英国新闻听力 科学家发现治疗昏睡病方法

The International Criminal Court has authorized¹ its prosecutor² Luis Moreno-Ocampo to investigate the violence that followed Kenya's last general election. Mr Moreno-Ocampo said the decision meant there would be no impunity³ for the perpetrators. Kenya's Justice Minister Mutula Kilonzo welcomed the move.

"They certainly very very warmly welcomed this decision partly because it also impacts on the suspects themselves. A lot of them are been having nightmare. Some of them are getting thinner and those are not sleeping. And then there are the victims. They are thrilling ICC comes and they are demanding justice."

The ethnic⁴ and tribal⁵ clashes which were allegedly inflamed⁶ by politicians left about 1,300 people dead.

The main opposition⁷ candidate in Sudan's first multi-party presidential election for nearly 25 years, Yassir Arman, says he is withdrawing. Mr Arman was standing⁸ for the SPLM, the southern former rebels. President Omar al-Bashir says he will cancel a promised referendum on independence for southern Sudan if the SPLM boycotts¹⁰ the poll. From Khartoum, James Copnall reports.

The Sudan People's Liberation Movement has withdrawn¹¹ its candidate Yassir Arman from the presidential election, saying it would not be free and fair. Mr Arman made the announcement himself. He also said the party would not contest polls in Darfur.

However, the SPLM will contest the general election in other regions of the country and also the elections in the semi-autonomous south. The northern opposition parties would decide on Thursday if they too will boycott⁹ some or all of the polls. Both they and the SPLM believe the electoral process has been rigged in favor of President Omar al-Bashir's National Congress Party.

President Obama has announced plans to open large areas of the America's offshore¹² waters to oil and gas extraction. He's ending a long-standing ban on drilling along the Atlantic coast in parts of the Gulf¹³ of Mexico and off northern Alaska. From Washington, here is Paul Adams.

The president said this is not a free for all but part of a broader strategy with energy security at its core. To underline the point, he made his announcement in front of a fighter jet that flies on a mixture of biofuels. Anticipating criticism from environmental campaigners, he said he wanted to move the American economy away from fossil fuels and foreign oil towards home-grown fuels and clean energy. He noted¹⁴ that certain areas notably¹⁵ Alaska's Bristol Bay would still be protected.

The United States and the European Union have pledged 2.7 billion dollars in an aid for Haiti at a donor's conference for reconstruction¹⁶ after the earthquake in January. The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told a meeting at the UN headquarters in New York that the aim was a sweeping¹⁷ exercise in nation-building. The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that if Haiti failed to recover from the earthquake, its social and security problems could spread over its borders. The UN is seeking nearly four billion dollars for Haiti.

World News from the BBC

A man arrested over a fatal attack on American consular¹⁸ staff in Mexico earlier this month has said drug traffickers were targeting a Texas jail guard. The guard was the husband of an official from the US consulate¹⁹ in the border city of Ciudad Juarez. He was killed along with a member of the consular staff and her husband who were traveling in another car. Mexican officials said the suspect had confessed to being a lookout²⁰ for the gang.

A rebel Chechen leader says his group was responsible for the suicide bombings on the Moscow metro²¹ on Monday which killed almost 40 people. The claim from Doku Umarov came on an Islamist website but there's been no other confirmation²². The statement said there'd be more attacks on Russian cities. In a new attack, two suicide bombers²³ in the North Caucasus region of Dagestan have killed at least 12 people including several police.

British and Canadian scientists say they have identified a potential treatment for sleeping sickness which kills about 50,000 people a year in Africa. The scientists at the University of Dundee in Scotland were funded to research diseases neglected by major pharmaceutical²⁴ companies One of them, Professor Mike Ferguson told the BBC the drug works by disabling a human enzyme²⁵ essential to the parasite²⁶ which causes sleeping sickness.

"What this discovery means is that we have identified a way of killing²⁷ the parasite very very specifically. We developed, if you like, a magic bullet that goes right to one of the main organs of the parasite and kills it very very effectively. The prototype drug that we have at the moment appears to be extremely safe."

The lawyer for a Lebanese man sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia for witchcraft²⁸ has appealed for international help to save him. Ali Hussein Sabat hosts a satellite television show in which he predicts the future and gives advice to the audience. He was arrested on a pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia in 2008. His lawyer says she has been told Mr Sabat is due to be executed this week.

1 authorized   

a.委任的，许可的

参考例句：

• An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。

2 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

3 impunity   

n.(惩罚、损失、伤害等的)免除

参考例句：

• You will not escape with impunity.你不可能逃脱惩罚。
• The impunity what compulsory insurance sets does not include escapement.交强险规定的免责范围不包括逃逸。

4 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。

5 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

6 inflamed   

adj.发炎的，红肿的v.（使）变红，发怒，过热( inflame的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• His comments have inflamed teachers all over the country. 他的评论激怒了全国教师。
• Her joints are severely inflamed. 她的关节严重发炎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

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 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

9 boycott   

n./v.(联合)抵制，拒绝参与

参考例句：

• We put the production under a boycott.我们联合抵制该商品。
• The boycott lasts a year until the Victoria board permitsreturn.这个抗争持续了一年直到维多利亚教育局妥协为止。

10 boycotts   

（对某事物的）抵制( boycott的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Their methods included boycotts and court action, supplemented by'sit-ins". 他们的主要方法包括联合抵制、法庭起诉，还附带进行静坐抗议。
• Are boycotts for other purposes illegal? 至于用于其它目的的联合抵制行动是否也是非法的呢？

11 withdrawn   

vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出

参考例句：

• Our force has been withdrawn from the danger area.我们的军队已从危险地区撤出。
• All foreign troops should be withdrawn to their own countries.一切外国军队都应撤回本国去。

12 offshore   

adj.海面的，吹向海面的；adv.向海面

参考例句：

• A big program of oil exploration has begun offshore.一个大规模的石油勘探计划正在近海展开。
• A gentle current carried them slowly offshore.和缓的潮流慢慢地把他们带离了海岸。

13 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。

14 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

15 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

16 reconstruction   

n.重建，再现，复原

参考例句：

• The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后，该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
• In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期，技术决定一切。

17 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

18 consular   

a.领事的

参考例句：

• He has rounded out twenty years in the consular service. 他在领事馆工作已整整20年了。
• Consular invoices are declarations made at the consulate of the importing country. 领事发票是进口国领事馆签发的一种申报书。

19 consulate   

n.领事馆

参考例句：

• The Spanish consulate is the large white building opposite the bank.西班牙领事馆是银行对面的那栋高大的白色建筑物。
• The American consulate was a magnificent edifice in the centre of Bordeaux.美国领事馆是位于波尔多市中心的一座宏伟的大厦。

20 lookout   

n.注意，前途，瞭望台

参考例句：

• You can see everything around from the lookout.从了望台上你可以看清周围的一切。
• It's a bad lookout for the company if interest rates don't come down.如果利率降不下来，公司的前景可就不妙了。

21 metro   

n.地铁；adj.大都市的；(METRO)麦德隆(财富500强公司之一总部所在地德国，主要经营零售)

参考例句：

• Can you reach the park by metro?你可以乘地铁到达那个公园吗？
• The metro flood gate system is a disaster prevention equipment.地铁防淹门系统是一种防灾设备。

22 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

23 bombers   

n.轰炸机( bomber的名词复数 )；投弹手；安非他明胶囊；大麻叶香烟

参考例句：

• Enemy bombers carried out a blitz on the city. 敌军轰炸机对这座城市进行了突袭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Royal Airforce sill remained dangerously short of bombers. 英国皇家空军仍未脱离极为缺乏轰炸机的危境。 来自《简明英汉词典》

24 pharmaceutical   

adj.药学的，药物的；药用的，药剂师的

参考例句：

• She has donated money to establish a pharmaceutical laboratory.她捐款成立了一个药剂实验室。
• We are engaged in a legal tussle with a large pharmaceutical company.我们正同一家大制药公司闹法律纠纷。

25 enzyme   

n.酵素，酶

参考例句：

• Above a certain temperature,the enzyme molecule will become unfolded.超过一定温度，酶分子将会展开。
• An enzyme that dissolves the fibrin of blood clots.能溶解血凝块中的纤维的酶。

26 parasite   

n.寄生虫；寄生菌；食客

参考例句：

• The lazy man was a parasite on his family.那懒汉是家里的寄生虫。
• I don't want to be a parasite.I must earn my own way in life.我不想做寄生虫，我要自己养活自己。

27 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。

28 witchcraft   

n.魔法，巫术

参考例句：

• The woman practising witchcraft claimed that she could conjure up the spirits of the dead.那个女巫说她能用魔法召唤亡灵。
• All these things that you call witchcraft are capable of a natural explanation.被你们统统叫做巫术的那些东西都可以得到合情合理的解释。