英国新闻听力 美司法部长称袭警为懦弱行径

In their biggest defensive¹ so far against Islamic State militants³, Iraqi troops and their Shia militia⁴ alliance are gaining the upper hand in the city of Tikirt, much of which is now in Iraqi government hands as Ahmed Maher reports.

“Iraqi army soldiers and their alliance have made it into Tikrit. They are hoisting⁵ both the national flag and the flags of Shia Islam on their Humvees. It took them nearly two weeks to enter the city, they are still held back in the center of Tikirt by roadside bombs and booby-trapped cars. The visit by top army generals on the battlefield is not only a show of force, but also gives the very troops a big boost and their plan to recapture the entire city.”

BBC News has spoken to some of the British nationals who have traveled to northern Syria to join Kurdish forces in their fight against Islamic State militants. Two of the men a former soldier and a city trader fought alongside the exeunt marine⁶ Konstandinos Erik Scurfield who was killed last week. This fighter Jim, a former teacher explains why he is fighting.

“...One of the particular thing for me was seeing the photo of an ISIS fighter holding up a head of a woman.”

The World Health Organization says the current break of Ebola in west Africa is now known to have killed more 10,000 people in the three worst affected⁷ countries. The organization said the fight against the disease was going in the right direction but warned more needed to be done to end the worst outbreak of Ebola the world has ever witnessed. The virus appears suddenly entrenched⁸ in parts of Guinea and Sierra leone.

The US attorney general Erica Holder⁹ has described the recent shooting of two police officers in the racially-charged town city of Ferguson in Missouri as a heinous¹⁰ and cowardly attack. The officers were wounded as protesters rallied outside the police headquarters to celebrate the resignation of Ferguson’s police chief. The unrest in subsequent protests in the city begun after a white officer shot dead an unarmed black man in last August. Our reporter Laura Trevelyan is there.

“I am standing¹¹ right outside the police station where the two officers were shot. They have been released from the hospital although one has a bullet lodged¹² just behind his ear. The police have been searching nearby homes for the suspects. They have taken some people into custody¹³ for questioning although no one has yet been arrested. Meanwhile tension’s here in Ferguson are all running high. People are anticipating more protests tonight in the wake of this gazing justice department report which said that there was a culture of racial bias¹⁴ from the police towards African American residents here.”Laura Trevelyan.

World News from the BBC.

Sixty two people, including 35 children, are now known to have died in torrential rains in the Angolan port city of Lobito. The State News Agency said that in some places flood water raised 3 meters, destroying dozens of houses. Rescuer worker are searching for survivals. Large parts of Angola have been hit by heavy rain since January including the capital Luanda.

Islamic state appears to have accepted the pledge of allegiance from Nigerian militant² group Boko Haram. The group has released an audio statement in which a man who claimed to speak for its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi welcomed what he called the allegiance of our brothers. He said the aim of establishing a caliph would be expanded to west Africa and described the development as good news. The message hasn’t been independently verified.

Scientists at NASA say they have further compelling evidences that largest moon in the solar system has a salty ocean beneath its icy crust, raising the prospect¹⁵ that life must exist on it. Their conclusions followed an analysis of changes in the Ganymede colorful aurorals recorded by the Hubble space telescope.

The much-loved British author Sir Terry Pratchett has died. He was 66 and been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. Nick looks back his life.

“Terry Pratchett’s Discworld filled 40 novels and a dozen other books, a magnificent comic creation would start as a faction¹⁶ of paperty of fantasy novels and became a vast rambling¹⁷ set on modern life. He was a press officer for central electricity generating board when he wrote the first Discworld book in 1983 and by the 1990s he was the UK’s bestselling fiction writer selling 3 million copies a year. Then in 2007, he was diagnosed with the rare form of Alzheimer. Alzheimer’s patient gradually lose their sense of themselves. In Terry Pratchett good life died slowly and very publicly and a special tragedy in a man who was once so brilliant.”

伊拉克部队和什叶派民兵联盟对IS武装发起至今为止最大规模的进攻，目前已在提克里特处于上风，目前该市大部分地区处于伊拉克政府控制之下。Ahmed Maher报道。

“伊拉克士兵及其联盟已经挺进提克里特，他们将国旗和什叶派伊斯兰教的旗帜悬挂在军车上，他们用了近两周时间才进入该市，目前仍被该市中心的路边炸弹和陷阱汽车所阻碍。最高军事将领来战场上视察不仅是战斗力的表现，也能部队极大的鼓舞，给他们准备重夺整个城市的计划以鼓舞。”

BBC新闻采访了一些前往叙利亚北部的英国人，他们加入与IS武装分子作战的库尔德武装。这两人曾是军人和城市商贩，曾与上周被杀的史克菲尔德一起战斗过。这名武装人员吉姆曾是教师，他解释了自己为何参战。

“对我来说最特别的一件事就是看到照片上一名IS武装人员提着一名妇女的头颅。”

世卫组织称目前西非爆发的埃博拉疫情已经导致三个受灾国家共有一万以上人丧生，该组织称对埃博拉的斗争方向是正确的，但警告称需要做更多来终结这场最严重的埃博拉疫情。该病毒似乎突然在几内亚和塞拉利昂部分地区难以彻底消灭。

美国司法部长埃里克霍尔德称最近密苏里弗格森市两名警察被枪击案件为丑陋且懦弱的袭击，该市被控存在种族歧视问题。这两名警察受伤时，抗议者正在警察局外机会庆祝弗格森警察局长辞职一事。由于去年8月一名白人警察开枪打死一名手无寸铁黑人男子，该市随后发生的抗议活动中出现了动乱。记者劳拉报道。

“我现在站在警察局外两名警察中弹的地方，他们已经出院，但其中一人的耳朵后面仍有一枚子弹。警方一直在周围民居中搜寻嫌疑犯，他们拘留了一些人以供审讯，但目前没有一人被捕。同时弗格森的局势已经非常紧张，由于司法部报告称当地存在着种族歧视的文化，警察歧视这里的非裔美国人，因此人们预测今晚还会发生更多抗议活动。”

BBC世界新闻。

据悉安哥拉沿海城市洛比托已有62人在暴雨中丧生，其中包括35名儿童。国家新闻机构称一些地方的水位涨到3米，毁掉数十座房屋。援救人员在搜寻幸存者，自从1月份以来，安哥拉的大部分地区遭遇暴雨，其中包括首都罗安达。

IS组织似乎接受了尼日利亚博科圣地武装组织的效忠宣誓，该组织公布了视频声明，其中一名自称代表其头目巴格达迪讲话的男子对所谓兄弟的效忠表示欢迎，他说建立伊斯兰王国的目标将扩展到西非，并称该进展是好消息。该消息尚未得到独立证实。

美国航天局科学家称发现更多有力证据，表明太阳系最大卫星的冰盖下有咸水海洋，这就让人们进一步预测其中肯定存在生命。这一结论建立在对哈伯天文望远镜记录的“盖尼米得”木卫三多彩极光变化的分析之上。

令人爱戴的英国作家泰瑞·普莱契爵士去世，享年66岁，他一直遭受帕金森氏症的困扰。尼克回顾他的一生。

“泰瑞·普莱契爵士的碟形世界系列包括40部小说和十几本其他的图书，是非常宏大壮观的创作，开启了科幻小说的一个流派。1983年他开始创作第一本碟形世界小说时他还是中央电力局的新闻官员，到20世纪90年代他已经是英国最畅销小说的作者，每年销售300万本书。2007年他被诊断出一种罕见的帕金森氏症。该病的患者会逐渐丧失感觉，泰瑞·普莱契的好日子渐渐不再，对于这样曾经如此辉煌的人来说这是个特别的悲剧。”

1 defensive   

adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的

参考例句：

• Their questions about the money put her on the defensive.他们问到钱的问题，使她警觉起来。
• The Government hastily organized defensive measures against the raids.政府急忙布置了防卫措施抵御空袭。

2 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

3 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

4 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

5 hoisting   

起重，提升

参考例句：

• The hoisting capacity of that gin pole (girder pole, guy derrick) is sixty tons. 那个起重抱杆（格状抱杆、转盘抱杆）的起重能力为60吨。 来自口语例句
• We must use mechanical hoisting to load the goods. 我们必须用起重机来装载货物。

6 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。

7 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

8 entrenched   

adj.确立的，不容易改的(风俗习惯)

参考例句：

• Television seems to be firmly entrenched as the number one medium for national advertising.电视看来要在全国广告媒介中牢固地占据头等位置。
• If the enemy dares to attack us in these entrenched positions,we will make short work of them.如果敌人胆敢进攻我们固守的阵地，我们就消灭他们。

9 holder   

n.持有者，占有者；(台，架等)支持物

参考例句：

• The holder of the office of chairman is reponsible for arranging meetings.担任主席职位的人负责安排会议。
• That runner is the holder of the world record for the hundred-yard dash.那位运动员是一百码赛跑世界纪录的保持者。

10 heinous   

adj.可憎的，十恶不赦的

参考例句：

• They admitted to the most heinous crimes.他们承认了极其恶劣的罪行。
• I do not want to meet that heinous person.我不想见那个十恶不赦的人。

11 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。

12 lodged   

v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属

参考例句：

• The certificate will have to be lodged at the registry. 证书必须存放在登记处。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Our neighbours lodged a complaint against us with the police. 我们的邻居向警方控告我们。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

14 bias   

n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见

参考例句：

• They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking.他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。
• He had a bias toward the plan.他对这项计划有偏见。

15 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

16 faction   

n.宗派，小集团；派别；派系斗争

参考例句：

• Faction and self-interest appear to be the norm.派系之争和自私自利看来非常普遍。
• I now understood clearly that I was caught between the king and the Bunam's faction.我现在完全明白自己已陷入困境，在国王与布纳姆集团之间左右为难。

17 rambling   

adj.[建]凌乱的，杂乱的

参考例句：

• We spent the summer rambling in Ireland. 我们花了一个夏天漫游爱尔兰。
• It was easy to get lost in the rambling house. 在布局凌乱的大房子里容易迷路。