英国新闻听力 高盛投资被控涉嫌诈骗

Financial regulators in the United States have accused the investment bank Goldman Sachs of fraud related to the collapse¹ of the American housing market in 2007. The Securities and Exchange Commission is taking civil action against the bank. Michelle Fleury sent this report from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

The Securities and Exchange Commission alleges² the bank sold investors³ a financial product based on subprime mortgages that was designed to lose value. Goldman Sachs has denied the allegations and says it will defend the firm and its reputation. This is the first time that the US government has explicitly⁴ accused one of Wall Street's premier⁵ institutions of fraud relating to the collapse of the US housing market.

The Prime Minister of Thailand Abhisit Vejjajiva has put the head of the army in charge of national security as he fights a campaign by opposition⁶ protesters demanding that he step down. Mr Abhisit made his decision hours after the security forces publicly failed to arrest leaders of the rallies that have paralyzed parts of the capital Bangkok for weeks. Clashes last week during protests left more than 20 people dead. From Bangkok, here is Rachel Harvey.

The prime minister said he was appointing the head of the armed forces General Anupong to take charge of national security in order to streamline⁷ operations. A government spokesman contacted by the BBC said the general would be better able to deal with what he calls the terrorist threat. "He now has the power to make decisions directly," the spokesman said. The move comes amid fevered speculation⁸ that the security forces might be planning another operation to evict⁹ protesters from the sites they are currently occupying in the commercial heart of Bangkok.

Aviation experts have warned that a drifting cloud of volcanic¹⁰ ash from Iceland will continue to cripple air transport over much of Europe at the weekend. The European air traffic agency said there would be further significant disruption. Britain has extended the closure of much of its airspace until mid-day on Saturday. The International Air Transport Association said the disruption was costing airlines more than 200 million dollars a day.

The number of people known to have died in the earthquake in Northwest China has risen to more than 1,100 with over 400 others still missing. Rescuers fear the figure is likely to rise again. Heavy earth-moving equipment has been used in the search for trapped survivors¹¹. In the worst-hit town of Jiegu, a former local official told the BBC that they badly needed supplies.

"The security situation is good in the town. There is no looting or rioting. Security forces are out on patrol. The main priority for us is relief work to rescue people. We urgently need tents and food and drinking water. We urgently need these supplies."

World News from the BBC

A BBC investigation¹² has found that months before a Georgian luger crashed and died during a training session at this year's Vancouver Winter Olympics, several top athletes warned organizers that the luge and bobsleigh tracks were dangerous. Olympic officials initially¹³ said the death of the luger, Nodar Kumaritashvili, was down to human error. Rebecca Kesby reports.

Twenty-one-year-old Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili was killed when he crashed on the final bend during training. He was thrown from the track at more than 100 kilometres an hour and collided with a steel pillar. Test athletes in all three of the sliding sports, bobsleigh, skeleton and luge say they told organizers the track was too fast, too difficult and that less experienced athletes would be the most vulnerable to accidents. A spokesman for the International Bobsleigh Federation¹⁴ told the BBC that some changes were made in response to concerns and that safety of athletes was absolutely paramount¹⁵.

Italy says two of its citizens who were kidnapped last year in Mauritania by al-Qaeda have been freed. The Italian government said the hostages were released after intense diplomacy¹⁶ and were being taken to a safe place.

Reports from Iran say the former President Mohammad Khatami has been barred from leaving the country to attend a nuclear disarmament conference in the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Mr Khatami's lawyer has told the BBC that there'd been no legal order, but Mr Khatami had decided¹⁷ not to travel after receiving what he called “official advice” to cancel his trip.

And finally, while volcanic ash from Iceland is causing unprecedented¹⁸ disruption to air travel across Europe, a taxi driver in Moscow has seen it as a business opportunity. He's offering to drive people to any location in Europe for a fare of 1,300 dollars. He said that for a person who really wanted to get somewhere, then that was a reasonable price to ask.

美国金融监管部门指控投资银行高盛投资公司涉嫌诈骗，导致2007年美国房产市场的崩溃。美国证券和交易委员会(Securities and Exchange Commission，简称“SEC”)正对该公司提起民事诉讼。Michelle Fleury从纽约证券交易所发回报道。

美国证券和交易委员会指控该银行向投资者出售基于次贷抵押的金融产品，这种产品注定会贬值。高盛公司否认了这种指控，称将为自己的公司和声誉辩护。这是美国政府首次明确指控华尔街主要的投资机构涉嫌欺诈导致美国房产市场崩溃。

泰国总理阿披实正在抵抗要求其下台的反对派抗议者的示威活动，他指派军方领袖负责全国安全。反对派集会已经导致首都曼谷的部分地区瘫痪了数周时间，而集会领袖却在众目睽睽之下逃离了安全力量的逮捕。几个小时之后，阿披实作出了该决定。上周抗议过程中爆发冲突，造成20多人死亡。曼谷，Rachel Harvey报道。

阿披实表示，为了提高运作效率，他委派军方领袖Anupong将军负责国家安全问题。BBC采访了一名政府发言人，他表示，这位将军能够更好地应对他所说的“恐怖分子威胁”。“他现在已经拥有了直接做决定的权利，”这名发言人表示。作出该决定的同时，人们猜测，安全力量可能计划另外一场行动，驱逐占领着曼谷商业中心的抗议者。

航空专家警告称，周末期间，欧洲大部分地区仍将受到从冰岛漂浮的火山灰的影响。欧洲航空运输管理机构表示，可能还会出现更加严重的影响。英国已经将关闭大部分领空的期限延长至周六中午。国际航空运输协会表示，这次扰乱将导致航空业每天2亿多美元的损失。

在中国西北部地震中遇难的人数已经上升至1,100人，仍有400多人失踪。救援人员担心该数字还会继续上升。现在已经使用大型推土设备来寻找被困的幸存者。在受灾最严重的结古镇，一名前当地官员告诉BBC，他们现在亟需补给物资。

“这个小镇的安全形势良好。目前还没有出现洗劫或暴动的情况。现在，安全力量正在外面巡逻。目前我们的当务之急是对受灾民众进行救援。我们亟需帐篷，食物和饮用水，亟需这些补给物资。”

BBC世界新闻。

BBC一项调查显示，就在乔治亚一名滑雪选手在温哥华冬奥会训练时撞击死亡之前几个月，已有多名顶尖运动员警告组织者，小雪橇和大雪橇跑道存在危险。奥运会官员最初表示，滑雪选手Nodar Kumaritashvili的死亡是由于人为失误。Rebecca Kesby报道。

21岁的乔治亚滑雪选手Nodar Kumaritashvili训练过程中在经过最后一个弯道时不幸撞击。他以超过每小时100千米的速度被抛出跑道，撞上一个钢铁支柱。三项滑雪项目的试用运动员均表示他们曾告诉组织者，这些跑道太快，太艰难，经验不足的运动员很容易出事故。国际雪橇联会(International Bobsleigh Federation)一名发言人告诉BBC，他们已经应运动员的要求对跑道进行了修改，运动员的安全绝对是最重要的。

意大利表示，去年在毛里塔尼亚被基地组织绑架的两名公民已经获释。意大利政府表示，经过频繁的外交活动之后，两名人质终于获释并被转移到安全的地方。

来自伊朗的报道称，前总统哈塔米被禁止离开伊朗前往日本广岛参加核裁军会议。哈塔米的律师告诉BBC，现在还没有收到合法的命令，但是哈塔米已经决定收到他所说的要求他取消形行程的“官方建议”之后不会旅行。

最后，冰岛的火山灰对整个欧洲的航空运输造成前所未有的影响之时，莫斯科一名的士司机却将这视为商机。他提出以1.300美元的费用载乘客去欧洲任何地方。他说，对于确实想要去某个地方的人来说，这是比较合理的价格。

1 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

2 alleges   

断言，宣称，辩解( allege的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The newspaper article alleges that the mayor is corrupt. 报纸上断言该市长腐败。
• Steven was tardy this morning and alleges that his bus was late. 史提芬今天早上迟到的说词是公车误点了。

3 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

4 explicitly   

ad.明确地，显然地

参考例句：

• The plan does not explicitly endorse the private ownership of land. 该计划没有明确地支持土地私有制。
• SARA amended section 113 to provide explicitly for a right to contribution. 《最高基金修正与再授权法案》修正了第123条，清楚地规定了分配权。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

5 premier   

adj.首要的；n.总理，首相

参考例句：

• The Irish Premier is paying an official visit to Britain.爱尔兰总理正在对英国进行正式访问。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。

6 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。

7 streamline   

vt.使成流线型；使简化；使现代化

参考例句：

• We must streamline our methods.我们必须简化方法。
• Any liquid or gas passing it will have streamline flow.任何通过它的液体或气体将呈流线型的流动。

8 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。

9 evict   

vt.驱逐，赶出，撵走

参考例句：

• The lessor can evict the lessee for failure to pay rent.出租人可驱逐不付租金的承租人。
• The government always says it's for the greater good when they evict farmers from their land.当政府把农民从他们的土地赶出去的时候，总是号称是为了更大众的利益。

10 volcanic   

adj.火山的；象火山的；由火山引起的

参考例句：

• There have been several volcanic eruptions this year.今年火山爆发了好几次。
• Volcanic activity has created thermal springs and boiling mud pools.火山活动产生了温泉和沸腾的泥浆池。

11 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

12 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。

13 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。

14 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

15 paramount   

a.最重要的，最高权力的

参考例句：

• My paramount object is to save the Union and destroy slavery.我的最高目标是拯救美国，摧毁奴隶制度。
• Nitrogen is of paramount importance to life on earth.氮对地球上的生命至关重要。

16 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

17 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。

18 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。