says it will cancel all management bonuses for 2009 and sell its corporate³ jets as a part of a reorganization plan. A spokesman for Ford, Mark Truby, said there were for more than just gimmicks⁴.

I think we wanna to show that everybody’s been asked to sacrifice here, to some degree, as we are in, you know, what is a pretty difficult economic period, one of the worst we’ve seen in a long time.

American officials say Washington warned India of a possible attack on Mumbai before last week’s rampage by heavily armed militants⁵. One intelligence official, who declined to be named, told American reporters that the US had information that the attackers would come by sea and would target hotels and business centers. Richard Lister reports from Washington.

US intelligence routinely tracks phone and satellite communications between those it considers terrorist suspects. That work is continuing with a renewed focus on those who may have been involved in the Mumbai attacks. A senior US official has told the BBC there are strong indications the Kashmiri separatist group, Lashkar-e-Toiba, was involved. Other officials are quoted as saying there is recent evidence that preparation for the attacks was done in Pakistan. But all the quoted sources agree there is no evidence of any involvement by the Pakistani government.

NATO has agreed to gradually resume dialog with Russia that was suspended over its conflict with Georgia in August. NATO foreign ministers meeting in Brussels also agree to help Georgia and Ukraine prepare for eventual⁶ membership of the alliance. The US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the intention was not to isolate⁷ Russia after she dropped Washington’s earlier resistance to restarting talks with Moscow. Russia's permanent representative to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, welcomed the decision and said Russia was ready for dialogue.

I understand that the NATO secretary general has now received instructions from the foreign ministers of / alliance member states to start talks with Russia. We are ready for these talks. It is now clear that NATO has accepted the reality that has been shaped by Russia.

British Airways⁸ says it is in talks on a potential merger⁹ with the Australian carrier Qantas. The deal would create the world’s third largest airline. Both carriers have been looking at ways of cutting costs and reorganizing their businesses because of the global economic crisis which has led to a big drop in business travel.

World News from the BBC.

The United Nations Security Council has renewed its authorization¹⁰ for the pursuit of pirates in Somalia’s territorial¹¹ waters and given its support to a European Naval¹² mission aimed at ending piracy¹³ off the coast of Somalia. The EU operation called Atalanta will include at least five warships¹⁴, patrolling the Gulf¹⁵ of Arden and the Indian Ocean. Somalia’s Ambassador to the UN, Ahmedou Ould Abdullah, said the operation would be successful only if the UN tackled the conflict inside Somalia.

You'll see the piracy will go down if as in the same resolution, it states that there should be also peace on shore, then Yes, piracy who can, who will stop because then the coast would be secured from the inland.

The World Health Organization says an outbreak of cholera¹⁶ in Zimbabwe has killed nearly 500 people since August and that 12,000 cases have been recorded. The WHO said about 50% of those infected with cholera were dying in some areas, and that the outbreak had severely¹⁷ strained Zimbabwe's already overburdened health system. A spokeswoman for an aid agency in Zimbabwe says there’s also an outbreak of anthrax with 60 infected people at one hospital.

Thousands of anti-government protestors in Thailand are preparing to end their blockade of Bangkok’s main airports after holding a final rally at the city’s international terminal. The decision to end the protest came after the Constitutional Court moved to ban the governing party earlier on Tuesday and exclude the prime minister Somchai Wongsawat from politics for five years.

The United Nations body investigating the assassination¹⁸ of the former Lebanese Prime Minister, Rafik Hariri, says fresh evidence could help identify additional suspects in the case. The investigating commission says it’s acquired new information that may link additional individuals to the network that carried out the assassination.

That's the BBC News.

1 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

2 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。

3 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

4 gimmicks   

n.花招，诡计，骗人的玩意儿( gimmick的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Financial institutions are also often expected yield of gimmicks. 金融机构也往往以预期收益率为噱头。 来自互联网
• However these are just marketing gimmicks that propagate the myth. 然而这些只是噱头的营销传播的神话。 来自互联网

5 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

6 eventual   

adj.最后的，结局的，最终的

参考例句：

• Several schools face eventual closure.几所学校面临最终关闭。
• Both parties expressed optimism about an eventual solution.双方对问题的最终解决都表示乐观。

7 isolate   

vt.使孤立，隔离

参考例句：

• Do not isolate yourself from others.不要把自己孤立起来。
• We should never isolate ourselves from the masses.我们永远不能脱离群众。

8 AIRWAYS   

航空公司

参考例句：

• The giant jets that increasingly dominate the world's airways. 越来越称雄于世界航线的巨型喷气机。
• At one point the company bought from Nippon Airways a 727 jet. 有一次公司从日本航空公司买了一架727型喷气机。

9 merger   

n.企业合并，并吞

参考例句：

• Acceptance of the offer is the first step to a merger.对这项提议的赞同是合并的第一步。
• Shareholders will be voting on the merger of the companies.股东们将投票表决公司合并问题。

10 authorization   

n.授权，委任状

参考例句：

• Anglers are required to obtain prior authorization from the park keeper.垂钓者必须事先得到公园管理者的许可。
• You cannot take a day off without authorization.未经批准你不得休假。

11 territorial   

adj.领土的，领地的

参考例句：

• The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
• They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。

12 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

13 piracy   

n.海盗行为，剽窃，著作权侵害

参考例句：

• The government has already adopted effective measures against piracy.政府已采取有效措施惩治盗版行为。
• They made the place a notorious centre of piracy.他们把这地方变成了臭名昭著的海盗中心。

14 warships   

军舰，战舰( warship的名词复数 )； 舰只

参考例句：

• The enemy warships were disengaged from the battle after suffering heavy casualties. 在遭受惨重伤亡后，敌舰退出了海战。
• The government fitted out warships and sailors for them. 政府给他们配备了战舰和水手。

15 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

16 cholera   

n.霍乱

参考例句：

• The cholera outbreak has been contained.霍乱的发生已被控制住了。
• Cholera spread like wildfire through the camps.霍乱在营地里迅速传播。

17 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

18 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。