英国新闻听力 130

Less than a week after the World Health Organization first warned of an outbreak of swine flu in Mexico, the agency has raised the international level of alert, indicating that a pandemic is imminent¹. After an emergency meeting in Geneva, the head of the WHO, Margaret Chan announced that the outbreak had reached Level 5. The virus is believed to have killed 159 people in Mexico. The United States has recorded its first fatality² from the virus, which has spread to Europe, the Middle East and New Zealand. Imogen Foulkes reports from Geneva.

To declare phase 5, the World Health Organization had to make sure that there is sustained human to human transmission of the swine flu virus in at least two countries in the one region of the world. That stage has clearly been reached in Mexico and the United States. The WHO's advice to all countries now is to prepare stockpiling drugs, preparing hospitals and continuing to stay on high alert for any sign of swine flu. Such measures, the WHO says, may at least ensure that the coming pandemic is mild rather than severe.

The Egyptian authorities have ordered a cull³ of all pigs in their country as a precaution against swine flu. No cases have been reported in Egypt, but there have been several in neighboring Israel. A number of countries have banned imports of pork from the United States, but experts say although the virus may have evolved within pigs, it has not been found in them, and slaughtering⁴ pigs or banning pork has no scientific basis.

President Obama's marked his 100th day in office with the warning of hard work ahead to revive the economy. As he addressed a meeting in the mid-western state of Missouri, new figures showed that the U. S. was still in deep recession although the economy was shrinking more slowly than before. Mr. Obama said the task of rebuilding America had begun.

"Today on my 100th day in office I've come back to report to you, the American people, that we have begun to pick ourselves up and dust ourselves off, and we've begun the work of remaking America.”

The New York-based organization, Human Rights Watch has accused the Mexican army of killings⁵, torture and rape⁶ in its campaign against a wave of drug-related crime. It's said the abuses were continuing because of the failure of the military justice system to investigate or convict offenders⁷. Charles Scanlon reports.

President Philippe Calderon has mobilized tens of thousands of troops in a desperate battle against the country's powerful drug gangs. He says they’ve succeeded in reestablishing government control, but Human Rights Watch says the campaign is being undermined by widespread abuses and the failure of the military to prosecute⁸ those responsible. In a major report, it investigated 70 victims who were allegedly killed, raped⁹ or tortured by the military. It says the cases are all well documented, but no one has been held responsible.

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At least 20 people have been killed in clashes in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi. A local government minister blamed the violence on what he said were "criminal elements" intent on fanning ethnic¹⁰ tensions in the city. In the past, there has been friction¹¹ between Karachi's Pashtun speakers and members of the Urdu speaking Muttahida community, who originally migrated from India.

Three car bombs have killed at least 41 people in the Iraqi capital Baghdad. Iraqi security forces say there were a total of six car bombs in Sadr City, a poor Shiite area of the capital. Three of the devices were defused before they could explode. Jim Muir reports.

The Iraqi police said the bombs went off one after the other in three adjacent markets in Sadr City. At least one of the markets selling clothes and household goods would have been particularly crowded at that time in the late afternoon. Iraqi security forces cordoned¹² off the whole area as emergency services rushed the casualties to a nearby hospital. One eyewitness¹³ said that angry residents threw stones at Iraqi army units stationed in the area. They accused them of doing nothing to stop the bombings.

The British government has suffered a surprised defeat in Parliament over the rights of former Gurkha soldiers to settle in Britain. Gurkhas who come from Nepal have been recruited to serve in the British army for more than 150 years, but they’ve never been given the same rights and conditions of service as native British troops and there has been a growing campaign to reverse this.

New scientific research says there needs to be an absolute cap on greenhouse gas emissions¹⁴ if humanity is to avoid the likely consequences of global warming, chronic¹⁵ water shortages, crop failures and devastating¹⁶ sea level increases. The findings, published in the journal Nature say the world cannot afford emissions of more than a trillion tons by 2050, but that a third of that amount has already been pumped out in the first nine years of this century.

1 imminent   

adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的

参考例句：

• The black clounds show that a storm is imminent.乌云预示暴风雨即将来临。
• The country is in imminent danger.国难当头。

2 fatality   

n.不幸，灾祸，天命

参考例句：

• She struggle against fatality in vain.她徒然奋斗反抗宿命。
• He began to have a growing sense of fatality.他开始有一种越来越强烈的宿命感。

3 cull   

v.拣选；剔除；n.拣出的东西；剔除

参考例句：

• It is usually good practice to cull the poorest prior to field planting.通常在实践上的好方法是在出圃栽植前挑出最弱的苗木。
• Laura was passing around photographs she'd culled from the albums at home.劳拉正在分发她从家里相册中挑选出的相片。

4 slaughtering   

v.屠杀，杀戮，屠宰( slaughter的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The Revolutionary Tribunal went to work, and a steady slaughtering began. 革命法庭投入工作，持续不断的大屠杀开始了。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史
• \"Isn't it terrific slaughtering pigs? “宰猪的！ 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

5 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

6 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

7 offenders   

n.冒犯者( offender的名词复数 )；犯规者；罪犯；妨害…的人（或事物）

参考例句：

• Long prison sentences can be a very effective deterrent for offenders. 判处长期徒刑可对违法者起到强有力的威慑作用。
• Purposeful work is an important part of the regime for young offenders. 使从事有意义的劳动是管理少年犯的重要方法。

8 prosecute   

vt.告发；进行；vi.告发，起诉，作检察官

参考例句：

• I am trying my best to prosecute my duties.我正在尽力履行我的职责。
• Is there enough evidence to prosecute?有没有起诉的足够证据？

9 raped   

v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的过去式和过去分词 )；强奸

参考例句：

• A young woman was brutally raped in her own home. 一名年轻女子在自己家中惨遭强暴。 来自辞典例句
• We got stick together, or we will be having our women raped. 我们得团结一致，不然我们的妻女就会遭到蹂躏。 来自辞典例句

10 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

11 friction   

n.摩擦，摩擦力

参考例句：

• When Joan returned to work,the friction between them increased.琼回来工作后，他们之间的摩擦加剧了。
• Friction acts on moving bodies and brings them to a stop.摩擦力作用于运动着的物体，并使其停止。

12 cordoned   

v.封锁，用警戒线围住( cordon的过去式 )

参考例句：

• Police cordoned off the area until the bomb was defused. 警方封锁了这个地区直到炸弹被拆除为止。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Police cordoned off the road and diverted commuter traffic. 警察封锁了道路并分流交通。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 eyewitness   

n.目击者，见证人

参考例句：

• The police questioned several eyewitness to the murder.警察询问了谋杀案的几位目击者。
• He was the only eyewitness of the robbery.他是那起抢劫案的唯一目击者。

14 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。

15 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

16 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。