英国新闻听力 美国最高龄死刑犯自然原因去世

On the second day of a major offensive against the Taliban in the southern Afghan province of Helmand, NATO-led forces have killed 12 civilians¹ by mistake. A NATO statement said two rockets veered² off target. Martin Patience reports.

According to military officials, the two rockets were supposed to target insurgents³ who they say were firing from a compound. But the weapons missed their target by 300 meters, killing⁴ the civilians in Marjah. In a statement, NATO-led forces say they've suspended the use of this particular rocket while they investigate. Despite the deaths, commanders say the operation is proceeding⁵ as planned. Progress, however, has been slow in Marjah town as forces clear homemade bombs and booby traps from roads and compounds.

The American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has urged Iran to reconsider what she called its “dangerous policy decisions”. In a speech in the Gulf⁶ state of Qatar, she said Iran's actions over its nuclear program were leaving the international community little choice but to impose tougher sanctions. Mrs Clinton is trying to rally regional support for such a move.

The American Vice⁷ President Joe Biden has said that he believed China will back the possible sanctions against Iran. Such a move would mark a change in approach by China, which is a permanent member of the UN Security Council. Speaking on NBC's Meet the Press, Mr Biden said he was confident it could be achieved.

"We have the support of everyone from Russia to Europe and I believe we will get the support of China to continue to impose sanctions on Iran to isolate⁸ them, to make it clear that in fact they cannot move forward. I think we've made significant progress."

The President of Kenya Mwai Kibaki has refused to allow the Prime Minister Raila Odinga to suspend two ministers over corruption⁹ allegations. Mr Odinga had taken action after auditors¹⁰ found that millions of dollars had been diverted from public programs. From Nairobi, here is Will Ross.

If you ever wanted a sign of just how fractious and uncoordinated Kenya's coalition¹¹ government was, this is it. First of all, Kenya's Prime Minister Raila Odinga announced the suspension of the Agriculture Minister William Ruto and Education Minister Samuel Ongeri. He said two recent investigations¹² into corruption laid credible¹³ foundations for the ministers to be investigated. Just hours later, President Mwai Kibaki said the two ministers were still in office because he had not been consulted, and because he said the prime minister did not have the power to sack ministers.

The head of the UN anti-drugs office in West Africa, Alexandre Schmidt, has said addiction¹⁴ is now a serious problem in the region, which has become a transit¹⁵ route for cocaine¹⁶ trafficked from South America to Europe. Speaking ahead of the drugs conference in Senegal, Mr Schmidt said trafficking is also a threat to the rule of law and governance there. Analysts¹⁷ estimate almost 1/3 of the cocaine destined¹⁸ for Europe now passes through West Africa.

The far-right British National Party has abolished its whites-only membership policy to allow black and Asian people to join. The party, which wants a halt to immigration into Britain, voted to change its constitution at an extraordinary general meeting after it was threatened with legal action by the government-funded Equality and Human Rights Commission. The party's leader Nick Griffin said people from ethnic¹⁹ minorities would be welcomed as long as they agreed with BNP principles. He said the party should no longer be branded as racist²⁰.

The oldest death row inmate²¹ in the United States has died of natural causes at the age of 94. The prison authorities in Arizona said Viva Leroy Nash died at the state prison in Florence. Nash was sentenced to death in 1983 for shooting a salesman after escaping from jail, but he staved off his execution with a series of appeals.

The best-selling British thriller²² writer and former champion jockey Dick Francis has died at the age of 89. His 42 novels including Forfeit²³ and Whip Hand have been translated into 30 languages and have sold tens of millions of copies worldwide. Here is Nick Higham.

Dick Francis was one of those rare people who succeed in two quite different fields, a top jockey who became an author with worldwide sales of more than 60 million. As a professional jockey after World War Two, he rode more than 300 winners. When he retired²⁴ in 1957, he wrote his autobiography²⁵, and his first novel Dead Cert was published in 1962. Another followed each year. The books provided readers with plenty of intrigue²⁶ but no sex. They were once described as “crime novels for gentlefolk”.

A team from the United States has won the oldest and most prestigious²⁷ competition in sailing, the America's Cup. The BMW Oracle²⁸ trimaran beat the defending champions, the Swiss-owned team Alinghi, off the coast of Valencia in Spain. It was the first time in 18 years that America had won the Cup, which it had traditionally dominated.

对阿富汗南部省份Helmand塔利班分子展开的重大进攻的第二天，北约领导的军队错杀了12名平民。北约发表的一份声明表示，两枚火箭弹偏离了预定目标。Martin Patience报道。

据军事官员所说，这两枚火箭弹原本射击目标是他们所说的在一栋建筑内开火的反叛分子。但是武器偏离既定目标300米，错杀Marjah的平民。在一份声明中，北约领导的军队表示，他们正在对此事进行调查，在此期间，他们暂停这种火箭弹的使用。尽管造成平民伤亡，指挥官表示，这次行动将按计划继续进行。然而，由于军队必须清除道路和建筑中的自制炸弹和饵雷，Marjah镇的进展非常缓慢。

美国国务卿希拉里·克林顿敦促伊朗重新考虑她所说的“危险的政治决定”。在海湾国家卡塔尔发表讲话时，希拉里表示，伊朗在核项目方面的行动使国际社会别无选择，只能施加严厉制裁。希拉里希望就制裁行动获得区域支持。

美国副总统乔·拜登曾经表示，他相信中国将支持对伊朗实施制裁。此举将标志着联合国安理会常任理事国中国态度的转变。在NBC的Meet the Press节目中，拜登表示，他相信一定能够达成这个目标。

“我们获得了从俄罗斯到欧洲每一个国家的支持，我相信，我们最终会得到中国的支持，对伊朗实施制裁，对他们进行孤立，明确表示他们不可能前进。我认为我们已经取得了重大进展。”

肯尼亚总统姆瓦伊·齐贝吉(Mwai Kibaki)拒绝允许总理瑞拉·欧迪加(Raila Odinga)因腐败指控而暂停两位部长的职务。审计官员发现公共项目中数百万美元被挪用后，欧迪加采取了行动。内罗毕，Will Ross报道。

如果你曾经希望寻找肯尼亚联合政府分裂和不协调的迹象，这里就是。首先，肯尼亚总理瑞拉·欧迪加(Raila Odinga)宣布暂停农业部长William Ruto和教育部长Samuel Ongeri的职务。他说，最近进行的两项腐败调查提供了可靠的证据，应该对这两位部长进行调查。几小时之后，总统姆瓦伊·齐贝吉(Mwai Kibaki)表示，这两位部长仍然在职，因为无人咨询他的意见，他说，总理无权解雇部长。

联合国驻西非禁毒办公室负责人Alexandre Schmidt表示，毒瘾已经成为该地区的严重问题。该地区已经成为可卡因由南美运往欧洲的通道。在塞内加尔毒品会议上发表讲话时，Schmidt表示，毒品运输业对该地区的法律秩序和政府管理造成了威胁。分析家估计，大约三分之一运往欧洲的毒品取道西非。

极右政党英国国家党(British National Party) 取消了只接收白人成员的政策，允许黑人和亚洲人加入。该政党希望停止其他国家向英国移民。此前，该正当受到英国政府提供资金的平等和人权委员会司法行动的威胁，在随后举行的特别会议上，他们投票对宪法作出改变。该党领袖Nick Griffin表示，只要赞成英国国家党的方针，少数民族人口也将受到欢迎。他说，英国国家党将不再拥有民族差别主义的标签。

美国年龄最大的死刑犯因自然原因去世，享年94岁。监狱官方表示，Viva Leroy Nash在Florence州立监狱去世。1983年，Nash因越狱后枪杀一名推销员而被判处死刑，但是经过一系列上诉，他的处决得到延缓。

英国著名侦探小说作家兼前冠军骑师弗朗西斯(Dick Francis)去世，享年89岁。他的42部小说被翻译成30多中语言，包括《丧失》和《执鞭之手》在内，共在全世界售出数千万册。

弗朗西斯(Dick Francis)是为数不多的在两个完全不同的领域取得卓越成就的人之一，一位骑师成为全世界销量超过6千万册的作家。作为第二次世界大战后的一位骑师，他共获得300多次冠军。1957年退休时，他撰写了自传，他的第一部小说Dead Cert在1962年出版。以后每年都出版一部小说。这些小说为读者呈现了大量的阴谋。他们曾经被描述为“上流人士的犯罪小说”。

来自美国的一只帆船队赢得了帆船比赛最高荣誉——美洲杯。甲骨文宝马号帆船队在西班牙巴伦西亚海岸击败了卫冕冠军瑞士Alinghi队。这是18年来美国首次赢得传统上占优势的美洲杯帆船比赛。

1 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。

2 veered   

v.（尤指交通工具）改变方向或路线( veer的过去式和过去分词 )；（指谈话内容、人的行为或观点）突然改变；（指风） （在北半球按顺时针方向、在南半球按逆时针方向）逐渐转向；风向顺时针转

参考例句：

• The bus veered onto the wrong side of the road. 公共汽车突然驶入了逆行道。
• The truck veered off the road and crashed into a tree. 卡车突然驶离公路撞上了一棵树。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

4 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。

5 proceeding   

n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报

参考例句：

• This train is now proceeding from Paris to London.这次列车从巴黎开往伦敦。
• The work is proceeding briskly.工作很有生气地进展着。

6 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。

7 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

8 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。

9 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。

10 auditors   

n.审计员，稽核员( auditor的名词复数 )；（大学课程的）旁听生

参考例句：

• The company has been in litigation with its previous auditors for a full year. 那家公司与前任审计员已打了整整一年的官司。
• a meeting to discuss the annual accounts and the auditors' report thereon 讨论年度报表及其审计报告的会议

11 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

12 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

13 credible   

adj.可信任的，可靠的

参考例句：

• The news report is hardly credible.这则新闻报道令人难以置信。
• Is there a credible alternative to the nuclear deterrent?是否有可以取代核威慑力量的可靠办法？

14 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。

15 transit   

n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过

参考例句：

• His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
• The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。

16 cocaine   

n.可卡因，古柯碱（用作局部麻醉剂）

参考例句：

• That young man is a cocaine addict.那个年轻人吸食可卡因成瘾。
• Don't have cocaine abusively.不可滥服古柯碱。

17 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

18 destined   

adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的

参考例句：

• It was destined that they would marry.他们结婚是缘分。
• The shipment is destined for America.这批货物将运往美国。

19 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

20 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。

21 inmate   

n.被收容者；(房屋等的)居住人；住院人

参考例句：

• I am an inmate of that hospital.我住在那家医院。
• The prisoner is his inmate.那个囚犯和他同住一起。

22 thriller   

n.惊险片，恐怖片

参考例句：

• He began by writing a thriller.That book sold a million copies.他是写惊险小说起家的。那本书卖了一百万册。
• I always take a thriller to read on the train.我乘火车时，总带一本惊险小说看。

23 forfeit   

vt.丧失；n.罚金，罚款，没收物

参考例句：

• If you continue to tell lies,you will forfeit the good opinion of everyone.你如果继续撒谎，就会失掉大家对你的好感。
• Please pay for the forfeit before you borrow book.在你借书之前请先付清罚款。

24 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。

25 autobiography   

n.自传

参考例句：

• He published his autobiography last autumn.他去年秋天出版了自己的自传。
• His life story is recounted in two fascinating volumes of autobiography.这两卷引人入胜的自传小说详述了他的生平。

26 intrigue   

vt.激起兴趣，迷住；vi.耍阴谋；n.阴谋，密谋

参考例句：

• Court officials will intrigue against the royal family.法院官员将密谋反对皇室。
• The royal palace was filled with intrigue.皇宫中充满了勾心斗角。

27 prestigious   

adj.有威望的，有声望的，受尊敬的

参考例句：

• The young man graduated from a prestigious university.这个年轻人毕业于一所名牌大学。
• You may even join a prestigious magazine as a contributing editor.甚至可能会加入一个知名杂志做编辑。

28 oracle   

n.神谕，神谕处，预言

参考例句：

• In times of difficulty,she pray for an oracle to guide her.在困难的时候，她祈祷神谕来指引她。
• It is a kind of oracle that often foretells things most important.它是一种内生性神谕，常常能预言最重要的事情。