英国新闻听力

Most of the main opposition¹ parties in Sudan are withdrawing from all the elections this month - the first multi-party elections since 1986. They won't take part because of concerns about fraud and security. On Wednesday, the presidential candidate for the former southern rebels Yassir Arman pulled out. President Obama's Special Envoy² General Scott Gration has been in Khartoum trying to save the elections. James Copnall sent this report from Khartoum.

Several major opposition parties have announced they will boycott³ the Sudanese elections at every level. Earlier today, they told the BBC they would boycott the presidential elections in protest of what they believe will not be free and fair polls. Now several of the parties have decided⁴ not to compete in the parliamentary or state elections either. The decision strikes a real blow at the credibility of elections which were meant to hold the democratic transformation⁵ in Sudan.

A former United Nations envoy to Afghanistan Peter Galbraith has described as incredible accusations⁶ made by President Hamid Karzai that foreign election observers were responsible for fraud in last year's presidential election. The Afghan president singled out Mr Galbraith and the head of the EU observer mission General Phillippe Morillon, saying they had been involved in a plot to put their own puppet government into power. But Mr Galbraith dismissed President Karzai's suggestion that the UN was involved in rigging the poll.

"It's obviously absurd that a handful of UN staffers could organize a fraud in Afghanistan at all, much less one that involved a million maybe a million and a half phoney ballots⁷. But he also made a really striking admission here. He admitted that there was widespread fraud and a fact admitted that he hadn't won the election."

Britain has announced that it's creating the world's largest marine⁸ reserve around the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean. The British Foreign Secretary David Miliband described it as a major step forward in protecting the world's oceans. Here is Mike Wooldridge.

There's been controversy⁹ since the plan for this marine reserve was mooted¹⁰. The original inhabitants of the islands in the remote Chagos Archipelago were removed by Britain to make way for this strategically important military base on the island of Diego Garcia which had played a key role in the US-led operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Although the Foreign Secretary said his decision to go ahead with the marine reserve would not prejudice the outcome of the islanders' legal battle to return, Roch Evenor, chair of the UK Chagos Support Association, said that even if the islanders were able to return, a ban on commercial fishing would prevent them earning a living.

The United States has welcomed China's announcement that President Hu Jintao will attend an international summit on nuclear security in Washington later this month. There had been speculation¹¹ that President Hu might not go given recent tension between the two countries on issues such as Taiwan and Tibet.

World News from the BBC

The parliament of Kenya has approved a draft constitution after nearly 20 years of acrimonious¹² debate. It provides greater checks on presidential powers and more regional devolution. The new constitution now goes to a national referendum later this year.

One of the most visited historical sites in Latin America, the ruins of the Inca city of Machu Picchu, has reopened after being cut off from the rest of Peru by landslides¹³ earlier this year. In January, visitors had to be evacuated¹⁴ by air when the rail linked to the site was swept away by torrential storms. Dan Collyns reports.

Tourists set foot on Machu Picchu for the first time in two months, and the Peruvian government breathed a sigh of relief. For all its other attractions, Peru has had a tough lesson in just how central Machu Picchu is to its tourism industry. The damaged railway line which links the Inca citadel¹⁵ to the rest of the country was restored with an urgency rarely seen before. Peru's Tourism Minister Martin Perez told the BBC the country had lost around 200 million dollars in revenue. It's a stark¹⁶ reminder¹⁷ that the government must invest more in infrastructure¹⁸ if it's going to keep this national treasure open to the public all year around.

Canadian police have apologized to the mother of a Polish man who died after being repeatedly shot with an electric stun¹⁹ gun at Vancouver airport in 2007. Robert Dziekanski, a 40-year-old immigrant who didn't speak English, had travelled to Canada to live with his mother but got lost in the airport and was tasered when he became agitated²⁰.

A group of Haitians who survived the earthquake only to be jailed when they reached the US have been released. They were detained because they had no visas. But some of them said they had gone to the airport in Port-au-Prince looking for food and help and were put in planes to the United States without being asked for their papers. They have been held in Florida since January.

1 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。

2 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

3 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。

4 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。

5 transformation   

n.变化；改造；转变

参考例句：

• Going to college brought about a dramatic transformation in her outlook.上大学使她的观念发生了巨大的变化。
• He was struggling to make the transformation from single man to responsible husband.他正在努力使自己由单身汉变为可靠的丈夫。

6 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

7 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

9 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

10 mooted   

adj.未决定的，有争议的，有疑问的v.提出…供讨论( moot的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The is sue was mooted on the Senate floor. 该问题在参院被提出讨论。 来自辞典例句
• The question mooted in the board meeting is still a moot point. 那个在董事会上（提出讨论）的问题仍（未决的）。 来自互联网

11 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

12 acrimonious   

adj.严厉的，辛辣的，刻毒的

参考例句：

• He had an acrimonious quarrel with his girlfriend yesterday.昨天他跟他的女朋友激烈争吵了一番。
• His parents went through an acrimonious divorce.他的父母在激烈吵吵闹闹中离了婚。

13 landslides   

山崩( landslide的名词复数 )； （山坡、悬崖等的）崩塌； 滑坡； （竞选中）一方选票占压倒性多数

参考例句：

• Landslides have cut off many villages in remote areas. 滑坡使边远地区的许多村庄与外界隔绝。
• The storm caused landslides and flooding in Savona. 风暴致使萨沃纳发生塌方和洪灾。

14 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

15 citadel   

n.城堡；堡垒；避难所

参考例句：

• The citadel was solid.城堡是坚固的。
• This citadel is built on high ground for protecting the city.这座城堡建于高处是为保护城市。

16 stark   

adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
• He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。

17 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

18 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

19 stun   

vt.打昏，使昏迷，使震惊，使惊叹

参考例句：

• When they told me she had gone missing I was totally stunned.他们告诉我她不见了时，我当时完全惊呆了。
• Sam stood his ground and got a blow that stunned him.萨姆站在原地，被一下打昏了。

20 agitated   

adj.被鼓动的，不安的

参考例句：

• His answers were all mixed up,so agitated was he.他是那样心神不定，回答全乱了。
• She was agitated because her train was an hour late.她乘坐的火车晚点一个小时，她十分焦虑。