英国新闻听力

The US Interior Secretary Ken¹ Salazar has sharply criticised the oil company BP for its handling of the huge oil leak in the Gulf² of Mexico. Speaking after a visit to BP's American headquarters in Houston, Mr Salazar said he was angry and frustrated³ that BP has missed deadline after deadline to stem the flow of oil. He said the disaster represented a crucial challenge for the company.

“I have no question that BP is throwing everything at the problem to try to resolve it because this is an existential crisis for one of the world's largest companies. Do I have confidence that they know exactly what they are doing? No, not completely. “

Earlier a spokesman for BP admitted that efforts to reduce the flow of oil had not been working as effectively as before. The BBC Washington correspondent says the tough rhetoric⁴ from the White House is in part a response to increasing public frustration⁵ with the way the federal government is handling the crisis.

Iran has suggested that Washington propose a prisoner swap⁶ in return for the release of three Americans held in Tehran accused of spying. The Americans say they entered Iran accidentally while hiking in northern Iraq last year, but the Iranian authorities have ignored repeated (fleas XD)pleas for their release. From Washington here is Bahman Kalbasi.

The intelligence minister did not name any specific Iranians being held in American prisons who could possibly take part in a prisoner exchange, but he said Iran had made a humanitarian⁷ gesture in allowing the three American prisoners’ mothers to visit last week and the US should make a similar move. Responding to the comments, a US State Department spokesman said there had been no discussion between the two countries about any potential swap. He added the US believed the spying charges against the 3 young Americans are, in his word, ridiculous, and they should be released immediately.

Latest measurements from the Icelandic volcano that's caused serious disruption to air traffic for more than a month show a marked drop in activity. They show it’s now only producing steam. Rister Booker reports.

Magnus Tumi Gudmundsson, one of Iceland's leading volcano experts, flew over the Eyjafjallajokull eruption⁸ today. He says heat camera footage shot during the fight indicated that the temperature in the crater⁹ had fallen to just 100℃. Under such circumstances, only steam is coming from the volcano, no magma is being produced. But Magnus still may warn that it was too early to say that the eruption was completely over. The volcano could just have entered a period of low activity.

The space shuttle Atlantis is on its way back to earth from the International Space Station on its last voyage after a 25-year career. The American space agency NASA is retiring the shuttle fleet for cost and safety reasons. The crew of Atlantis uploaded a new research laboratory there and also a docking port for Russian spacecraft during its week long trip, leaving behind what one called “a palace in space”.

A prominent Cuban dissident says the communist authorities have agreed to improve conditions for political prisoners and move sick inmates¹⁰ to hospital. Guillermo Farinas, who's being on hunger strike to demand the release of sick prisoners, said this followed a meeting between Cuban officials and representatives of the Roman Catholic Church. Michael Voss reports from Havana.

A spokesman for the Roman Catholic Church in Havana who asked not to be named said that the Cuban government will shortly start transferring political prisoners back to their home provinces so that they can be nearer to their families. There’s also been an agreement to admit a number of inmates who have serious health problems to hospital. It’s the first sign of the movement on the issue by the Cuban authorities and has raised hopes that some prisoner releases could follow.

South Korea has confirmed it's to seek a new resolution against North Korea at the UN Security Council over evidence that it sank one of its warships¹¹, the Cheonan, killing¹² 46 sailors. Further measures to be announced on Monday are expected to include banning North Korean ships from South Korean waters.

Voting has ended in Ethiopian first parliamentary election since a disputed poll 5 years ago which resulted in post-election violence. Members of the opposition¹³ coalition¹⁴ say some voters have been intimidated¹⁵ and forced to support the ruling party. But the Prime Minister Meles Zenawi who’s been in office nearly 20 years has rejected the allegations. Preliminary results are expected on Monday.

At the Cannes Film Festival in France, a work from Thailand on reincarnation has won the Coveted¹⁶ Palme d'Or prize for best film. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul, is based on a book written by a Buddhist¹⁷ monk¹⁸. A French film, Of Gods and Men, took the runner-up Grand Prix Award.

美国内政部长萨拉查(Ken Salazar)强烈谴责了英国石油公司对墨西哥湾大规模漏油事件的处理。访问BP石油公司驻休斯顿美国总部之后，萨拉查表示，英国石油公司一再错过制止石油泄漏的最后期限，他感到非常愤怒，非常沮丧。他表示，这次灾难对该公司来说是一个巨大的挑战。

“我完全相信，BP石油公司正在使用一切方法试图解决该问题，因为这是世界上最大的公司之一所面临的存在危机。那么，我是否相信他们完全了解自己在做什么呢？不，不完全是。”

此前，英国石油公司一名发言人承认，试图减少石油泄漏的努力并不像以前那样奏效。BBC华盛顿记者表示，白宫的强烈言辞部分是对公众的沮丧做出回应。公众对联邦政府处理该危机的方式的沮丧逐渐增加。

伊朗建议华盛顿提议囚犯交换，换取被指控间谍罪而被关押在德黑兰的三名美国人的释放。这三名美国人表示，他们去年在伊拉克北部进行徒步旅行时意外进入伊朗境内，但是伊朗当局忽略了他们被释放的多次请求。华盛顿，Bahman Kalbasi报道。

情报部长没有特别指出用于交换的被关押在美国的伊朗囚犯的名字，但是他表示，上周允许三名美国囚犯的母亲前往伊朗进行探视，伊朗已经表现出了高度的人道主义姿态，美国方面也应该做出同样的举动。美国国务院发言人对该评论进行回应说，双方还没有就任何可能的交换囚犯行动进行讨论。他补充说，美国相信，对这三名美国年轻人的间谍罪指控是非常荒谬的，他们应该立即获释。

对造成航空运输超过一个月的严重扰乱的冰岛火山进行的最新测量显示，目前该火山的活动已经出现显著降低。测量显示，该火山目前只是产生蒸汽。Rister Booker报道。

冰岛主要的火山专家之一Magnus Tumi Gudmundsson今天飞越了艾雅法拉冰河火山。他表示，飞行过程中拍摄的热摄像机镜头显示，现场的温度已经降低到100度。在这样的情况下，火山中只有蒸汽出现，不再产生岩浆。但是Magnus仍然警告称，目前断言火山喷发已经完全结束还为时过早。火山可能只是进入低活动期。

经过25年的职业生涯之后，亚特兰蒂斯后航天飞机正在从国际空间站返回地球，这是其最后一次航行。美国航空航天局NASA出于费用和安全方面的原因宣布该航天飞机退役。在上周的旅行中，亚特兰蒂斯号航天飞机全体工作人员在太空中建造了新的研究实验室，并为俄罗斯航天飞机建造了停泊港，留下了一座“太空宫殿”。

古巴一名卓越的不同政见者表示，古巴共产党当局已经同意改善政治犯的环境，并将生病的囚犯送往医院。Guillermo Farinas进行绝食抗议，要求释放生病的囚犯。他表示，这是古巴官员和罗马天主教堂代表之间举行会议之后宣布的决定。Michael Voss在哈瓦那报道。

哈瓦那罗马天主教堂一位要求匿名的发言人表示，古巴政府将很快将政治犯转往他们的家乡省份，这样他们就可以离家更近。同时双方还达成协议，同意将一些重病囚犯送往医院。这是古巴当局对该事件采取的行动的第一步，同时，一些政治囚犯随后被释放的希望也逐渐增加。

韩国确认将在联合国安理会上对朝鲜进行新的制裁决议。因为他们获得证据显示朝鲜击沉了韩国天安舰，造成46名水手死亡。周一即将宣布的进一步措施将包括禁止朝鲜船只驶入韩国水域。

自五年前有争议的选举以来，埃塞俄比亚举行的第一次议会选举投票结束。五年前的选举导致严重的选后暴力。反对联盟成员表示，一些投票者受到恐吓，被迫支持执政党。但是执政接近20年的总理梅莱斯·泽纳维(Meles Zenawi)否认了所有指控。初步选举结果预期将在周一出炉。

在法国戛纳电影节上，泰国影片《记忆前世的人》获得最佳影片金棕榈奖。阿彼察邦·韦拉斯哈古执导《能记忆前世的汶密叔叔》这部影片改编自一名佛教和尚写的小说。法国影片《人与神》则获得第二项重要大奖——电影节大奖。

1 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

2 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。

3 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

5 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

6 swap   

n.交换；vt.交换，用...作交易

参考例句：

• I will swap you my bicycle for your radio.我想拿我的自行车换你的收音机。
• This comic was a swap that I got from Nick.这本漫画书是我从尼克那里换来的。

7 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

8 eruption   

n.火山爆发；（战争等）爆发；（疾病等）发作

参考例句：

• The temple was destroyed in the violent eruption of 1470 BC.庙宇在公元前1470年猛烈的火山爆发中摧毁了。
• The eruption of a volcano is spontaneous.火山的爆发是自发的。

9 crater   

n.火山口，弹坑

参考例句：

• With a telescope you can see the huge crater of Ve-suvius.用望远镜你能看到巨大的维苏威火山口。
• They came to the lip of a dead crater.他们来到了一个死火山口。

10 inmates   

n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• One of the inmates has escaped. 被收容的人中有一个逃跑了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The inmates were moved to an undisclosed location. 监狱里的囚犯被转移到一个秘密处所。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 warships   

军舰，战舰( warship的名词复数 )； 舰只

参考例句：

• The enemy warships were disengaged from the battle after suffering heavy casualties. 在遭受惨重伤亡后，敌舰退出了海战。
• The government fitted out warships and sailors for them. 政府给他们配备了战舰和水手。

12 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。

13 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。

14 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

15 intimidated   

v.恐吓；威胁adj.害怕的；受到威胁的

参考例句：

• We try to make sure children don't feel intimidated on their first day at school. 我们努力确保孩子们在上学的第一天不胆怯。
• The thief intimidated the boy into not telling the police. 这个贼恫吓那男孩使他不敢向警察报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 coveted   

adj.令人垂涎的；垂涎的，梦寐以求的v.贪求，觊觎(covet的过去分词)；垂涎；贪图

参考例句：

• He had long coveted the chance to work with a famous musician. 他一直渴望有机会与著名音乐家一起工作。
• Ther other boys coveted his new bat. 其他的男孩都想得到他的新球棒。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 Buddhist   

adj./n.佛教的，佛教徒

参考例句：

• The old lady fell down in adoration before Buddhist images.那老太太在佛像面前顶礼膜拜。
• In the eye of the Buddhist,every worldly affair is vain.在佛教徒的眼里，人世上一切事情都是空的。

18 monk   

n.和尚，僧侣，修道士

参考例句：

• The man was a monk from Emei Mountain.那人是峨眉山下来的和尚。
• Buddhist monk sat with folded palms.和尚合掌打坐。