英国新闻听力 联合国报告称全球森林采伐率出现下降

Relatives of children sexually abused by an American Roman Catholic priest have accused Pope Benedict of failing to act over the case during the 1990s. The New York Times says Cardinal¹ Joseph Ratzinger as he was known at the time failed to respond to letters in which the priest Lawrence Murphy was accused of molesting² 200 pupils at school for deaf children between 1950 and 1974. Christ Ferrando reports.

These latest allegations suggest that the Vatican department led by the then Cardinal Ratzinger decided³ not to conduct church trial against Father Lawrence Murphy. This case highlights the current Pope's previous responsibilities in the church leading the Vatican department where such disciplinary cases were considered. The decision not to take action against Father Murphy, is seen as another example of the church’s desire to cover up such cases. A strategy with which Pope Benedict is now intimately associated. The Vatican has condemned⁴ Father Murphy for the abuse, but said the US civil authorities have dropped the case.

The leaders of France and Germany have agreed that the International Monetary⁵ Fund should be involved in providing a safety net for the debt burden Greek economy. The Franco-German plan was agreed at talks in Brussels ahead of European Union Summit and must to be approved by other eurozone countries. From there, ...

For the first time, the International Monetary Fund may be called in to rescue a country that uses the euro, a move which the French and others feared was undermining the single currency. To ease those fears, the deal makes clear that Germany and the rest of the eurozone would provide the lion’s share of a package estimated at around 29 billion dollars. But Chancellor⁶ Merkel insisted on tough conditions, Greece would only get help as a last resort if it can no longer borrow from financial market.

Alexander Lebedev, a Russian businessman and a former KGB officer has bought The Independent, one of Britain's leading national newspapers. Mr.Lebedev for already owns London's daily newspaper, the evening standard.Its editor Geordie Greig says Mr.Lebedev who financed the last remaining opposition⁷ paper in Russia Novaya Gazeta believes the independence of newspapers.

"These approved that in Russia with which is not an easy market to have a democratic free, independent thinking newspaper, ... with the standard where I can handle now ...

those been absolutely zero interference from interior department."

The French authorities say they've resumed the search for the flight record of an air France jet that crashed off the coast of Brazil last June, killing⁸ all 228 people on board. Sweeps of the ocean in the month after the tragedy turned up some debris⁹ and studies of this material have now given experts a better idea of where to look.

World News from the BBC.

The head of a pro-opposition television station in Venezuela says he has been arrested over a criticism he's made about the government of President Hugo Chavez at an international forum¹⁰. The Attorney General said members of Venezuela's Congress had called for Guillermo Zuloaga to be prosecuted¹¹ for what they called offensive and disrespectful comments against the president.

The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has expressed concern that the current political climate in Burma is unsuitable for credible¹² elections. He was speaking after a meeting of a group of nations supporting the UN's efforts to promote democracy in Burma. Bob Replate has the details.

The meeting of 15 nations was held amidst growing unease that Burma's new election laws would not allow a vote that free and fair. One of the newly published election laws bans prisoners convicted of a crime from voting or running for office. This just qualifies the detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from taking part in the poll. Mr.Ban said he told Burma's military government that without full participation¹³ of political prisoners, especially Mrs. Suu Kyi, the election may not be regarded as credible.

A United Nations' report says that the rate of deforestation around the world has fallen in the past decade. Some of the improvement was due to the planting of new forests, particularly in China, India and Vietnam. But despite this positive news, the UN said the rate of deforestation remained alarmingly high in many countries.

An American built replica¹⁴ of the slave ship Amistad has arrived in the Cuban capital Havana as the centerpiece of events commemorating¹⁵ the victims of the transatlantic slave trade. The replica of the 19 century Cuban ship flew the flags of the United Nations, Cuba and the United States in a symbolic¹⁶ active international friendship, but also to mark the countries’ shared history of slavery. The original Amistad whose name means friendship in Spanish, set sail for Havana in 1839, carrying a cargo¹⁷ of slaves from Sierra Leone.

遭遇美国罗马天主教堂神父性虐待的儿童的亲属指控教皇本笃在90年代未对此事采取行动。纽约时报报道称，当时他是红衣主教Joseph Ratzinger，当时有信件揭发Lawrence Murphy神父在1950至1974年间对聋儿学校200名小学生进行骚扰，而Joseph Ratzinger没有对此作出回应。Christ Ferrando报道。

最近的指控表明，由当时的红衣主教Ratzinger领导的梵蒂冈决定不对Lawrence Murphy神父进行审判。该案件强调现任教皇在当时的梵蒂冈的责任导致该案件的发生。不对Lawrence Murphy采取行动的决定被视为教堂隐瞒这类事件的又一证据，是教皇秘密编织关系网的策略。梵蒂冈针对虐童事件谴责了Murphy神父的行为，但是表示美国民权当局已经放弃了该案件。

法国和德国领袖同意，国际货币基金组织应该为希腊经济所承受的债务提供安全保障。欧盟峰会之前，法国和德国在布鲁塞尔会谈期间就该计划达成一致。但是该计划还必须得到其他欧元区国家的通过。

这是国际货币基金组织首次被要求拯救欧元区成员国。法国和其他国家担心此举会损害欧元的稳定性。为了消除这种担忧，该计划明确规定，德国和欧元区其他国家将提供大约290亿美元救助金的较大份额。但是德国首相默克尔坚持称，这是希腊难以在金融市场筹集资金时才能采取的万般无奈之举。

俄罗斯商人，前KGB(苏联国家安全委员会)官员Alexander Lebedev收购《独立报》，英国主流国家报纸之一。Lebedev现已拥有伦敦每日出版的《标准晚报》。该报编辑Geordie Greig表示，Lebedev还是俄罗斯最后一份反对派报纸《Novaya Gazeta》的大股东，他崇尚报纸的独立性。

“按照现在的标准，在俄罗斯，我们难以拥有民主，自由，思想独立的报纸，没有那种完全没有政府干预的报纸。”

去年6月份，法航一架飞机在巴西海域坠毁，造成机上228人全部遇难。现在，法国当局宣布，他们已恢复对该飞机飞行记录器的搜寻工作。灾难过后的一个月，海洋垃圾冲刷出一些飞机残骸，对这些物质的研究使专家更好的了解到应该在哪些区域开展搜寻工作。

BBC世界新闻。

委内瑞拉支持反对派电视台一名负责人表示，他因为在一个国际论坛中批评总统查韦斯政府被捕。检察长表示，委内瑞拉国会成员称，Guillermo Zuloaga对总统进行了侮辱性，不尊重的评论，要求对其提起诉讼。

联合国秘书长潘基文担忧缅甸目前的政治环境不适合进行可靠的选举。潘基文与几个支持联合国在缅甸推进民主的国家召开会议之后发表讲话。Bob Replate报道详细信息。

缅甸新的选举法不允许公平的投票，不安情绪逐渐滋长，15个国家的会议就在此时举行。新颁布的选举法其中一条禁止囚犯投票或竞选。这足以阻止被软禁的反对派领袖昂山素季参加竞选。潘基文表示，他告诉缅甸军事政府，如果政治犯不能全面参与竞选，尤其是昂山素季，国际社会不会认为这次选举是可信的。

联合国一份报告表示，过去的十年，世界各地砍伐森林的速度降低。这种状况得到改善的部门原因是新的森林的种植，尤其是在中国，印度和越南。但是联合国表示，尽管出现了比较乐观的消息，许多国家看法森林的速度仍然非常高。

一艘美国的仿造贩奴船“阿米斯塔德号”(Amistad)在古巴首都哈瓦那停泊，纪念横跨大西洋奴隶贸易的受害者。这艘19世纪古巴船只的复制品悬挂着联合国，古巴和美国的旗帜，象征着积极的国际友谊，同时也是为了纪念两国共同的努力史。Amistad在西班牙文中的意思是友谊。原版的“阿米斯塔德号”(Amistad)于1839年扬帆前往哈瓦那，满载来自塞拉利昂的奴隶。

1 cardinal   

n.(天主教的)红衣主教；adj.首要的，基本的

参考例句：

• This is a matter of cardinal significance.这是非常重要的事。
• The Cardinal coloured with vexation. 红衣主教感到恼火，脸涨得通红。

2 molesting   

v.骚扰( molest的现在分词 )；干扰；调戏；猥亵

参考例句：

• He was accused of sexually molesting a female colleague. 他被指控对一位女同事进行性骚扰。 来自辞典例句
• He was charged with molesting a woman. 他被指控调戏妇女。 来自辞典例句

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

5 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

6 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。

7 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

8 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。

9 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

10 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

11 prosecuted   

a.被起诉的

参考例句：

• The editors are being prosecuted for obscenity. 编辑因刊载污秽文字而被起诉。
• The company was prosecuted for breaching the Health and Safety Act. 这家公司被控违反《卫生安全条例》。

12 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？

13 participation   

n.参与，参加，分享

参考例句：

• Some of the magic tricks called for audience participation.有些魔术要求有观众的参与。
• The scheme aims to encourage increased participation in sporting activities.这个方案旨在鼓励大众更多地参与体育活动。

14 replica   

n.复制品

参考例句：

• The original conservatory has been rebuilt in replica.温室已按原样重建。
• The young artist made a replica of the famous painting.这位年轻的画家临摹了这幅著名的作品。

15 commemorating   

v.纪念，庆祝( commemorate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He was presented with a scroll commemorating his achievements. 他被授予一幅卷轴，以表彰其所做出的成就。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The post office issued a series commemorating famous American entertainers. 邮局发行了一个纪念美国著名演艺人员的系列邮票。 来自互联网

16 symbolic   

adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的

参考例句：

• It is symbolic of the fighting spirit of modern womanhood.它象征着现代妇女的战斗精神。
• The Christian ceremony of baptism is a symbolic act.基督教的洗礼仪式是一种象征性的做法。

17 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。