英国新闻听力 猪流感并没有想象的那么可怕

The authorities in Hong Kong have isolated² 300 guests and staff of a hotel after a Mexican visitor who arrived from Shanghai was confirmed as a carrier of swine flu. It's the first confirmed case of the virus in Asia, which the World Health Organization now calls H1N1. Urgent efforts are now being made to trace 200 people who were on the same flight to Shanghai. James Ronald reports.

The Chief Executive of the Hong Kong government Donald Tsang told reporters the travelers had flown in from Mexico after a stopover in Shanghai. Reports from Hong Kong said the patient has been taken to an isolation³ ward⁴ in hospital, and is said to be in a stable condition. Guests of the hotel in which the patient had been staying have been asked not to leave. It's been particular attention on the response of Hong Kong and China to H1N1, because of the outbreak of the respiratory disease SARS in 2003. The World Health Organization has said that Hong Kong and mainland China are well prepared to deal with the effects of H1N1.

The Mexican Health Minister suggested that the swine flu virus may not be as aggressive as first feared. The Minister Jose Angel Cordova said while the virus was very contagious⁵, patients responded well to antiviral medicine if treated quickly. He said the number of people being admitted to hospital had fallen.

"The reduction in admissions to hospital is a very encouraging sign. This allows us to think as the WHO has recognized that luckily the virus is not so aggressive, and yesterday there was another sign with figures from other hospitals. So it's not as lethal⁶ as bird flu, in which mortality is about 70%.”

Officials in Iraq have announced that 355 Iraqis were killed in April, making it the worst month of fatalities⁷ so far this year. Most of the deaths were as result of several large bomber⁸ attacks in which at least 150 people died. The overall figure for the month doesn't include at least 80 Iranian pilgrims who died in those attacks. April was also the deadliest month for US forces since September.

President Obama has confirmed that one of the nine judges in the United States Supreme⁹ Court, David Souter is to retire. The president said he hoped to appoint a replacement¹⁰ for the new court session begins in October. James Coomarasamy reports from Washington.

Justice Souter's decision to step down presents Barack Obama with an early chance to make one of the most consequential¹¹ decisions that falls to a US president, a lifetime appointment to American's highest court. To underline its importance, Mr. Obama took the unusual step of breaking into his Press Secretary's daily briefing to officially announce the 69-year-old judge's retirement¹². David Souter was appointed by the first President Bush but he's generally taken liberal positions on the contentious¹³ issues that come before the court.

You are listening to World News from the BBC.

The Prime Minister of Zimbabwe Morgan Tsvangirai says the government is broken, can't meet union demands for higher wages. Addressing a May Day rally, Mr. Tsvangirai said everyone, including President Mugabe was being paid no more than $100 a month. Here's our southern Africa correspondent Peter Biles.

After a decade in decline, Zimbabwe's economy is in a sorry state. The priority of the new power－sharing government has been to stabilize¹⁴ the situation. The worthless Zimbabwean dollar has been replaced by the use of the American dollar, the South African Rand and other foreign currencies. But Morgan Tsvangirai says the government is broke. It can't afford to pay the country's 250, 000 civil servants more than a stipend¹⁵ of $100 a month. Mr. Tsvangirai who was once a trade union leader himself said he was pleading with the Zimbabwean Congress of Trade Unions to give the government more time.

The American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said that China and Iran are making disturbing inroads into Latin America. She defended President Obama's overtures¹⁶ towards Presidents Chavez in Venezuela, saying that efforts to isolate¹ anti-American leaders had only made them more receptive to other powers.

Brazilian police have entered a track to the Amazon rainforest to evict¹⁷ settlers in the combination of a 30-year dispute with native groups. The Supreme Court ruled in March that non-indigenous residents must leave the vast reservation known as Raposa Serra do Sol by the end of April. It was seen as a major victory for the rights of native people who've been struggling to protect their ancestral lands.

A senior Sri Lankan official has questioned the authenticity¹⁸ of satellite pictures released by the UN that appeared to show the extent of shelling and bombing within a government-designated safe zone. A Foreign Ministry¹⁹ spokesman said the area had been fought over for many years, so it was hard to say when the damage might have occurred and who might be responsible.

一名从上海抵达香港某酒店的墨西哥旅客被确诊携带猪流感病毒，随后，香港当局已隔离这家酒店的300名旅客和一名员工。这是亚洲首例确诊的猪流感病例，世卫组织现已称这种病毒为H1N1。已采取紧急措施以追踪去上海的同架飞机上的另外200名乘客。

香港特首曾荫权告诉记者，这些乘客从墨西哥起飞，在上海中途停留。来自香港的报道说，这名病人已移至医院的隔离病房，目前状况稳定。这名乘客下榻过的酒店的旅客都被禁止离开。由于2003年呼吸道疾病SARS的爆发，香港和中国大陆均对H1N1特别重视。世卫组织说，香港和中国大陆已做好应对H1N1的准备。

墨西哥卫生部长说，猪流感可能不像最初担心的那么可怕。部长Jose Angel Cordova说，尽管这种病毒是可以传染了，如果治疗及时，病人对抗滤过性病原体药物的反应良好。他说送入医院的人数已经下降。

“住院病人数量的下降是个可喜的迹象，这让我们想起了世卫组织说的，“幸运的是，病毒不是很可怕，”昨天我们还从别的医院显示的数字中看到了别的迹象。它没有禽流感那么致命，禽流感的死亡率是70%。”

伊拉克官方宣布，四月份有355名伊拉克被杀，这使得四月份成为今年至今灾祸最严重的月份。大多数死者死于几次炸弹袭击，这些袭击造成至少150人死亡。总数字并不包括死于这些袭击事件的80多名伊朗朝圣者。对于美国军队来说，四月份是九月份以来死亡率最高的月份。

奥巴马总统宣布，美国最高法院九名法官之一的David Souter将要辞职。总统说，他希望为十月份开始的法院的新开庭任命新法官。

Justice Souter决定辞职，这给奥巴马总统一次及早的任命任命美国最高法院法官这一终身职位的机会，这是美国总统所做的最重要的决定之一。为了强调其重要性，奥巴马采取了非同寻常的举措，他打断新闻部长的每日简单发言，宣布这位69岁的老法官退休。David Souter是由老布什任命的，但是一般来说，对于法庭上有争议的问题，他都可自由选择立场。

津巴布韦总理茨万吉拉伊说，政府已经破产，已不能满足工会对高工资的要求。茨万吉拉伊在国际劳动节集会上讲话，他说，包括总统穆加贝在在内的每个人每月的工资都不高于100＄。BBC驻南非记者 Peter Biles报道。

十年的衰退使得津巴布韦的经济处于可怜的境地。新的权利分享政府优先要做的事是稳定政局。一文不名的津巴布韦币已为美元、南非兰特和其他外币取代。但茨万吉拉伊说，政府已经破产，它已无法支付本国250，000名公务员每月100美元的薪金。曾是工会领袖的茨万吉拉伊说，他已请求津巴布韦工会大会给政府更多时间。

美国国务卿希拉里说，中国和伊朗 侵入 拉丁美洲正在侵入拉丁美洲，她为奥巴马总统关于委内瑞拉总统查韦斯的建议辩护，说对反美国的领导人的隔绝只是让他们更能接纳其他的势力。

巴西警察正在亚马逊雨林追踪以驱逐殖民者，后者已与当地争夺了30年之久。最高法院三月份判定，非本土居民必须在四月底之前离开这片被称为 Raposa Serra do Sol的广阔土地。对于为保护祖先之地而斗争在当地人来说，这是个大胜利。

斯里兰卡一名议员质疑联合国公开的卫星图片的真实性，图片显示了一处政府指定的安全区被炮弹摧毁的程度。外交部一名发言人说，这个地区已经作战很多年，所以很难断定这些破坏是什么时候发生的，也很难断定谁应该对此负责。

1 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。

2 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

3 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。

4 ward   

n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开

参考例句：

• The hospital has a medical ward and a surgical ward.这家医院有内科病房和外科病房。
• During the evening picnic,I'll carry a torch to ward off the bugs.傍晚野餐时，我要点根火把，抵挡蚊虫。

5 contagious   

adj.传染性的，有感染力的

参考例句：

• It's a highly contagious infection.这种病极易传染。
• He's got a contagious laugh.他的笑富有感染力。

6 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。

7 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》

8 bomber   

n.轰炸机，投弹手，投掷炸弹者

参考例句：

• He flew a bomber during the war.他在战时驾驶轰炸机。
• Detectives hunting the London bombers will be keen to interview him.追查伦敦爆炸案凶犯的侦探们急于对他进行讯问。

9 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。

10 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。

11 consequential   

adj.作为结果的，间接的；重要的

参考例句：

• She was injured and suffered a consequential loss of earnings.她受了伤因而收入受损。
• This new transformation is at least as consequential as that one was.这一新的转变至少和那次一样重要。

12 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

13 contentious   

adj.好辩的，善争吵的

参考例句：

• She was really not of the contentious fighting sort.她委实不是好吵好闹的人。
• Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.从那时起，他们总想方设法避开有争议的问题。

14 stabilize   

vt.（使）稳定，使稳固，使稳定平衡；vi.稳定

参考例句：

• They are eager to stabilize currencies.他们急于稳定货币。
• His blood pressure tended to stabilize.他的血压趋向稳定。

15 stipend   

n.薪贴；奖学金；养老金

参考例句：

• The company is going to ajust my stipend from this month onwards.从这一个月开始公司将对我的薪金作调整。
• This sum was nearly a third of his total stipend.这笔钱几乎是他全部津贴的三分之一。

16 overtures   

n.主动的表示，提议；（向某人做出的）友好表示、姿态或提议( overture的名词复数 )；（歌剧、芭蕾舞、音乐剧等的）序曲，前奏曲

参考例句：

• Their government is making overtures for peace. 他们的政府正在提出和平建议。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He had lately begun to make clumsy yet endearing overtures of friendship. 最近他开始主动表示友好，样子笨拙却又招人喜爱。 来自辞典例句

17 evict   

vt.驱逐，赶出，撵走

参考例句：

• The lessor can evict the lessee for failure to pay rent.出租人可驱逐不付租金的承租人。
• The government always says it's for the greater good when they evict farmers from their land.当政府把农民从他们的土地赶出去的时候，总是号称是为了更大众的利益。

18 authenticity   

n.真实性

参考例句：

• There has been some debate over the authenticity of his will. 对于他的遗嘱的真实性一直有争论。
• The museum is seeking an expert opinion on the authenticity of the painting. 博物馆在请专家鉴定那幅画的真伪。

19 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。