英国新闻听力

A United Nations report says up to half the food aid in Somalia is routinely diverted to corrupt¹ contractors², Islamist militants⁴ and local UN workers. Bob Replate in New York has more.

The report says up to half of the food aid to Somalia is diverted to a web of corrupt contractors, transporters and armed groups. It blames the problem on the distribution system run by the UN’s World Food Program, or WFP. The report notes that agency contracts for food transport are awarded to a few powerful individuals who operate cartels that sell the food illegally. Truck drivers and militants controlling different areas also get paid off. The report’s criticism of WFP is unusually strong, it even recommends an independent investigation⁵ into the agency’s Somali operation.

The Haitian President Rene Preval has met Barack Obama at the White House and he expressed his gratitude⁶ for America’s help to Haiti after the earthquake. Kim Ghattas reports from Washington.

President Rene Preval thanked Barack Obama and the American people for all the material aid that flow to Haiti after the earthquake as well as the moral support which he said helped Haitians realized they were not alone. President Preval also called for the creation of a body within the United Nations to help with fast global response to earthquakes. He said the red helmets would be the humanitarian⁷ equivalent of the blue helmets, the UN's peacekeeping force.

Police in central Nigeria have revised down to 109, the number of people they say were killed in recent ethnic⁸ violence near the city of Jos. The regional police chief said the previous official figure of about 500 dead had been fabricated. But a BBC correspondent in one of the villages says more than 100 people were killed in that village alone.

A traffic police commander in Moscow has been sacked after ordinary cars were used to blockade a road to prevent armed robbers escaping. Ten drivers were reportedly told to use their vehicles to form a barrier during the incident last week. Richard Galpin reports from Moscow.

One driver said they’d been forced to stay inside their cars and it’d been a terrifying experience as a criminal drove into them at high speed. We could’ve been killed, he said. His was one of the several cars which were damaged but no one was hurt. Initially⁹ the police denied the incident but were then forced to admit it was true. One driver posted a video about it on the Internet which’s already been watched by tens of thousands of people.

The American Vice¹⁰ President Joe Biden has spoken out strongly against Israeli plans to build 1,600 new homes in occupied East Jerusalem. At a news conference in Ramallah after talks with Palestinian leaders, Mr Biden said the Israeli’s decision undermined trust needed for profitable negotiations¹¹. The Vice President is visiting the region to spearhead American efforts to revive the peace process.

The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has robustly¹² defended climate change science in the wake of criticisms of the inter-governmental panel on climate change. Speaking in New York, Mr Ban said that none of the criticisms of the IPCC report affected¹³ the conclusion that human activities are changing the climate and that greenhouse gas emissions¹⁴ be cut urgently. Here is our environment reporter Mike Megrar.

Launching this review, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said that the small amount of earth contained in the IPCC’s 2007 report haven’t altered the fundamental conclusions that global warming is real and man-made. But to ensure transparency, accountability and adoptability, he’s asked the InterAcademy Council, a body that represents leading scientific academies around the world to carry out a comprehensive evaluation¹⁵. This independent panel will look how the IPCC handles data, what types of literature it should include in its reports and how to incorporate the full range of scientific views, a boost for researchers who disagree with the organization.

An Israeli supermarket chain is using the assassination¹⁶ of a commander from the Palestinian militant³ group Hamas as the basis for a television advertisement. The commercial for the Mahsaney Kimat Hinam shops shows actors carrying tennis rackets and wearing hats and wigs¹⁸, the same disguise that used by the killers²⁰. The Israeli Secret Service Mossad is widely suspected of carrying out the killing²¹ of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai in January. The advert¹⁷ ends with a slogan, we offer killer¹⁹ prices.

The Italian government has signed an agreement with Google to put contents of its two national libraries on the net. It means that up to a million antiquarian books including the works of Dante Machiavelli and Galileo will be scanned and made available free of charge. The Italian authorities welcome the scheme as budget pressures have cut the amount that can be spent on preserving the collections in Rome and Florence.

1 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

2 contractors   

n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

4 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。

5 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。

6 gratitude   

adj.感激，感谢

参考例句：

• I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
• She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。

7 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

8 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。

9 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

10 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。

11 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

12 robustly   

adv.要用体力地，粗鲁地

参考例句：

• These three hormones also robustly stimulated thymidine incorporation and inhibited drug-induced apoptosis. 并且这三种激素有利于胸（腺嘧啶脱氧核）苷掺入和抑制药物诱导的细胞凋亡。 来自互联网
• The economy is still growing robustly, but inflation, It'seems, is back. 经济依然强劲增长，但是通胀似乎有所抬头。 来自互联网

13 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

14 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。

15 evaluation   

n.估价，评价；赋值

参考例句：

• I attempted an honest evaluation of my own life.我试图如实地评价我自己的一生。
• The new scheme is still under evaluation.新方案还在评估阶段。

16 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

17 advert   

vi.注意，留意，言及；n.广告

参考例句：

• The advert featured a dolphin swimming around a goldfish bowl.该广告的內容为一条在金鱼缸里游动的海豚。
• Please advert to the contents below.I believe you won't be disappointed.敬请留意后面的内容。相信您一定不会失望的。

18 wigs   

n.假发，法官帽( wig的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They say that wigs will be coming in again this year. 据说今年又要流行戴假发了。 来自辞典例句
• Frank, we needed more wigs than we thought, and we have to do some advertising. 弗兰克，因为我们需要更多的假发，而且我们还要做点广告。 来自电影对白

19 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

20 killers   

凶手( killer的名词复数 )； 消灭…者； 致命物； 极难的事

参考例句：

• He remained steadfast in his determination to bring the killers to justice. 他要将杀人凶手绳之以法的决心一直没有动摇。
• They were professional killers who did in John. 杀死约翰的这些人是职业杀手。

21 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。