英国新闻听力 雅典大火仍难控制

Raging wildfires threatening the Greek capital have forced thousands of people from their homes. The greater Athens local governor has called the fire an ecological¹ disaster. Malcolm Brabant reports from Athens.

The fire has been so enormous that the emergency services have been unable to cope. There weren’t enough planes to water-bomb all the hot spots. Other Mediterranean² countries are sending reinforcements. But to many homeowners, their arrival would be too late. Mercifully, there have been no fatalities³, but the biggest casualty has been the environment. The loss of so much foliage⁴ is going to have a negative impact on air quality in Athens. The wooded hillsides on the outskirts⁵ of the capital acted as its lungs and air conditioning units, providing much needed oxygen and cooler air.

The two-week offensive by the Yemeni government intended to crush a long-running rebellion in the north of the country is continuing with air strikes on rebel positions. The army says it's killed more than 100 militants⁶, but rebel sources dispute this. Sebastian Usher⁷ reports.

The Yemeni army launched its offensive in the north two weeks ago with the aim of crushing the rebels once and for all. Air strikes, artillery⁸ and tanks have been used. The government claims success, saying two of the rebel leaders have been killed. But the rebels deny this and accuse the army of killing⁹ civilians¹⁰. The militants have been sporadically¹¹ fighting the government for years. They are drawn¹² from a Zaidi Shia religious sect¹³ that seeks the restoration of Shia rule in the north of the mainly Sunni country. There have also been months of protests, anti-government clashes in the south, raising concern that Yemen's fragile stability could collapse¹⁴.

26 accused of planning attacks in Egypt on the orders of the Lebanese movement Hezbollah have pleaded not guilty at the start of their trial in Cairo. They have been charged with planning to target Israeli tourists in the Sinai. Yolande Knell¹⁵ reports.

The accused include two Lebanese, five Palestinians and 19 Egyptians. Four remain on the run and have been tried in their absence. The Egyptian authorities began arresting members of the alleged¹⁶ Hezbollah cell last year, ratcheting up tensions with the Lebanese group and its state backer Iran. Relations worsened in April after the Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah admitted that one of the Lebanese men now on trial was his agent in Egypt charged with smuggling¹⁷ arms to Hamas.

The lawyer who defended the Lockerbie airliner¹⁸ bomber¹⁹, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, during the 1990s has criticized the decision of the Scottish authorities to send him back to Libya. Ibrahim Legwell said releasing Mr. Megrahi to hospital in Britain might have shown greater compassion²⁰ because of Libya's lack of specialist cancer care. Mr. Megrahi has terminal prostate cancer. The Scottish authorities have again defended their decision to release Mr. Megrahi on compassionate²¹ grounds despite fierce criticism.

A state-run newspaper in Cuba has published a new picture of the ailing²² former leader Fidel Castro in which he appears in much better health. Mr. Castro has been out of the public eye since he underwent an operation in 2006. Here's Emilio San Pedro of our America's desk.

This latest image of Fidel Castro which takes up a large part of the Communist Youth newspaper shows him talking to the Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa in Havana. In it, a relaxed Mr. Castro is standing²³ and wearing a white dress shirt. More importantly, he appears to be in better health than at any point since he became ill in 2006. The very fact that the picture was given such prominence²⁴ in the communist party newspaper demonstrates how keen the Cuban authorities are to dispel²⁵ the persistent²⁶ rumors²⁷ in Cuba and abroad surrounding Mr. Castro's health.

An influential²⁸ member of the Iranian parliament is reported to have said that the nominee²⁹ for the post of defense³⁰ minister Ahmad Vahidi will be confirmed in the job despite accusation³¹ that he was involved in the deadly bombing of a Jewish cultural center in Argentina in 1994. The chairman of the Foreign Policy and National Security Committee, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, told the official IRNA news agency that the allegations against General Vahidi might even increase his support among MPs. The Iranian parliament is expected to vote on General Vahidi's nomination³² on September 1st.

And in cricket, England have regained³³ the Ashes after winning the final deciding Test against their great rival Australia on the fourth day of play at the Oval in London. The England player Andrew Flintoff who's retiring from Test cricket said it was a moment to treasure.

"It seems a bit of dream to be involved in an Ashes winning side again, to be at the Oval, walking around the ground with the urn³⁴ and the medal round your neck. It's almost surreal in some ways. I think it will take some time to sink in. I am not quite sure if I have ever thought I’ll get to this again. So having been here, I'm sure I'm gonna enjoy it." Andrew Flintoff.

威胁希腊首都的熊熊大火迫使数千人从家中撤离。雅典当地官员称这次大火是一次生态灾难。Malcolm Brabant在雅典报道。

火势非常迅猛，紧急服务难以将其控制，没有足够的飞机向火灾现场投掷水弹。其他地中海国家均向雅典派遣了增援。但是对许多业主来说，增援到达的太迟了。幸运的是，没有造成人员伤亡，但是最大的受害者是环境。如此大面积森林被毁坏，将对雅典的空气质量造成消极影响。雅典外围森林茂密的山坡是整个城市的肺和空调设施，为城市提供了所需的氧气和清凉的空气。

为了粉碎也门北部长期存在的反叛组织，政府实施了两周的进攻仍在继续，现在在向反叛分子据点进行空袭。军方称已经击毙100多名好战分子，但是反叛分子予以否认。Sebastian Usher报道。

为了一劳永逸地粉碎该国北部的反叛组织，也门军队两周前发起了进攻。空袭，大炮和坦克轮番上阵。政府宣称已经取得胜利，两名反叛分子头目已经被击毙。但是反叛分子予以否认，并指控军方伤害平民。几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。他们来自Zaidi什叶派宗教军团，一直寻求在主要是逊尼派的北方重建什叶派法规。南方也曾出现了几个月的抗议和反政府冲突，使人们担忧也门原本脆弱的稳定性随时可能崩溃。

在开罗的审判中，26名被指控按照黎巴嫩真主党的命令计划在埃及实施袭击的人没有认罪。他们被指控计划在施奈袭击以色列游客。Yolande Knell报道。

被控诉者包括2名黎巴嫩人，5名巴勒斯坦人和19名埃及人。4人仍在在逃，但是仍缺席审判。埃及政府从去年开始逮捕真主党成员，引发了与黎巴嫩真主党和其支持者伊朗之间的紧张局势。四月份，真主党领袖Hassan Nasrallah承认其中被审判的一人为他在埃及的代理之后，关系更加恶化。此人被指控向哈马斯走私武器。

90年代洛克比空难主犯迈格拉希的辩护律师谴责苏格兰政府将其释放的行为。Ibrahim Legwell称，让迈格拉希住进英国医院更能表现出对他的同情，因为利比亚缺少专业的癌症护理。迈格拉希患有末期前列腺癌正。尽管面临严厉批评，苏格兰政府仍然为其释放迈格拉希的行为辩护。

古巴一份官方报纸公布了生病的前领袖菲德尔·卡斯特罗生病的最新照片，在照片中，卡斯特罗看上去健康状况良好。自2006年进行了手术之后，卡斯特罗就从公众的视线中消失。Emilio San Pedro报道。

卡斯特罗这张新照片在共产主义青年报上占据了大篇幅，展示了他在哈瓦那与厄瓜多尔总统拉法尔·科雷亚进行谈话的情景。在照片中，科斯特罗非常放松地站立着，身穿一件白色衬衫。更重要的是，他的健康状况似乎比2006年生比以来的任何时候都要好。这张照片被共产党的报纸赋予如此重要的位置，表明古巴当局急切希望消除古巴国内外关于卡斯特罗健康状况的谣言。

据报道，在伊朗议会颇有影响力的成员称，对国防部长Ahmad Vahidi的提名将得到确认，尽管，有人指控他卷入1994年阿根廷犹太人文化中心的致命爆炸案中。对外政策和国家安全委员会主席Alaeddin Boroujerdi告诉官方的IRNA通讯社，对Vahidi将军的指控甚至可能增加议会成员对他的支持。9月1日，伊朗议会将对Vahidi的提名进行投票。

在板球方面，英国队在比赛的第四天在伦敦板球场击败对手澳大利亚队之后赢得了板球对抗赛决赛，再次获得灰烬杯。已经从板球对抗赛退休的英国选手Andrew Flintoff称这是值得珍惜的一刻。

“能够再次站在赢得灰烬杯的一方，和其他队员一起脖子里挂着奖章绕比赛场地行进，感到像做梦一样。在某些方面甚至感到非常离奇。我认为需要一段时间才能真正接受这个现实。我不是很确定，我是否想过会再次获胜。所以能够站在这里，我确定我一定会享受着一刻。”Andrew Flintoff说。

1 ecological   

adj.生态的，生态学的

参考例句：

• The region has been declared an ecological disaster zone.这个地区已经宣布为生态灾难区。
• Each animal has its ecological niche.每种动物都有自己的生态位.

2 Mediterranean   

adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的

参考例句：

• The houses are Mediterranean in character.这些房子都属地中海风格。
• Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.直布罗陀是地中海的要冲。

3 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》

4 foliage   

n.叶子，树叶，簇叶

参考例句：

• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage.小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。
• Dark foliage clothes the hills.浓密的树叶覆盖着群山。

5 outskirts   

n.郊外，郊区

参考例句：

• Our car broke down on the outskirts of the city.我们的汽车在市郊出了故障。
• They mostly live on the outskirts of a town.他们大多住在近郊。

6 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。

7 usher   

n.带位员，招待员；vt.引导，护送；vi.做招待，担任引座员

参考例句：

• The usher seated us in the front row.引座员让我们在前排就座。
• They were quickly ushered away.他们被迅速领开。

8 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

9 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。

10 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

11 sporadically   

adv.偶发地，零星地

参考例句：

• There are some trees sporadically around his house. 他的房子周围零星地有点树木。 来自辞典例句
• As for other aspects, we will sporadically hand out questionnaires. 在其他方面，我们会偶尔发送调查问卷。 来自互联网

12 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

13 sect   

n.派别，宗教，学派，派系

参考例句：

• When he was sixteen he joined a religious sect.他16岁的时候加入了一个宗教教派。
• Each religious sect in the town had its own church.该城每一个宗教教派都有自己的教堂。

14 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

15 knell   

n.丧钟声；v.敲丧钟

参考例句：

• That is the death knell of the British Empire.这是不列颠帝国的丧钟。
• At first he thought it was a death knell.起初，他以为是死亡的丧钟敲响了。

16 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

17 smuggling   

n.走私

参考例句：

• Some claimed that the docker's union fronted for the smuggling ring.某些人声称码头工人工会是走私集团的掩护所。
• The evidence pointed to the existence of an international smuggling network.证据表明很可能有一个国际走私网络存在。

18 airliner   

n.客机，班机

参考例句：

• The pilot landed the airliner safely.驾驶员使客机安全着陆。
• The passengers were shepherded across the tarmac to the airliner.旅客们被引导走过跑道去上飞机。

19 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。

20 compassion   

n.同情，怜悯

参考例句：

• He could not help having compassion for the poor creature.他情不自禁地怜悯起那个可怜的人来。
• Her heart was filled with compassion for the motherless children.她对于没有母亲的孩子们充满了怜悯心。

21 compassionate   

adj.有同情心的，表示同情的

参考例句：

• She is a compassionate person.她是一个有同情心的人。
• The compassionate judge gave the young offender a light sentence.慈悲的法官从轻判处了那个年轻罪犯。

22 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。

23 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

24 prominence   

n.突出；显著；杰出；重要

参考例句：

• He came to prominence during the World Cup in Italy.他在意大利的世界杯赛中声名鹊起。
• This young fashion designer is rising to prominence.这位年轻的时装设计师的声望越来越高。

25 dispel   

vt.驱走，驱散，消除

参考例句：

• I tried in vain to dispel her misgivings.我试图消除她的疑虑，但没有成功。
• We hope the programme will dispel certain misconceptions about the disease.我们希望这个节目能消除对这种疾病的一些误解。

26 persistent   

adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的

参考例句：

• Albert had a persistent headache that lasted for three days.艾伯特连续头痛了三天。
• She felt embarrassed by his persistent attentions.他不时地向她大献殷勤，使她很难为情。

27 rumors   

n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷

参考例句：

• Rumors have it that the school was burned down. 有谣言说学校给烧掉了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Rumors of a revolt were afloat. 叛变的谣言四起。 来自《简明英汉词典》

28 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

29 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

30 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

31 accusation   

n.控告，指责，谴责

参考例句：

• I was furious at his making such an accusation.我对他的这种责备非常气愤。
• She knew that no one would believe her accusation.她知道没人会相信她的指控。

32 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

33 regained   

复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地

参考例句：

• The majority of the people in the world have regained their liberty. 世界上大多数人已重获自由。
• She hesitated briefly but quickly regained her poise. 她犹豫片刻，但很快恢复了镇静。

34 urn   

n.（有座脚的）瓮；坟墓；骨灰瓮

参考例句：

• The urn was unearthed entire.这只瓮出土完整无缺。
• She put the big hot coffee urn on the table and plugged it in.她将大咖啡壶放在桌子上,接上电源。