英国新闻听力 136

European Union leaders have ended a summit with an agreement to contribute to the huge sums required by developing countries to combat climate change. The EU estimates that governments worldwide would need to fund as much as 74 billion dollars a year by 2020. From the summit in Brussels, Jonny Dymond reports.

This summit was never going to agree on an overall figure that Europe would put on the table at Copenhagen. Diplomats¹ all agreed that that would be a foolish negotiating tactic², but there the agreement ended. Britain, the Swedes and the European Commission wanted some indicative figure to take to Copenhagen; others wanted no figures at all. Poorer EU states wanted to know whether there was going to be help from richer ones. In the end compromise was found. In the summit conclusions, the EU suggests a figure of between 32 and 74 billion dollars for the total annual global public contribution to developing nations by the year 2020.

Indians living deep inside the Amazon Rainforest have found the survivors³ of a plane which crashed on Thursday. Military aircraft with 11 people on board came down in northwestern Brazil. Our correspondent Gary Duffy reports from Sao Paulo.

The single-engine Cessna plane was carrying health officials from the government agency which looks after the welfare of indigenous⁴ tribes. The Brazilian authorities said the plane along with several surviving passengers and crew was found deep in the rainforest by members of the Matis tribe. The survivors were to be taken by helicopter to a nearby airport, where they were to be met by relatives. The plane came down in one of the largest Indian reservations in the country, which is home to several tribes, some of which have had only limited contact with the outside world.

Congress in Honduras has been handed an agreement which could result in a return of the ousted⁵ President Manuel Zelaya. The document has been signed by representatives from Mr. Zelaya's team and his political rival, the interim⁶ President Roberto Micheletti. It sends out plans for the power-sharing government with presidential elections to go ahead its plan in November.

The British-based oil company BP has been fined a record 87 million dollars by safety regulators in the United States. They said BP had failed to correct safety hazards at a refinery⁷ in Texas, where 15 people died in an explosion four years ago. Here's Mark Gregory.

A six-month investigation⁸ by the US regulator found BP had failed to address safety concerns raised by the refinery explosion. Inspectors⁹ uncovered hundreds of violations¹⁰ of an agreement the company had signed to deal with the hazards. BP said it was disappointed by the regulator's decision to impose a record fine. The company has previously¹¹ paid 50 million dollars in penalties to settle a criminal investigation into the explosion and two billion dollars to compensate¹² victims.

Pirates in Somalia have issued a ransom¹³ demand of seven million dollars for the release of a British couple kidnapped from their yacht off the coast of East Africa. From Nairobi, Will Ross reports.

The pirates have been holding discussions for several hours in Harardhere on the Somali coast. They were trying to agree how much money they wanted for the release of Paul and Rachel Chandler. Then one of the pirates made a phone call to the BBC. He said the ransom had been set at seven million dollars. In previous cases, the pirates have begun negotiating with an extremely high figure and then settled for far less. It's not clear who is likely to pay. Relatives say the Chandlers, who have both retired¹⁴ in their 50s, are not wealthy. And while the British government is involved in efforts to secure their release, it has a policy of not paying ransom.

United Nations refugee agency says that an unknown number of internal refugees in Yemen have been killed or wounded during an exchange of fire between government forces and Shiite rebels in the north of the country. The UNHCR says the incident happened at Al Sam camp on the outskirts¹⁵ of the regional capital, Saada. Its sources say a rocket or mortar¹⁶ landed in the camp, where some 500 people fleeing the fighting have taken refuge. Women and children were among the victims.

The Philippines has been struck by a powerful typhoon, the fourth storm hit the country in less than a month. It's made landfall in the eastern part of the country, and is now spinning towards the capital Manila, where some districts are still submerged after the typhoons which struck in early October.

A 13-year-old Dutch girl has been stopped by a court from sailing around the world on her own. Laura Dekker wants to become the youngest person to sail solo around the world, but the judge ruled she was too young to make the trip even though her parents had given their support. She's been put into the care of child care services until her school year ends in July.

1 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 tactic   

n.战略，策略；adj.战术的，有策略的

参考例句：

• Reducing prices is a common sales tactic.降价是常用的销售策略。
• She had often used the tactic of threatening to resign.她惯用以辞职相威胁的手法。

3 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

4 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。

5 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

6 interim   

adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间

参考例句：

• The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
• It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。

7 refinery   

n.精炼厂，提炼厂

参考例句：

• They built a sugar refinery.他们建起了一座榨糖厂。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

8 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

9 inspectors   

n.检查员( inspector的名词复数 )；（英国公共汽车或火车上的）查票员；（警察）巡官；检阅官

参考例句：

• They got into the school in the guise of inspectors. 他们假装成视察员进了学校。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Inspectors checked that there was adequate ventilation. 检查员已检查过，通风良好。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

11 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

12 compensate   

vt.补偿，赔偿；酬报 vi.弥补；补偿；抵消

参考例句：

• She used her good looks to compensate her lack of intelligence. 她利用她漂亮的外表来弥补智力的不足。
• Nothing can compensate for the loss of one's health. 一个人失去了键康是不可弥补的。

13 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。

14 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

15 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。

16 mortar   

n.灰浆，灰泥；迫击炮；v.把…用灰浆涂接合

参考例句：

• The mason flushed the joint with mortar.泥工用灰浆把接缝处嵌平。
• The sound of mortar fire seemed to be closing in.迫击炮的吼声似乎正在逼近。