书城外语听BBC学英语:英语10倍速增长学习法
14141500000008

第8章

Extracts from sensitive communica-tions between British and US leaders in the runup of the Iraq War will be made public in Britain but the full versions will remain secret. The Chilcot inquiry into the origins of the conflict heard from its last witness more than 3 years ago, but its conclusions have been delayed as Norman Smith reports.'Although a deal is not being struck between the Chilcot Inquiry and the government, it's likely to prove hugely controversial. Under the deal, the full Blair letters will not be published, instead only what is described as gist of the content will be released. Direct quotations from the letters will also be kept to a minimum. President Bush's responses will not be included and still no timetable for publication.'

The US car maker Ford has announ-ced that it is recalling almost 1. 4 million vehicles because of potential defects. More than a million sports utility vehicles or SUVs are being returned over a possible loss of power steering. In addition, nearly 300,000 cars are being recalled, because their floor mats could interfere with the operation of the accelerator.

译文:

非盟开始一场在非洲终结童婚的大规模运动,专家称童婚使得整个非洲1700万女孩的童年缩短。理查德·汉密尔顿报道。

“活动家称童婚侵犯了女孩的权利,比如获得受教育权利,因为新娘被迫辍学来给家里充当劳力。很年幼的女孩怀孕,其风险非常大。年轻的新娘们还经常被迫过着像囚犯一样的生活,几乎没有什么社会交往,在家庭也没有什么权力,还要经常遭受家暴。非洲童婚率最高的国家是尼日尔。”

英美国家领导人在伊拉克战争前夕的敏感通讯内容摘录将在英国公布,但完整的版本仍保密。调查这场冲突起源的齐尔考特调查小组3年前从最后一名目击者得到消息,但其结论要推迟公布了。诺曼·史密斯报道。“尽管齐尔考特调查小组和政府尚未达成协议,但情况看来颇具争议。根据该协议,布莱尔的整个信件不会发表,只会发表其内容摘要,同时也会尽可能少地直接引用信件的原文,也不包括布什总统的回信,而且也没有给出发表的时间表。”

美国汽车制造商福特宣布因潜在缺陷召回近140万辆汽车。由于存在丧失动力的隐患,福特已经召回100多万辆SUV。目前仍在召回另外30万辆车,因为这些车辆地板垫可能影响油门踏板。

单词解析Word analysis

1. campaign[k?m'pe?n]vi.作战;参加竞选n.运动;活动;战役

例句:The army is beating up recruits for the campaign.

军队正在为这个战役召募新兵。

2. jeopardize['d?ep?da?z]vt.危害;使陷危地;使受危困

例句:His foolish behaviour may jeopardize his whole future.

他的愚蠢行为可能会危及他的整个前途。

3. drop out of schooI辍学

例句:The boys lived, but the illness induced by their exposure forced them to drop out of school.

他们活了下来,但是毒气造成的疾病让他们被迫退学。

4. significant[s?g'n?f?k(?)nt]adj.重大的;有效的;有意义的;

例句:But if they do, it will be significant for a few reasons.

但是,如果他们真的这样做,这必有几个重要的原因。

5. domestic[d?'mest?k]adj.国内的;家庭的;

例句:The film tells about a domestic tragedy.

这部影片主要讲述一个家庭悲剧。

6. runup['r?n?p]n.迅速增大

例句:You should know that in general I'm not a good stock prophet;I didn't see the big 2009 runup, for example.

你该知道我总的来说不是一个好的股市预言家,比如说我就没有预测到2009年的大涨。

7. controversiaI[?k?ntr?'v???l]adj.有争议的

例句:This is a controversial question.

这是个引起争论的问题。

8. gist[d??st]n.主旨,要点;依据

例句:In this article, we kept this simple to convey the gist of the strategy.

在本文中,我们用它来表达这种策略的要点。

9. potentiaI[p??ten?l]adj.潜在的;可能的

例句:In this case, we should not be worrying about our potential limitations.

在这种情况下,我们不应该担心我们潜在的局限性。

例句:But more than that;'utility'is not a thing or an entity;it is simply the name for a subjective evaluation in the mind of each individual.

10. utiIity[ju??t?l?ti]n.实用;效用;公共设施

而且不仅如此,“效用”不是一个东西或一个实体;它仅仅用来形容每个人头脑中的主观判断。

11. interfere with干扰,干涉

例句:But that is your affair;we do not interfere with your problems.

但那是你自己的事情。我们不愿意干涉你们的问题。

语法知识点Grammar points

Young brides also often live as virtual prisoners with few social connections, have hardly any power in their new homes and frequently suffer domestic violence.

年轻的新娘们还经常被迫过着囚犯一样的生活,几乎没有什么社会交往,在家庭也没有什么权力,还要经常遭受家暴。

“as”做连词,意为“像……一样”。本句中的few, hardly都表示否定含义。

09:卡塔尔被指控2022足球世界杯举办权存在违规行为及其他新闻热点World Cup Qatar 2022:Platini calls for re-vote if claims true&;other hot topics

04/06/2014

Qatar has denied new allegations of wrongdoing in connection with its successful bid to host the 2022 football World Cup. The Sunday Times alleged that a Qatari former member of FIFA executive committee Mohamed Bin Hammam paid several million dollars to football officials to back his country's bid. Mark Mardell reports from Qatar.

If proven, these new allegations could change the fortunes not just of a sports tournament but of a country, Qatar. It's been built up to accommodate the double number of passengers through its brand-new 15-billion-dollar international airport, and also planning 20 new hotels of four or five-star quality. The Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy strongly denies all the wrongdoings alleged by the Sunday Times. In fact, they say that Mohamed Bin Hammam played no official or unofficial role in securing the bid for Qatar in 2022.

The former Prime Minister of Luxemburg Jean-Claude Junker says he's confident of becoming the next president of the European Commission, despite opposition from Britain. Mr. Junker has the backing of the German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Steve Evins reports from Berlin.

After the European elections, Mr. Junker emerged as a chosen candidate of the center right parties which have the most seats in the newly elected European parliament. The difficulty is that some EU leaders, with Mr. Cameron at the forefront, are opposing him. The German magazine Der Spiegel said that Mr. Cameron told Chancellor Merkel that if Mr. Junker got the job, Britain would be much more likely to leave the EU. Mr. Junker's now said that attempts to block him are blackmail. Steve Evins.

译文:

卡塔尔否认在成功获得2022足球世界杯举办权一事上有所谓违规行为,泰晤士报称FIFA前执行委员会成员、卡塔尔人穆罕默德·本·哈曼向足球官方提供数百万美元的贿赂获得本国的举办权。马克·马戴尔在卡塔尔报道。

如果情况属实,那么新的指控将不仅改变这个比赛运动,也会改变卡塔尔这个国家的命运。卡塔尔建造了耗资150亿美元的新国际机场,还准备建造20家四星级或五星级酒店,希望能将接纳游客数翻倍。交付和遗产最高委员会否认泰晤士报的全部指控,事实上,委员会称穆罕默德·本·哈曼在卡塔尔获得2022年举办权的过程中没有担任任何官方或非官方角色。

卢森堡前首相容克称尽管英国表示反对,他仍相信自己将成为欧洲委员会的下一届主席。容克有德国总理安吉拉·默克尔的支持。史蒂夫·埃文斯在柏林报道。

欧洲选举后,容克作为在新当选欧洲议会中获得最多席位的中间右派政党的候选人胜出。其困难是以卡梅伦为首的一些欧洲领导人反对他,德国明镜杂志称卡梅伦告诉总理默克尔,如果容克担任主席,英国将更可能离开欧盟。容克称企图阻扰他就是在敲诈。史蒂夫·埃文斯。

单词解析Word analysis

1. aIIegation[?l?'ge??(?)n]n.主张,断言;辩解

例句:She declared that the allegation was a lie.

她断言这一说法是谎言。