英国新闻听力

The authorities in Saudi Arabia say they have arrested more than 100 militants¹ suspected of links to Al-Qaeda who were planning to attack oil installations in the kingdom. The Saudi Interior Ministry² says half of those detained are Saudis and the others are from Yemen, Bangladesh, Somalia and Eritrea. Officials say security forces seized weapons, cameras, computers and documents. Shahzeb Jillani has more.

The latest round of arrests suggest(s) that militants are crossing from neighboring Yemen and using Saudi connections to plot attacks. The Saudi Interior Ministry spokesman Mansur al-Turki said that two cells dismantled⁴ by the security forces were cooperating with Al-Qaeda in Yemen. In addition, he said a network of militants specializing in targeting security personnel has been broken. Mr. Turki said that militants from network and the two cells were in contact with Al-Qaeda in Yemen and planning to attack oil facilities.

President Barack Obama has called on Israel to take confidence-building steps so that the indirect peace talks with the Palestinians can resume. The White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said discussions between Mr. Obama and the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were ongoing⁵. “They spoke³ for over two hours last night face to face. So I think we have a strong relationship with a strong ally. There are areas they discussed last night, some of which they agree, some of which they disagree. As I’ve said, those talks are ongoing, but the conversation was honest and straightforward⁶. The White House wants Israel to clarify why it had announced the construction of a further 20 Israeli homes in occupied East Jerusalem.

More than a million slings⁸ used to carry babies have been recalled in North America after three children died in them. The consumer safety agency in the US says two models of baby sling⁷ made by Californian company Infantino shouldn’t be used to carry infants younger than four months because of a risk they could suffocate⁹. Rajesh Mirchandani has more.

The soft-fabric straps¹⁰ have become popular amongst parents who like to have closer contact with their babies. But now the US Consumer Products Safety Commission has warned people to stop using slings after three babies, the youngest just six days old, died last year. A million of the carrying straps have been recalled in the US along with 15, 000 more in Canada. They are all made by the same company Infantino based in the city of San Diego. It says its top priority is the safety of infants and that it’s working to develop safety standards for slings.

A car bomb has exploded in the Colombian port city of Buenaventura, killing¹¹ at least four people and wounding more than 30. There was no immediate¹² claim of responsibility, but the head of the armed forces Freddy Padilla said he suspected the left-wing guerilla group, the FARC. Last week, five oil workers were kidnapped in FARC’s first multiple kidnapping for several years.

World News from the BBC.

The Euro, the single currency used by 16 European Union states, has fallen sharply on foreign exchanges because of concern about government debt in Portugal and Greece. The Euro dropped to one dollar 33 cents, its lowest level for ten months. More from our economics correspondent Andrew Walker.

The Euro is now about 12% lower than four months ago when the concerns about the Greek government’s finances began to mount. Those worries have ebbed¹³ and flowed along with changing signals about whether other Euro countries might be willing to provide financial help if Greece needed to avoid defaulting on its debts. In the last week, German resistance to the idea of a rescue appears to have hardened. And one of the credit rating agencies has downgraded Portugal, another Euro area government with severely¹⁴ stretched finances. The currency has weakened further as a result.

The British government has announced a 3.75-billion-dollar package to help small businesses just weeks before a general election. Presenting the last budget before the vote, the Chancellor¹⁵ of the Exchequer¹⁶ Alistair Darling said the task now was to bring down borrowing in a way that didn’t damage the economic recovery.

The Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner says she is prepared to use International Court to resolve cases related to the country’s last period of military rule if they cannot be settled by the Argentine justice system. President Fernandez said in particular she wanted to speed up the identification of children who were taken as babies from mothers who had been tortured and murdered in prison for their left-wing views during the 70s and 80s.

Police in Turkey say 46 people have been detained as part of a Europe-wide investigation¹⁷ into alleged¹⁸ football match fixing. The arrests were made in several towns and cities and include some well-known Turkish players and coaches. Arrests for match fixing are rare in Turkey as there is no law against it.

1 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。

2 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 dismantled   

拆开( dismantle的过去式和过去分词 )； 拆卸； 废除； 取消

参考例句：

• The plant was dismantled of all its equipment and furniture. 这家工厂的设备和家具全被拆除了。
• The Japanese empire was quickly dismantled. 日本帝国很快被打垮了。

5 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

6 straightforward   

adj.正直的，坦率的；易懂的，简单的

参考例句：

• A straightforward talk is better than a flowery speech.巧言不如直说。
• I must insist on your giving me a straightforward answer.我一定要你给我一个直截了当的回答。

7 sling   

vt.扔；悬挂；n.挂带；吊索，吊兜；弹弓

参考例句：

• The boy discharged a stone from a sling.这个男孩用弹弓射石头。
• By using a hoist the movers were able to sling the piano to the third floor.搬运工人用吊车才把钢琴吊到3楼。

8 slings   

抛( sling的第三人称单数 )； 吊挂； 遣送； 押往

参考例句：

• "Don't you fear the threat of slings, Perched on top of Branches so high?" 矫矫珍木巅，得无金丸惧？ 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 文学
• Used for a variety of things including slings and emergency tie-offs. 用于绳套，设置保护点，或者紧急情况下打结。

9 suffocate   

vt.使窒息，使缺氧，阻碍；vi.窒息，窒息而亡，阻碍发展

参考例句：

• If you shut all the windows,I will suffocate.如果你把窗户全部关起来，我就会闷死。
• The stale air made us suffocate.浑浊的空气使我们感到窒息。

10 straps   

n.带子( strap的名词复数 )；挎带；肩带；背带v.用皮带捆扎( strap的第三人称单数 )；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带

参考例句：

• the shoulder straps of her dress 她连衣裙上的肩带
• The straps can be adjusted to suit the wearer. 这些背带可进行调整以适合使用者。

11 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。

12 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

13 ebbed   

（指潮水）退( ebb的过去式和过去分词 )； 落； 减少； 衰落

参考例句：

• But the pain had ebbed away and the trembling had stopped. 不过这次痛已减退，寒战也停止了。
• But gradually his interest in good causes ebbed away. 不过后来他对这类事业兴趣也逐渐淡薄了。

14 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

15 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

16 exchequer   

n.财政部；国库

参考例句：

• In Britain the Chancellor of the Exchequer deals with taxes and government spending.英国的财政大臣负责税务和政府的开支。
• This resulted in a considerable loss to the exchequer.这使国库遭受了重大损失。

17 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。

18 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为