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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
Britain’s new Prime Minister David Cameron and his deputy Nick Clegg are insisting that their recently formed coalition1, Britain’s first in decades,is strong and will last. At a good humored news conference, punctuated2 by jokes, the former rivals said their parties were united and would serve a full five-yearterm. Mr. Cameron said the new government had the potential to change Britishpolitics.
“It can be a historic and seismic3 shift in our political landscape. It can demonstrate in government a new progressive partnership4. Believing in enterprise, markets and fiscal5 responsibility, committed to civil liberties and curbing6 the power of the state, passionate7 about building a green economy,and determined8 to build the big society, where families and communities are supported and strengthened”.
The main ministerial portfolios9 in the coalition have gone to Mr. Cameron’s Conservatives, but Mr Clegg's Liberal Democrat10 Party has got five cabinet posts. The new government has pledged to start tackling Britain’s huge budget deficit11 immediately by making nine billion dollars of public sector12 savings13 this year, a move welcomed by the Governor of the Bank of England.
President Obama says American-led forces inAfghanistan have begun to reverse the momentum14 of the Taliban insurgency15. However he warned that there was still tough fighting ahead. At a news conference in Washington with the Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Mr. Obama also said tensions between them which had recently strained tieshad been overstated. On the central issue of future strategy, he said he was at one with Mr. Karzai.
"Obviously there're going to be tensions in such a complicated, difficult environment in a situation in which both Afghans and Americans are making enormous sacrifices. We've had very frank discussions and President Karzai agrees with me that we can't win through a military strategy alone, that we are going to have to make sure that we have effective governance, capacity building, economic development in order for us to succeed."
Brazil and India have begun a trade dispute with the European Union over the seizure16 of generic17 medicines in transit18. The dispute is at the initial stages in the World Trade Organization but could lead to a special panel being created to adjudicate.Andrew Walker reports.
The case at the centre of the dispute was a consignment19 of a blood pressure drug known as losartan.It was seized while in transit through the Netherlands. It’s reported that India has complained to the European Union over a number of other seizures20 of generic medicines. The motive21 for the seizures was concerned about possible breaches22 of patents but India and Brazil say the moves are incompatible23 with WTO rules. Patent regulations in the WTO are especially controversial because they can be used top revent developing countries producing cheap versions of drugs. The industry says the rules are needed to ensure that they can recover the cost of developing new medicines.
World News from the BBC.
Trades unions in Spain have expressed anger at measures announced by government to tackle the country’s big budget deficit,including pay cuts for public sector workers and a freeze on pensions. The unions are angry that the Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero didn't agree the cuts with them beforehand.
A bill to fight global warming and reduce America's reliance on foreign oil is being unveiled in the US Senate today. The bill's being backed by two leading senators, John Kerry, who is a close ally of President Obama and Joe Lieberman. But observers say its chances of success are slim,especially after the recent massive oil leak in the Gulf24 of Mexico. From Washington, Madeleine Morris reports.
The headline aim of the American power act is to cut greenhouse gas emissions25 by 17% in a decade’s time and 80% by 2050, ambitious by any standards. To tryto achieve this, the bill pushes nuclear power and so-called “clean coal” by giving financial incentives26. Controversially the bill supports oil exploration off the US coastline. Because of the recent oil spill blighting27 the Gulf of Mexico, a provision was added atthe last minute, allowing states to veto drilling less than 100 kilometers off their own coastlines.
German police have detained two Russians at Tegel Airport in Berlin after a woman who overheard them told police she suspected they were plotting a hijack28.The men aged29 49 and 26 were booked on a flight to Moscow but were taken into custody30 before boarding the aircraft. They are now being questioned. The plane was evacuated31 and inspected and the other passengers put on another flight.
The first man to set foot on the moon, Neil Armstrong, has criticized President Obama's plans to cut back on human space flight programs. Mr. Armstrong warned a US Senate hearing that America risked losing its leadership in human space exploration to other nations.
1 coalition | |
n.结合体,同盟,结合,联合 | |
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2 punctuated | |
v.(在文字中)加标点符号,加标点( punctuate的过去式和过去分词 );不时打断某事物 | |
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3 seismic | |
a.地震的,地震强度的 | |
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4 partnership | |
n.合作关系,伙伴关系 | |
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5 fiscal | |
adj.财政的,会计的,国库的,国库岁入的 | |
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6 curbing | |
n.边石,边石的材料v.限制,克制,抑制( curb的现在分词 ) | |
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7 passionate | |
adj.热情的,热烈的,激昂的,易动情的,易怒的,性情暴躁的 | |
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8 determined | |
adj.坚定的;有决心的 | |
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9 portfolios | |
n.投资组合( portfolio的名词复数 );(保险)业务量;(公司或机构提供的)系列产品;纸夹 | |
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10 democrat | |
n.民主主义者,民主人士;民主党党员 | |
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11 deficit | |
n.亏空,亏损;赤字,逆差 | |
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12 sector | |
n.部门,部分;防御地段,防区;扇形 | |
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13 savings | |
n.存款,储蓄 | |
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14 momentum | |
n.动力,冲力,势头;动量 | |
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15 insurgency | |
n.起义;暴动;叛变 | |
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16 seizure | |
n.没收;占有;抵押 | |
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17 generic | |
adj.一般的,普通的,共有的 | |
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18 transit | |
n.经过,运输;vt.穿越,旋转;vi.越过 | |
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19 consignment | |
n.寄售;发货;委托;交运货物 | |
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20 seizures | |
n.起获( seizure的名词复数 );没收;充公;起获的赃物 | |
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21 motive | |
n.动机,目的;adv.发动的,运动的 | |
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22 breaches | |
破坏( breach的名词复数 ); 破裂; 缺口; 违背 | |
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23 incompatible | |
adj.不相容的,不协调的,不相配的 | |
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24 gulf | |
n.海湾;深渊,鸿沟;分歧,隔阂 | |
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25 emissions | |
排放物( emission的名词复数 ); 散发物(尤指气体) | |
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26 incentives | |
激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 ); 刺激; 诱因; 动机 | |
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27 blighting | |
使凋萎( blight的现在分词 ); 使颓丧; 损害; 妨害 | |
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28 hijack | |
v.劫持,劫机,拦路抢劫 | |
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29 aged | |
adj.年老的,陈年的 | |
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30 custody | |
n.监护,照看,羁押,拘留 | |
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31 evacuated | |
撤退者的 | |
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