英国新闻听力 137

After weeks of wrangling¹, the Iraqi parliament has passed a law which allows a general election to be held as planned in January although the exact date has yet to be set. A decision had been delayed more than 10 times as MPs couldn't agree on issues including the distribution of seats in the oil-rich, ethnically² divided city of Kirkuk. Sebastian Usher³ reports.

The vote was delayed so many times that there was serious concern that the law wouldn't be adopted in time for election to take place in January. The key sticking point was the northern city of Kirkuk. The city is in a region that sits on vast oil reserves. Its population is divided between Kurds and Arabs with both vying⁴ for control. The Kurds wanted its electoral roll modified to show them as the majority. In the end, the electoral law was a compromise but left a final decision over Kirkuk for later. Iraq should now be up to hold elections in January avoiding a postponement⁵ that would have endangered the country's faltering⁶ moves towards stability.

President Obama congratulated Iraq's leaders for reaching an agreement and said what he called, “their flexibility⁷ and commitment to their country sent an important signal to the world about the country's democracy and national unity⁸.”

The head of the British armed forces Sir Jock Stirrup has told the BBC that al-Qaeda is not operating in Afghanistan at the moment and that the movement has been forced into a relatively⁹ small area of Pakistan, but Sir Jock stressed the Afghan campaign contributed to the wider fight against al-Qaeda. Humphrey Hawksley reports.

Air chief Marshall Sir Jock Stirrup was measured yet upbeat about the mission in Afghanistan describing it as painful, slow but going in the right direction. He predicted that it might be another five years until 2014 before the Afghan forces could take full control of security. Britain's deployments in Afghanistan depend very much on the decision due soon from President Obama on whether he will send extra troops to the conflict. In an interview, on American television, a head of the army, General George Casey said more troops would help cut into the Taliban successors while training of the Afghan forces continued.

More than 90 people have died in El Salvador after hurricane Ida swept past Central America bringing strong winds and torrential rainfall. The government in El Salvador said another 60 people were still missing. Charles Scanlon reports.

Hurricane Ida brought strong winds and torrential rains as it swept past the small mountainous countries of Central America. El Salvador was worst hit with mudslides and flash floods causing most of the damage and casualties. The storm then dealt a glancing blow to Mexico's Caribbean resorts before moving into the warm waters of the Gulf¹⁰ of Mexico. It's now picking up strength again with wind speeds of up to 160 kilometers an hour. A hurricane could threaten oil and gas production platforms in the Gulf. Coastal¹¹ areas from Louisiana to Florida have been put on hurricane watch.

Turkish officials have said the Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity will not attend a summit of Islamic nations in the Istanbul as planned. Jonathan Head reports.

Sudan's president has taken every opportunity to defy the arrest warrant issued against him in March by the International Criminal Court. Visiting a number of African countries since then where he's felt safe from the threat of extradition¹². Now Turkish officials are saying he won't be attending an Islamic summit in Istanbul on Monday despite an official invitation from the Turkish government to do so. This follows a tense few days during which Turkey defied international pressure to cancel the invitation to a leader accused of war crimes. On Friday, President Abdullah Gul brushed aside a private plea from the European Union saying it was not the EU's place to interfere¹³.

A synagogue center of the eastern German city of Dresden has been defaced with swastikas ahead of the anniversary of an anti-Jewish program carried out under the Nazis¹⁴. Police say the symbols were painted on the outer wall of synagogue and that an investigation¹⁵ was underway to discover who was responsible. 91 Jews were killed during the program known as Kristallnacht on the 9th and 10th of November, 1938.

A senior Iranian politician has said his country's relations with Russia could suffer if Moscow delayed a delivery of an anti-aircraft missile defense¹⁶ system to Tehran. In a report by the Esners state news agency, the head of the Iranian Parliament's Foreign Policy and National Security Committee, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, said that the avoiding delivery would be harmful to Russia. The contract to provide the system was signed two years ago.

Conservationists in Niger said the giraffe population there which was on the edge of extinction¹⁷ just 10 years ago is now on the rise and moving into new habitats. From a herd¹⁸ of 50 animals, careful conservation has numbers rise to around 200.

1 wrangling   

v.争吵，争论，口角( wrangle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The two sides have spent most of their time wrangling over procedural problems. 双方大部分时间都在围绕程序问题争论不休。 来自辞典例句
• The children were wrangling (with each other) over the new toy. 孩子为新玩具（互相）争吵。 来自辞典例句

2 ethnically   

adv.人种上，民族上

参考例句：

• Ethnically, the Yuan Empire comprised most of modern China's ethnic groups. 元朝的民族成分包括现今中国绝大多数民族。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• Russia is ethnically relatively homogeneous. 俄罗斯是个民族成分相对单一的国家。 来自辞典例句

3 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。

4 vying   

adj.竞争的；比赛的

参考例句：

• California is vying with other states to capture a piece of the growing communications market.为了在日渐扩大的通讯市场分得一杯羹，加利福尼亚正在和其他州展开竞争。
• Four rescue plans are vying to save the zoo.4个拯救动物园的方案正争得不可开交。

5 postponement   

n.推迟

参考例句：

• He compounded with his creditors for a postponement of payment. 他与债权人达成协议延期付款。
• Rain caused the postponement of several race-meetings. 几次赛马大会因雨延期。

6 faltering   

犹豫的，支吾的，蹒跚的

参考例句：

• The economy shows no signs of faltering. 经济没有衰退的迹象。
• I canfeel my legs faltering. 我感到我的腿在颤抖。

7 flexibility   

n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性

参考例句：

• Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。
• The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。

8 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

9 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

10 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。

11 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

12 extradition   

n.引渡（逃犯）

参考例句：

• The smuggler is in prison tonight,awaiting extradition to Britain.这名走私犯今晚在监狱，等待引渡到英国。
• He began to trouble concerning the extradition laws.他开始费尽心思地去想关于引渡法的问题。

13 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

14 Nazis   

n.（德国的）纳粹党员( Nazi的名词复数 )；纳粹主义

参考例句：

• The Nazis worked them over with gun butts. 纳粹分子用枪托毒打他们。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Nazis were responsible for the mass murder of Jews during World War Ⅱ. 纳粹必须为第二次世界大战中对犹太人的大屠杀负责。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 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。

16 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。

17 extinction   

n.熄灭，消亡，消灭，灭绝，绝种

参考例句：

• The plant is now in danger of extinction.这种植物现在有绝种的危险。
• The island's way of life is doomed to extinction.这个岛上的生活方式注定要消失。

18 herd   

n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• He had no opinions of his own but simply follow the herd.他从无主见，只是人云亦云。