英国新闻听力 布朗提议召开伦敦峰会讨论阿富汗问题

The United Nations Nuclear Agency says questions still need to be answered about Iran's recently declared nuclear site at Qom. Our report from the inspectors¹ says Iran's failure to declare the uranium enrichment plant earlier raises questions about the existence of other nuclear secrets. The news came as Russia pulled a brake on its involvement with Iran's nuclear program, delaying the startup of a nuclear power station that's built in southern Iran.Richard Galpin reports.

The Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko said the Bushehr plant would not start operations this year, due to what he called technical reasons. The announcement comes at an acutely sensitive time, as international pressure mounts on Iran over its nuclear program. Many western countries suspect Tehran's ultimate goal is to build a nuclear weapon, but Iran denies this.

Russia has a key role to play in the growing crisis. It's offered to enrich most of Iran's current stockpile of uranium, a plan which will buy time for the international community to find out more about the purpose of Iran’s nuclear program.

The British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has offered to host an international conference in London earlier next year to discuss the way forward for Afghanistan. In a speech, Mr. Brown reiterated² calls for President Hamid Karzai to take early action to combat corruption³, and he said the international community needed to identify a process for gradually transferring territory to full Afghan control.

The space shuttle Atlantis has been launched from Cape⁴ Canaveral in Florida and it’s heading for a rendezvous⁵ with the International Space Station. It's carrying supplies and consignment⁶ of worms for scientific research. Madeleine Morris reports.

Caenorhabditis elegans may be only a millimeter in length, but size doesn't matter when it comes to space. We human share up to 80% of our DNA⁷ with our invertebrate⁸ cousins, normally to be found feeding in rubbish tips, making them a reasonable subject for space experiments. The payload of a million microscopic⁹ worms, which come mainly from Japan and the UK will be used to test different ways of preventing muscle atrophy¹⁰ in astronauts.

A Zambian newspaper editor has been acquitted¹¹ of pornography charges after sending government ministers pictures of a woman giving birth in a hospital car park. The incident took place during a nurses' strike and the baby died. The Zambian president described the photographs as pornographic, but Chansa Kabwela said she wanted to raise awareness¹² of the effects of the strike that paralyzed the country's hospitals.

"I was merely notifying or being to their attention of authorities at desperate situation at the hospitals. And I couldn't understand really how somebody could look at that picture and be able to see pornography in it."

The magistrate¹³ in the case said he had nothing to indicate that the photographs were obscene.

The Palestinian authority says it's sought the backing of European Union for its plan to have the United Nations recognize an independent Palestinian state in the west bank in Gaza, despite continued Israeli occupation. The chief Palestinian negotiator said they would seek the support of all members of international community. Israel has warned against any unilateral steps by the Palestinians.

The head of the United Nations Food Agency, Jacques Diouf says he’s not satisfied with the closing declaration of the World Food Summit in Rome. He says the declaration, committing the world to what's called a new partnership¹⁴ to combat hunger isn't specific enough. David Loyn reports.

Doctor Diouf said he was not in the room when negotiators from across the world finalized¹⁵ the declaration that's been rubber stamped to the Food Summit in Rome. But he said he was not satisfied with it, as it did not include targets either for the amount of spending on agriculture or a date to eradicate¹⁶ hunger in the world. This is an unusually frank admission from an international civil servant, and reveals some frustration¹⁷ that the political impetus¹⁸ to increase spending on agriculture after the food price shocks at the end of 2007 may have been lost.

Kenyan government officials have started to search the country’s largest forest, the Mau Forest, to ensure settlers have left after a deadline for their eviction¹⁹ expired on Monday. Rivers and streams in the forest supply much of the country's water and the government wants to restore the ecosystem²⁰. Officials believe most of the settlers have now left. However our BBC correspondent who visited the area said many residents had nowhere else to go.

The German carmaker Mercedes Benz has bought controlling stake in a British-based Formula One motor racing²¹ team Brawn²² GP. The team won this year's championships for both Drivers and Constructors. The chairman of Mercedes said that from next year Brawn would race as the Mercedes Grand Prix team.

1 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》

2 reiterated   

反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• "Well, I want to know about it,'she reiterated. “嗯，我一定要知道你的休假日期，"她重复说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Some twenty-two years later President Polk reiterated and elaborated upon these principles. 大约二十二年之后，波尔克总统重申这些原则并且刻意阐释一番。

3 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

4 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

5 rendezvous   

n.约会，约会地点，汇合点；vi.汇合，集合；vt.使汇合，使在汇合地点相遇

参考例句：

• She made the rendezvous with only minutes to spare.她还差几分钟时才来赴约。
• I have a rendezvous with Peter at a restaurant on the harbour.我和彼得在海港的一个餐馆有个约会。

6 consignment   

n.寄售；发货；委托；交运货物

参考例句：

• This last consignment of hosiery is quite up to standard.这批新到的针织品完全符合规格。
• We have to ask you to dispatch the consignment immediately.我们得要求你立即发送该批货物。

7 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

8 invertebrate   

n.无脊椎动物

参考例句：

• Half of all invertebrate species live in tropical rain forests.一半的无脊椎动物物种生活在热带雨林中。
• Worms are an example of invertebrate animals.蠕虫是无脊椎动物的一个例子。

9 microscopic   

adj.微小的，细微的，极小的，显微的

参考例句：

• It's impossible to read his microscopic handwriting.不可能看清他那极小的书写字迹。
• A plant's lungs are the microscopic pores in its leaves.植物的肺就是其叶片上微细的气孔。

10 atrophy   

n./v.萎缩，虚脱，衰退

参考例句：

• Patients exercised their atrophied limbs in the swimming pool.病人们在泳池里锻炼萎缩的四肢。
• Many hoped he would renew the country's atrophied political system.很多人都期望他能使该国萎靡的政治体系振作起来。

11 acquitted   

宣判…无罪( acquit的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（自己）作出某种表现

参考例句：

• The jury acquitted him of murder. 陪审团裁决他谋杀罪不成立。
• Five months ago she was acquitted on a shoplifting charge. 五个月前她被宣判未犯入店行窃罪。

12 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

13 magistrate   

n.地方行政官，地方法官，治安官

参考例句：

• The magistrate committed him to prison for a month.法官判处他一个月监禁。
• John was fined 1000 dollars by the magistrate.约翰被地方法官罚款1000美元。

14 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

15 finalized   

vt.完成（finalize的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The draft of this article has been finalized [done]. 这篇文章已经定稿。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The draft was revised several times before it was finalized. 稿子几经删改才定下来。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

16 eradicate   

v.根除，消灭，杜绝

参考例句：

• These insects are very difficult to eradicate.这些昆虫很难根除。
• They are already battling to eradicate illnesses such as malaria and tetanus.他们已经在努力消灭疟疾、破伤风等疾病。

17 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

18 impetus   

n.推动，促进，刺激；推动力

参考例句：

• This is the primary impetus behind the economic recovery.这是促使经济复苏的主要动力。
• Her speech gave an impetus to my ideas.她的讲话激发了我的思绪。

19 eviction   

n.租地等的收回

参考例句：

• The family have won a temporary reprieve from eviction.这个家庭暂时免于被逐出。
• He claimed damages for unlawful eviction.他要求对非法驱逐作出赔偿。

20 ecosystem   

n.生态系统

参考例句：

• This destroyed the ecosystem of the island.这样破坏了岛上的生态系统。
• We all have an interest in maintaining the integrity of the ecosystem.维持生态系统的完整是我们共同的利益。

21 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

22 brawn   

n.体力

参考例句：

• In this job you need both brains and brawn.做这份工作既劳神又费力。
• They relied on brains rather than brawn.他们靠的是脑力，而不是体力。