英国新闻听力 法国官方调查印度洋岛上飞机残骸

French transport officials are investigating a piece of aircraft wreckage¹ washed up on the Indian Ocean island de la Reunion to see if it comes from a missing Malaysian airliner². US sources say investigators³ who've seen the photographs have a high degree of confidence the debris⁴ is a wing component⁵ from a Boeing 777, the same model as the missing plane. Tom Bateman reports from Washington.

"The debris was discovered by people cleaning up a beach on Reunion and according to one witness, it appeared to have been in the water a long time. An image which has emerged online shows the wreckage covered in shells. French air transport officials are trying to establish where the debris came from while the safety officials here in the US believe it to be a component from the trailing edge of a wing from a Boeing triple seven. Two hundred and thirty-nine people were on board to fly from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Malaysian government says a team has been sent to Reunion to examine the wreckage."

Russia has used its veto at the United Nations to block the setting of an international tribunal to prosecute⁶ those who shot down a Malaysian airliner over Eastern Ukraine a year ago. The Security Council was considering a draft resolution from Malaysia, the Netherland, Australia, Belgium and Ukraine. Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, said the aims of the resolution’s supporters were purely⁷ political.

"The draft that was put to vote today lacked any legal grounds and precedents⁸. The authors of the draft refused to act in the spirit of cooperation and put it to vote knowing beforehand that that will not lead to a positive result. This, in our opinion, means that for them, political and propaganda aims were more important than practical ones."

The Afghan presidency⁹ has declared that the Taliban leader Mullah Omar is dead. It said there was credible¹⁰ information indicating that Mullah Omar died two years ago in Pakistan. The Afghan government said prospects¹¹ for peace talks with Taliban were now better than ever. A White House spokesman Eric Schultz urged the militants¹² to take up the offer of peace talks starting in a few days time.

"We do believe, um, the Taliban has an opportunity to make genuine peace with the Afghan government and rebuild their lives in peace in Afghanistan. They can accept the government of Afghanistan’s invitation to join a peace process and ultimately become part of a legitimate¹³ political system in Afghanistan or they can choose to continue fighting Afghans and destabilizing their own country." Neither the Taliban nor Parkistan have commented.

Prosecutors¹⁴ in United States have announced a murder charge against the University of Cincinnati policeman who shot died an unarmed black man earlier this month. Samuel Dubose was shot in the head after being stopped because his car license¹⁵ plate was missing.

World news from the BBC.

The Indian president has rejected a last-minute appeal for clemency¹⁶ by Yakub Memon, who was sentenced to death for his role in a series of bomb attacks in Mumbai in 1993. Mr Memon is due to be executed in the next few hours. The attacks killed 257 people.

The French government says the operator of the channel tunnel has agreed to important investments to improve security at its terminal in Calais. Hundreds of migrants have been attempting to reach Britain, disrupting train services. France has deployed¹⁷ an extra 120 riot police in Calais.

Scientists say they've spotted¹⁸ an aurora¹⁹ similar to the northern and southern lights outside the solar system for the first time. An international research team detected this spectacular light show in the Lyra Constellation²⁰ about 18 lightyears away. Our science corresponent Rebecca Morelle has more.

"A shimmering²¹ aurora is one of the earth's most dazzling displays. And in fact, the luminous²² glow can appear around all the planets in our solar system, but now a light show is being spotted deeper in space around a brown dwarf²³, an object too small to become a star, but too big to be a planet. It looks similar to the northern light but it is more red than green, and up to a million times brighter. The discovery's puzzled scientists."

A new report says valuble ancient forest in Cambodia has been lost at an unprecedented²⁴ rate. The campaign group Forest Trend says large corporations using legitimate development permits to clear land illegally. The researchers say trees have been cleared to create rubber plantations²⁵, which, in many cases, are materialized.

And briefly²⁶, Argentine football legend Diego Maradona has accused his ex-wife of stealing nearly nine million dollars from his bank accounts. Maradona said on a live television programme that his childhood sweetheart was “a thief”.

法国交通官员正在调查被冲到印度洋留尼旺岛上的一片飞机残骸，看它是否属于失踪的马航飞机上的部件。美国方面称看过图片的调查人员十分确信残骸属于波音777飞机的机翼部件，失踪的马航飞机就是这个机型。汤姆·贝特曼在华盛顿报道。

“这片残骸是被清洁留尼旺岛沙滩的人员发现的，一名目击者称残骸似乎在水里很久了。互联网上的一张图片显示残骸上覆盖着贝壳，法国航空交通官员在努力确定残骸从何处来，美国安全官员认为它是波音777机翼的后缘。当时有239名乘客乘机从吉隆坡飞往飞机，马来西亚政府称已经派出一支团队来调查这片残骸。”

俄罗斯在联合国使用否决权，反对成立国际法庭来起诉一年前在乌克兰东部击落马航飞机的凶手。安理会正在考虑马来西亚、荷兰、澳大利亚、比利时和乌克兰提出的一份决议草案，俄罗斯驻联合国大使丘尔金称这份决议支持者的目的是纯粹出于政治考虑。

“今天这份被否决的草案缺少任何法律依据和先例，草案的起草者拒绝以合作精神行事，在就草案进行投票之前就已经知道它不会导致积极的结果。在我看来，这对他们来说，政治和宣传目的比现实的目的更重要。”

阿富汗总统宣布塔利班领袖毛拉·奥马尔已经死亡，称有可靠情报表明奥马尔是两年前在巴基斯坦死亡的。阿富汗政府称现在与塔利班进行和谈的前景比以前任何时候都要好，白宫发言人埃里克·舒尔茨敦促该武装组织接受几天后开始和谈的要约。

“我们确实相信，塔利班有机会与阿富汗政府实现真正的和平，并在阿富汗的和平环境中重建自己，他们可以接受阿富汗政府的邀请加入和平进程，并最终成为阿富汗合法政治体系的一部分，否则他们可以选择与阿富汗继续作战并颠覆自己的国家。”塔利班和巴基斯坦都未对此发表评论。

美国检察官宣布对本月早些时候开枪打死手无寸铁黑人的辛辛那提大学警察以谋杀罪起诉，塞缪尔·杜博斯因车牌失踪而被警察拦截，然后头部被警察开枪击中。

BBC世界新闻。

印度总统拒绝了雅各布·梅蒙最后要求宽恕的请求，此人因参与1993年孟买系列爆炸袭击案而被判死刑，他将在几小时后被处决。当时的袭击案导致257人丧生。

法国政府称海峡隧道的运营商同意投资改善其在加莱终点站的安全防范，有数百名试图抵达英国的移民扰乱了隧道的秩序。法国已派遣另外120名防暴警察到加莱。

科学家称首次在太阳系外发现与南北极类似的极光，一个国际研究小组在大约18光年之外的天琴座发现了这一壮观的光影秀。科学记者丽贝卡·莫雷勒报道。

“闪烁的极光是地球上最迷人的景象之一，事实上，这种光亮可以出现在太阳系的任何行星上，但现在科学家在一颗棕矮星周围的太空的深处发现了这场光线秀，这颗棕矮星不足以大到成为恒星，也不小到足以成为行星，这种极光与北极光很相似，但红色的部分比绿色的多，而且要比极光亮100万倍。这一发现令科学家们感到不解。”

一份最新报告称柬埔寨宝贵的古代森林正以前所未有的速度减少，活动组织森林趋势称大公司使用合法的开发许可来非法伐木。研究者称这些公司将树木砍伐掉来建立橡胶种植园，目前已经有很多橡胶园被建立起来了。

阿根廷足球传奇马拉多纳指控前妻从他的银行账户中窃取近900万美元的资金，马拉多纳在一个电视直播节目中称他童年时代的甜心是“窃贼”。

1 wreckage   

n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏

参考例句：

• They hauled him clear of the wreckage.他们把他从形骸中拖出来。
• New states were born out of the wreckage of old colonial empires.新生国家从老殖民帝国的废墟中诞生。

2 airliner   

n.客机，班机

参考例句：

• The pilot landed the airliner safely.驾驶员使客机安全着陆。
• The passengers were shepherded across the tarmac to the airliner.旅客们被引导走过跑道去上飞机。

3 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

5 component   

n.组成部分，成分，元件；adj.组成的，合成的

参考例句：

• Each component is carefully checked before assembly.每个零件在装配前都经过仔细检查。
• Blade and handle are the component parts of a knife.刀身和刀柄是一把刀的组成部分。

6 prosecute   

vt.告发；进行；vi.告发，起诉，作检察官

参考例句：

• I am trying my best to prosecute my duties.我正在尽力履行我的职责。
• Is there enough evidence to prosecute?有没有起诉的足够证据？

7 purely   

adv.纯粹地，完全地

参考例句：

• I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
• This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。

8 precedents   

引用单元； 范例( precedent的名词复数 )； 先前出现的事例； 前例； 先例

参考例句：

• There is no lack of precedents in this connection. 不乏先例。
• He copied after bad precedents. 他仿效恶例。

9 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

10 credible   

adj.可信任的，可靠的

参考例句：

• The news report is hardly credible.这则新闻报道令人难以置信。
• Is there a credible alternative to the nuclear deterrent?是否有可以取代核威慑力量的可靠办法？

11 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

12 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。

13 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

14 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

15 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

16 clemency   

n.温和，仁慈，宽厚

参考例句：

• The question of clemency would rest with the King.宽大处理问题，将由国王决定。
• They addressed to the governor a plea for clemency.他们向州长提交了宽刑的申辨书。

17 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

18 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

19 aurora   

n.极光

参考例句：

• The aurora is one of nature's most awesome spectacles.极光是自然界最可畏的奇观之一。
• Over the polar regions we should see aurora.在极地高空,我们会看到极光。

20 constellation   

n.星座n.灿烂的一群

参考例句：

• A constellation is a pattern of stars as seen from the earth. 一个星座只是从地球上看到的某些恒星的一种样子。
• The Big Dipper is not by itself a constellation. 北斗七星本身不是一个星座。

21 shimmering   

v.闪闪发光，发微光( shimmer的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The sea was shimmering in the sunlight. 阳光下海水波光闪烁。
• The colours are delicate and shimmering. 这些颜色柔和且闪烁微光。 来自辞典例句

22 luminous   

adj.发光的，发亮的；光明的；明白易懂的；有启发的

参考例句：

• There are luminous knobs on all the doors in my house.我家所有门上都安有夜光把手。
• Most clocks and watches in this shop are in luminous paint.这家商店出售的大多数钟表都涂了发光漆。

23 dwarf   

n.矮子，侏儒，矮小的动植物；vt.使…矮小

参考例句：

• The dwarf's long arms were not proportional to his height.那侏儒的长臂与他的身高不成比例。
• The dwarf shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. 矮子耸耸肩膀，摇摇头。

24 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。

25 plantations   

n.种植园，大农场( plantation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Soon great plantations, supported by slave labor, made some families very wealthy. 不久之后出现了依靠奴隶劳动的大庄园，使一些家庭成了富豪。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• Winterborne's contract was completed, and the plantations were deserted. 维恩特波恩的合同完成后，那片林地变得荒废了。 来自辞典例句

26 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。