2008级普通班第三学期VOA听力训练
Unit One Social Life
Item 1: The survey by the Modern Language Association of America finds that the study of Arabic has increased a whopping 127 percent, and the number of schools offering Arabic study has doubled since the last nationwide survey in 2002. Spanish continues to be the most studied language at US higher education institutions, but interest in Asian languages is growing with Chinese up more than 50 percent.
The Modern Language Association has been tracking language enrollment for half a century. The group's executive director, Rosemary Feal, says the number of enrollments is now at an historic high. She says the increase reflects a growing recognition on the part of students and government that languages play a role in an ever smaller world.
The study finds that students continue to study traditionally taught languages such as Spanish, French and Italian and that interest in classical languages such as Greek and Latin remains strong.
Item 2: In 2005, the Wall Street Journal reported that ⑴applications to full-time MBA programs in the United States had plummeted(垂直落下) as professors and graduates ⑵questioned the degree?s ⑶cost and value in the workplace. Meantime, the newspaper said that tuition was climbing and a ⑷typical two-year MBA degree can now cost as much as ⑸$100,000.
One of the nation?s most prestigious(享有声望的) MBA programs is the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth University in New Hamp-shire. Tuck?s Dean, Paul Danos, says full-time MBA programs are well worth the cost. Danos says more than ever, foreign students are willing to ⑹take out loans for an MBA. He says 37 percent of Tuck?s MBA students are now foreign⑺primarily from India and China. “I think that it?s still a wonderful ⑻ticket to success. The students are much more ⑼sophisticated now. The broader, ⑽the better educated when they come to us, they are older, and they?re much more s ocially ⑾aware, they?re much more ⑿international
Item 3: Sunday?s event at the Kodak Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard was nearly derailed by a Hollywood writers? strike, but the strike ⑴ended this month, and the Oscars should have all their usual glitz and glamour.
⑵Leading films this year ⑶include No Country for Old Men, about a drug deal gone bad near the Texas-Mexico border, and There Will Be Blood, a tale of the California oil boom. Both films have eight Oscar nominations. Atonement, ⑷a drama about love in wartime Britain, and the legal thriller Michael Clayton each have seven.
Michael Clayton star George Clooney is a nominee ⑸for best actor, but faces ⑹tough competition from Viggo Mortensen, Tommy Lee Jones, Johnny Depp, and Daniel Day-Lewis, who ⑺plays a ruthless oilman in There Will Be Blood.
(Movie Extract)
When striking writers ⑻announced an end to a three-month work stoppage this month, Hollywood breathed⑼a sigh of relief and Oscar writers began to work double-time. Hollywood production is being ramped up, and ⑽the show will go on at the Oscars.
Item 4:At the academy's so-called Sci-Tech Awards Saturday, actress Jessica Alba ⑴congratulated engineers and scientists, and academy president Sid Ganis was smiling. “I?m smiling not because I'm absolutely ⑵positive that the show that we wish to ⑶put on is going to happen, but I think we're getting really close now," He had more ⑷reason to smile Sunday when the East and West Coast boards of the Writers Guild of America ⑸approved a tentative contract, and ⑹authorized a vote by members on the ⑺proposed agreement and a
separate 48-hour vote on whether to end the strike. If the writers choose to end it, they could be back at work on Wednesday.
At the Sci-Tech presentation, the motion picture academy ⑻presented the first two Oscars of the season. The Eastman Kodak Company received one for ⑼developing technologies for a widely used film stock. David Grafton earned an Oscar for ⑽creating lenses used to shoot classic scenes for Star Wars and other films.
Item 5: It?s that odd comedy that starts out with a main character?s death. Eva Longoria plays Kate, who is so obsessed with every ⑴detail of her wedding day that she doe sn?t see the toppling ice sculpture of an angel...until it?s too late. (Movie Extract) With just hours to go before her nuptials, Kate is crushed and her husband-to-be—— Henry, played by Paul Rudd——is left ⑵with a broken heart. Flash forward to a year later and Henry?s meddling sister takes him to a medium——an attractive, young medium, by the way——in an effort to help him ⑶deal with the tragedy. (Movie Extract) Skeptical Henry doesn?t believe any communication is possible; so his sister slips some secrets to the medium, Ashley. (Movie Extract) Ethical dilemma aside, she finds Henry ⑷attractive and he seems ⑸drawn to her, too. The trouble is Kate...or Kat e?s spirit...is watching and ⑹determined to nip the romance in the bud.
“You know, when I read the script I thought …how fun to play a ghost? because you know, ⑺anything is possible, and she got to float and I got to float and levitate and make noises. Sometimes in movies I feel like you have to have that ⑻extreme circumstance too, especially in a comedy. You know, if you?re going to go for it, go for it. So I thought it was necessary to go there and ⑼make it real for me. It?s possible. Walki ng through doors and people…yeah, I find that it was⑽pretty believable.”
Item 7: The seven-person crew aboard Endeavour lifted off during a rare nighttime ⑴launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA officials say the 16-day ⑵space mission will include the longest shuttle visit to the International Space Station in the program?s history.
The Endeavour ⑶is delivering the first of three sections of a Japanese-built science station, called Kibo. Astronauts also will attach a Canadian-built robotic arm system that will assist astronauts during space walks and ⑷perform other tasks.
Canadian astronaut Julie Payette says the two-armed Dextre system ⑸will enable crew members to carry out ⑹delicate operations on the space station. “There may be times when it will be very useful to use the robot to change out a piece of ⑺faulty equipment on the space station without having to schedule a lon g space walk.” The Endeavour also is carrying astronaut Garrett Reisman who ⑻will remain on the space station, ⑼allowing French astronaut Leopold Eyharts to return to Earth.
The next shuttle launch ⑽is scheduled for May when Discovery is to deliver the second portion of the Kibo laboratory to the space station.
Unit Two Election
Item 1: Benin?s newly elected President Thomas Boni Yayi has been sworn into office. He replaces Mathieu Kerekou who ⑴ruled the small West African nation nearly continuously over the past 3 ⑵decades. President Yayi?s slogan during the election campaign was “change” and he ⑶repeated the message at his open-air swear-in-ceremony in Benin?s administrative capital, Poto Novo. He said if people want to change their future they must first change themselves. Infrastructure and the ⑷economy have been deteriorating while corruption has been on the ⑸rise since Mathieu Kerekou won 2 elected terms as a born-again Christian. Mr. Kerekou had ⑹previously been in power 2 decades as Marxist coup leader. He was barred from running in the March elections because of term and age ⑺limits. President Yayi, a ⑻political novice, who ⑼
headed the West African Development Bank, to much acclaim from other African leaders won a second run-off with about 3 ⑽quarters of the votes. The US Undersecretary of State For Public Affairs, Karen Hughes, was among foreign dignitaries who attended festivities in Poto Novo.
Item 2: V oters are going to the polls in Hungary with the Socialist liberal governing coalition ⑴headed by Socialist Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany. He ⑵is expected to win a slim majority in a run-off parliamentary election. ⑶The floods and fears among voters have overshadowed the election campaign.
Polls suggest Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany?s Hungarian Soc ialist Party and its liberal ally, the Alliance of Free Democrats, ⑷are likely to win the second-round ballot, but with ⑸a slim majority. Mr. Gyurcsany?s main rival is 42-year-old Viktor Orban, the right-leaning former prime minister of the Fidesz party. While the ruling coalition embraces globalization and foreign ⑹investments, Fidesz campaigns against, what it calls, wild capitalism. Prime Minister Gyurcsany, a 44year-old self-made millionaire says globalization, including renewed cooperation with Russia, ⑺benefits Hungary. Whoever wins Sunday?s election will have to deal with ⑻decreasing the country?s budget deficit. It reached over 6% of ⑼gross domestic product in 2005 and threatens to delay the ⑽planned adoption of the euro currency in 2010.
Item 3: A frail-looking 84-year-old Girija Prasad Koirala was sworn in as prime minister on Sunday by King Gyanendra at the Narayanhiti Palace in Kathmandu. Mr. Koirala?s swearing-in was originally ⑴due to be held Friday, but ⑵was postponed due to his ill health. He was chosen prime minister by an alliance of seven ⑶political parties, after King Gyanendra agreed to ⑷hand back power to the parties, after weeks of massive pro-democracy protests. Mr. Koirala has said his main priority will be to ⑸negotiate with Maoist rebels, who have been waging a decade-long insurgency to turn Nepal into a communist republic. He also ⑹has proposed elections for an assembly that will ⑺draw up a new constitution for the country. Gopal Man Shrestha, a spokesman for the seven-party alliance, says starting talks with the rebels is one of its ⑻main priorities. Shrestha says, one of the first tasks before the political alliance is to reciprocate ⑼by offering a ceasefire to the rebels, who ⑽have already declared a unilateral three-month truce.
Item 4: Former Communist Giorgio Napolitano has been elected as Italy?s new head of state. His election ⑴paves the way for the winner of last month?s general elections, Romano Prodi, to form Italy?s next ⑵government.
A huge applause broke out when the provisional results showed former Communist Giorgio Napolitano was elected Italy's 11th post-war ⑶president. The speaker of the Lower House Fausto Bertinotti later officially ⑷confirmed the result. 80-year-old Giorgio Napolitano was elected in the ⑸fourth round of voting in parliament. He will be replacing President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, whose seven-year mandate expires May 18th. Mr. Napolitano was the center-left candidate and is a widely ⑹respected life-senator who has also been parliament speaker and interior minister in the past. He has been ⑺known for his moderate, pro-Western stance and was among the biggest ⑻supporters of the ⑼reform that led the communists to change the party's name and drop the hammer-and-sickle symbol. His ⑽choice paves the way for the winner of last month's general elections, Romano Prodi, to form the new government.
Item 5: Canada?s Conservative opposition ⑴has won the country?s general election, ending 12 years of Liberal government.
The results will make 46-year-old economist Stephen Harper, the twenty second prime minister of Canada. The Conservative party elected ⑵124 out of a possible 308 members of parliament until just over 36% of the
popular vote. This ⑶defeats the party of now outgoing Liberal leader and Prime Minister Paul Martin who ⑷has held office for just over 2 years. His party finished with 103 seats in Canada?s House of Commons, and just ⑸over 30% of the popular vote. In Canada, voters cast ballots for ⑹local members of the Parliament, not the party leaders. The party ⑺with the most seats or MPs as they are known forms a government and the party leader. ⑻In this case, Stephen Harper becomes prime minister. As the new prime minister, Mr. Harper says his new government will also ⑼focus on reducing taxes, ⑽reform Canada?s justice system, offer parents tax credits for child care, and reduce the time it takes to get surgery under Canada?s public health care system.
Item 6:Democratic Republic of Congo?s capital was tense on M onday, hours after a future run-off presidential election was announced. And soldiers ⑴loyal to the 2 candidates fought a gun battle in the city. Democratic Republic of Congo?s electoral commission ⑵announced the result of historic post-war elections late on Sunday. The electoral commission said incumbent President Joseph Kabila was ⑶leading, but fell short of the necessary ⑷votes to win outright, and must face off against former ⑸rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba. But the call for a second ⑹round of voting was overshadowed by violence in the capital. ⑺Rival groups to the 2 candidates ⑻clashed in the streets with small and heavy weapons. Tanks were deployed on the street late in the evening. UN sources say a total of 5 people were killed. Each side ⑼accuses the other having started the violence. As sporadic gunfire continued on Monday in the tense and deserted center of town, the UN called for both candidates to pull their men off the streets and ⑽allow the police to restore order.
Unit Three Law
Item 1: A Russian court has sentenced the sole ⑴surviving attacker of a school in the southern town of Beslan to life ⑵in prison; the sentence is for his part in the ⑶bloody 2004 school siege that killed 331 people, more than half of them children. The court sentenced Nur-Pashi Kulayev today after finding the Chechen carpenter ⑷guilty of all charges including terrorism and ⑸murder. Prosecutors had requested ⑹the death penalty however the judge said a moratorium on ⑺capital punishment ⑻prevented that.
Item 3: An American journalist is being held in Sudan?s Darfur region on charges of espionage and ⑴entering the country illegally. The case has highlighted issues of ⑵press freedom in Sudan, a nation which routinely censors ⑶independent media.
Paul Salopek, a Pulitzer-prize winning foreign correspondent for the Chicago Tribune⑷was arrested in Darfur earlier this month and ⑸charged with spying. Salopek entered Sudan from neighboring Chad. He was ⑹on leave from the Tribune, working on an assignment for National Geographic magazine. All publications ⑺defended Salopek?s innocence Saturday and said they are working to ⑻secure his release.
Salopek?s lawyer says he has won a continuance in the case, ⑼delaying the start of the ⑽trial until September 10th. Salopek?s driver and interpreter both Chadian nationals were also charged. He was working on an article for National Geographic on the Sahel region of sub-Saharan Africa.
Item 4: An Indonesian court has sentenced a man to 8 years in prison in connection with suicide bomber attacks on a Bali island ⑴in 2005.
A Bali court on Tuesday found Abdul Aziz guilty of harboring the alleged mastermind of the suicide bomber attacks that killed 20 people and ⑵injured nearly 200 on the island in October 2005. The 30-year-old former high school computer teacher was also convicted of ⑶setting up a website for the organizer of the attacks that ⑷called on Muslims to attack westerners. Aziz is the first to be sentenced in connection with the 2005 attacks.
Verdicts ⑸are expected this month for 3 other defendants also charged with harboring the alleged architect of the bombings Noordin Mohammad Top or for helping to carry out the attacks. Top and those ⑹accused in the attacks ⑺have been linked to the regional terrorist network Jemaah Islamiah or JI. Prosecutors had called for Aziz to ⑻serve 10 years in prison but the judges handed down ⑼a lighter sentence on the grounds that he was young and ⑽had shown remorse.
Unit Four Economy
Item 1: The first time the Tokyo Stock Exchange suspended all trading early to ⑴prevent a system crash after a surge in transactions. ⑵Heavy trading followed news that top Internet Company Livedoor is under investigation for fraud. The benchmark Nikkei index ⑶closed down about 465 points, nearly 3 % for the day. The Tokyo bourse ⑷pulled the plug on all trading 20 minutes before the schedule end of Wednesday?s ⑸session. The Tokyo Exchange says it was swamped by ⑹massive sell orders for a second day on news that the popular Internet Company Livedoor was raided by prosecutors in a fraud probe. Exchange ⑺officials say they may ⑻shorten trading hours in the days ahead if the unusual deluge of orders continues. Tokyo Stock Exchange President Taizo Nishimuro also says the bourse may have to delist Livedoor.
Nishimuro says ⑼the stock was suspended from trading Wednesday morning because of the ⑽criminal investigation of Livedoor.
Item 2: The OECD downgraded its estimates for U.S. growth to just 0.1 percent for the first quarter of this year. Overall, the organization ⑴predicted the American economy would grow just 1.4 percent in 2008, far below its previous estimate in December of a two percent ⑵growth.
The OECD is an international economic research organization ⑶based in Paris. OECD chief economist Jorgen Elmeskov says it might be premature to declare a recession in the United States. But at a press conference in ⑷Paris, Elmeskov said the U.S. economy would be extremely ⑸weak for at least the first half of this year, hampered by a credit crunch and the collapse of the U.S. ⑹housing market.
“It?s hard to say how far advanced we are in the U.S. housing construction adjustments. The ⑺share of GDP housing construction is probably down now to around somewhere like ⑻3.8 percent of GDP, which correspondents to the ⑼average level in previous slumps. But it is clear that this slump has got further to go. There are no signs from any indicator of construction activity that things ⑽are about to change.”
Item 3: Asian Development Bank President Haruhiko Kuroda says the need of the hour in Asia is to ⑴ensure that the region?s buoyant growth is more widely ⑵shared. Speaking at the end of its four-day conference in Hyderabad, Kuroda said nearly 2 billion people in Asia still ⑶live on less than two dollars a day. He said Asia?s challenge is to⑷include its poor in the ⑸process of development.
“At the same time, the region grows more prosperous, the widening ⑹gap of income, assets between rich and poor become less ⑺tolerable for all of us.”
Kuroda said the region must ⑻invest more in its people, in its health, education and infrastructure, so that the poor also ⑼gain access to markets and services. The four-day conference brought together top economic policymakers from across Asia, which is now among the ⑽fastest growing regions in the world.
Item 4: India?s economy has been on a high growth path in recent years. But economic reforms that could make the situation even better are lagging behind.
Supporters of India?s powerful communist parties recently led noisy street demonstrations in major cit ies, ⑴
demanding the government roll back a 9% hike in gasoline prices. The Congress Party-led coalition government stood fast. It said it had to raise ⑵domestic fuel rates to limit the huge ⑶losses being suffered by state-run refineries as a result of ⑷soaring global crude oil prices. But analysts say increasing ⑸opposition from 2 mainstream communist parties is putting a brake on the ⑹pace of economic reform in the country. Prime Minist er Manmohan Singh who kicked off India?s economic reforms as ⑺finance minister in 1991 and is a champion of free market policies has ⑻quietly sidelined for several important changes. Despite the ⑼slowdown in eco nomic reforms since Congress ousted the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) in 2004, India?s economy is still growing ⑽at a rate around 8%.
Item 5: American beef is back in the Japanese market and slated to ⑴return to South Korea soon. But for America?s beef exporters, who lost two of their three largest markets in 2003 after a few cases of mad cow disease ⑵were discovered in the US, it is going to be an uphill ⑶struggle.
Despite consumer fears in north Asia about possible bovine spongiform encephalopathy, ⑷more commonly known as mad cow disease, American beef is returning to shops and restaurants ⑸in this region with ceremonial flourish.
Staff at Tokyo?s popular Yoshino ya restaurant chain welcome patrons back to sample dishes made with American beef. Some diners waited as long as 12 hours to make sure they would get a taste as ⑹supplies are limited for now. US Ambassador Thomas Schieffer this month ⑺has been heavily promoting US beef to help American exporters rebuild their nearly one and a half billion dollar ⑻.annual business in Japan. After intense negotiations, Japan agreed this month to accept meat from specially certified exporters processing US cattle younger than 21 months. Meanwhile in South Korea, US boneless beef imports ⑼are due to resume within weeks, pending resolution of some ⑽minor disagreements.
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Unit Five International Relations
Item 1:No progress was made during the first talks in six years between Japan and South Korea concerning a disputed maritime boundary.
Two days of talks in Tokyo between South Korea and Japan have ended with no progress, only an agreement to meet again in September to discuss their territorial dispute.
The two Asian neighbors discussed their differences about where to draw the maritime boundaries for their exclusive economic zones.
The talks held at the Japanese Foreign Ministry Monday and Tuesday were the first formal discussions between Tokyo and Seoul on the issue in six years. At the heart of the issue are tiny islands and reefs South Korea has controlled since the early 1950s, which Japan also claims. The disputed islands, known as Dokdo in Korean and Takeshima in Japanese, total less than one-quarter square kilometer. But the surrounding waters are rich in marine resources, including fish and potential reserves of gas hydrates(水合物).
Item 2: President Bush and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva have agreed to continue ⑴improving cooperation on alternative energy and trade.
President Bush says he and the Brazilian leader want to ⑵move forward on the so-called Doha round of world trade talks as G8 leaders mee t with heads of state from the world?s 5 ⑶fastest growing economies, Brazil, India, China, Mexico and South Africa.
“We?re⑷committed to a successful Doha round. In order for the round to be successful, the United States and Brazil must continue to strategize.”
President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva says it?s extremely important that the Group of 8 leaders just set aside time
at their summit to discuss the trade talks which ⑸are aimed at reducing barriers to poorer countries. Speaking through a translator, he says now is the time for heads of government to make ⑹tough political decisions. The two leaders also discussed alternative ⑺energy sources. Brazil is one of the leading developers of bio-fuels, while reducing America?s ⑻dependence on foreign oil is one of ⑼the biggest priorities for Mr. Bush?s second term. President Da Silva invited President Bush to ⑽build a major partnership with Brazil in producing ethanol, bio-diesel and a new fuel called H-Bio.
Item 3:Speaking at a morning news ⑴conference in the Russian capital, Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov said the company would reduce Ukraine?s gas ⑵supplies by another 25 percent Tuesday evening. It follows ⑶a similar cut on Monday. Kupriyanov says the Gazprom decision ⑷is based on lack of progress in Russian-Ukrainian talks and ⑸the absence of signed contracts wi th Ukraine?s Naftogaz energy company. On Monday, Ukraine?s First Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Turchynov accused Russia of ⑹failing to pay his country ⑺as much as $700 million in pipeline transit fees for gas ⑻deliveries to Europe. The energy advisor for Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, parliamentarian Oleksiy Hudyma, says his country ⑼is fully prepared to pay for the gas it consumes. But he says there is no one to pay, because Gazprom is ⑽refusing to sign a contract that would eliminate intermediaries.
Item 4: A trade dispute between India and Pakistan threatens to set back a south Asian agreement. They were said to create the world?s ⑴biggest free trade zone.
The dispute between India and Pakistan came to ahead at this week?s meeting of south-Asian foreign ministers in Bangladesh. The dispute is affecting a fledgling trade ⑵deal that was painstakingly put together during four years of negotiations. The South Asian Free Trade Agreement went into ⑶effect last month to expand trade among the seven countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation or SAARC—India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and the Maldives. But ⑷heated exchanges between India and Pakistan at the SAARC foreign ministers? meeting in Dacca are ⑸threatening to slow down the agreement?s implementation. India has accused Pakistan of ⑹failing to put key provisions of the agreement into force by not granting tariff deductions to goods ⑺imported from India.
Pakistani ⑻officials say Islamabad is treating India differently because while Indian exports to their country have ⑼jumped by about 400%, Pakistan?s entry into the Indian market has not been nearly so ⑽successful.
Item 5: Russia ⑴has expressed regret for the killing of a Japanese fisherman today when a patrol vessel ⑵fired a warning shot at a fishing boat near the disputed Kuril Islands. But Russia?s Foreign Ministry says in a ⑶statement that Japan is ⑷at fault for the incident because it does not curb Japanese fishing in Russian waters. Japan has launched ⑸a strong protest.
A diplomatic row broke out between Japan and Russia on Wednesday following the shooting death of a Japanese fisherman in waters ⑹claimed by both countries. Russia ⑺confirms its border patrol shot dead a Japanese fisherman earlier in the day aboard a vessel suspected of illegally fishing for lucrative crab. 35-year-old Mitsuhiro Morita was one of 4 men aboard the Japanese vessel. The other 3 had been taken into custody by the Russians. The incident took place near ⑻the island chain, the Russians call the Kurils, and the Japanese call the Northern Territories. The islands ⑼were seized from Japan by the Soviet Union in the closing days of World War II, and have been ⑽under Russian control ever since. But Japan still claims them. Foreign Minister Taro Aso, after summoning Russia?s deputy ambassador, told reporters in Tokyo that the killing of the Japanese fisherman was an outrageous act. Aso says he launched a strong protest with the acting head of the Russian Embassy Mikhail Galuzin. Galuzin told reporters at the Foreign Ministry that the vessel?s
apprehended in Russian waters in accordance with Russian law.
Item 6: New South Korean President Lee Myung-bak was making diplomatic inroads ⑴within hours of Monday?s inauguration ⑵ceremony. In a meeting with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Mr. Lee?s spokesman, Lee Dong-kwan, says the president looked for a new start. He says Mr. Lee told Rice the U.S.-South Korea relationship had been ⑶lacking something over the past five years, and had even become ⑷“awkward”. Mr. Lee then said things would ⑸improve under his administration, and that closer ties between the two countries would also help ties between the two Koreas.
Secretary Rice praised Mr. Lee?s inaugural-speech pledge to fortify the South Korea-U.S. alliance, and said the relationship between the two countries will ⑹remain strong. “It is a relationship that has only deepened over the years because we share something very important as much as we share strategic ⑺interests, and we certainly share common ⑻values.”
Mr. Lee also met with Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, who said afterwards the two countries had ⑼agreed to resume frequent high-level ⑽contacts and to communicate in a “frank and comfortable” manner.
Unit Six UN Affairs
Item 3:The regional nutrition representative of the United Nations Children?s Fund, Karen Codling, says UNICEF's report shows the world has ⑴made little progress toward reducing under-nutrition among young children.
"It shows that overall in the world we've only reduced child underweight by 5 percentage point since 1990. It means that the world is now ⑵on track to achieve the Millennium Development Goal for ⑶hunger and poverty."
The 1990 Goal seek to improve significantly by 2015 the lives of the world's poor. One of those goals is to cut ⑷in half the rate of poor nutrition among children younger than 5 years of age. Codling says Asia ⑸on average is on track to meet the goal on child nutrition, but this is largely due to the performance of China which has had ⑹its proportion of malnourished children from 19% to 8%. Studies show that ⑺inadequate nutrition causes more than half of the world's deaths in children ⑻under 5. ⑼Experts say because nutrition is ⑽related to many different aspects of poverty, it is a significant barometer for the Millennium Development Goals.
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Item 4:UN Secretary General Kofi Annan ⑴has announced, what he calls, a temporary international mechanism to ⑵ensure direct ⑶delivery of aid to the Palestinian people. Mr. Annan spoke in New York Tuesday after talks among the so-called Mideast Quartet, the United States, Russia, European Union and United Nations, on ⑷reviving the peace process. ⑸Details of the measure were not now spelled out, but European Union Foreign Affairs Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner says it?s aimed at making sure the Palestinian people get the help they need ⑹without going through the Hamas-led Palestinian government. Earlier Tuesday Secretary Rice said the United States will send ⑺$10,000,000 in medicine and aid to the Palestinians. Mr. Annan said the Quartet is ⑻repeating demands that Hamas renounce ⑼violence and ⑽recognize Israel.
Item 6:The UN Security Council has expressed shock and distress at Israel?s bombing of a UN post in Lebanon that killed 4 military observers. But a statement by the council stop short of condemning the attack as many members had wanted.
Nearly 48 hours after an Israeli bomb killed 4 members of the UN Observer Mission. The Security Council Thursday adopted a brief statement expressing shock and offering condolences to families of the victims. Council diplomats said the United States has resisted the language in earlier drafts that would have condemned the attack, called for a joint Israeli-UN investigation and expressed grave concern at the escalation of hostilities in Lebanon. Israel?s UN Ambassador Dan Gillerman expressed his government?s regret at the killings. He said he was satisfied with what he called “the fair and balance tone of the statement”. At the same time, the Israeli envoy had harsh words for Secretary-General Kofi Annan, for initially suggesting that the attack on the UN observer post may have been deliberated.
Key:
Unit 1
Item 1: ⑴127%; ⑵doubled; ⑶continues; ⑷growing; ⑸has been tracking; ⑹historic; ⑺reflects; ⑻play a role; ⑼traditionally; ⑽classical
Item 2: ⑴applications; ⑵questioned; ⑶cost and value; ⑷typical; ⑸$100,000; ⑹take out loans; ⑺primarily; ⑻ticket; ⑼sophisticated; ⑽the better educated; ⑾aware; ⑿international
Item 3: ⑴ended ⑵Leading ⑶include ⑷a drama about love ⑸for best actor, ⑹tough ⑺plays ⑻announced ⑼a sigh of relief ⑽the show will go on
Item 4: ⑴congratulated; ⑵positive; ⑶put on; ⑷reason; ⑸approved; ⑹authorized a vote; ⑺proposed;
⑻presented; ⑼developing technologies; ⑽creating
Item 5:⑴detail ⑵with a broken heart. ⑶deal with ⑷attractive ⑸drawn to ⑹determined ⑺anything is possible, ⑻extreme circumstance ⑼make it real for me. ⑽pretty believable.”
Item 6: ⑴got more attention; ⑵sentenced; ⑶violating; ⑷suspended; ⑸initially was reduced; ⑹go along;
⑺served；⑻legal; ⑼arrested; ⑽abuse
Item 7: ⑴launch from ⑵space mission ⑶is delivering ⑷perform ⑸will enable ⑹delicate ⑺faulty equipment ⑻will remain ⑼allowing ⑽is scheduled for
Item 8: ⑴$300 million; ⑵underwater communications; ⑶distance; ⑷connect to; ⑸latest; ⑹primarily;
⑺traffic; ⑻double; ⑼predicts; ⑽2012
Unit 2
Item 1: ⑴ruled ⑵decades. ⑶repeated ⑷economy ⑸rise ⑹previously ⑺limits. ⑻political ⑼headed ⑽quarters
Item 2:⑴headed by ⑵is expected to win ⑶The floods and fears ⑷are likely to ⑸a slim majority. ⑹investments ⑺benefits ⑻decreasing ⑼gross domestic product ⑽planned adoption
Item 3: ⑴due to be held ⑵was postponed ⑶political ⑷hand back ⑸negotiate with ⑹has proposed ⑺draw up ⑻main priorities. ⑼by offering ⑽have already declared
Item 4:⑴paves ⑵government. ⑶president. ⑷confirmed ⑸fourth ⑹respected ⑺known ⑻supporters ⑼reform ⑽choice
Item 5: ⑴has won ⑵124 out of ⑶defeats ⑷has held office f ⑸over 30% ⑹local members ⑺with the most seats ⑻In this case ⑼focus on ⑽reform
Item 6:⑴loyal ⑵announced ⑶leading ⑷votes ⑸rebel ⑹round ⑺Rival ⑻clashed ⑼accuses ⑽allow
Unit 3
Item 1:⑴surviving ⑵in prison; ⑶bloody ⑷guilty ⑸murder. ⑹the death penalty ⑺capital ⑻prevented Item 2: ⑴set to; ⑵permission; ⑶holding; ⑷blow up; ⑸free; ⑹up to 28; ⑺24; ⑻7 are jailed
Item 3:⑴entering the country illegally. ⑵press freedom ⑶independent media. ⑷was arrested ⑸charged with spying. ⑹on leave ⑺defended ⑻secure his release. ⑼delaying ⑽trial
Item 4: ⑴in 2005. ⑵injured nearly 200 ⑶setting up a website ⑷called on ⑸are expected t ⑹accused i ⑺have been linked to ⑻serve 10 years ⑼a lighter sentence ⑽had shown
Item 5: ⑴scheduled; ⑵proceed; ⑶be free to contest; ⑷option; ⑸declined to; ⑹effect; ⑺can not proceed until; ⑻effect; ⑼intends; ⑽likely
Item 6: ⑴have approved; ⑵in favor of; ⑶victims; ⑷up to 1.5 million; ⑸passed a bill; ⑹accused; ⑺displeased with; ⑻has threatened to block; ⑼economic; ⑽fought for independence
Unit 4
Item 1: ⑴prevent a system crash ⑵Heavy trading ⑶closed down ⑷pulled t ⑸session. ⑹massive sell orders ⑺officials ⑻shorten trading hours ⑼the stock ⑽criminal
Item 2:⑴predicted ⑵growth. ⑶based ⑷Paris ⑸weak ⑹housing ⑺share ⑻3.8 percent ⑼average ⑽are about to
Item 3: ⑴ensure; ⑵shared; ⑶live on; ⑷include; ⑸process of development; ⑹gap of income; ⑺tolerable; ⑻invest; ⑼gain access to; ⑽fastest
Item 4:, ⑴demanding ⑵domestic ⑶losses ⑷soaring ⑸opposition ⑹pace ⑺finance ⑻quietly ⑼slowdown ⑽at a rate
Item 5: ⑴return to ⑵were discovered ⑶struggle. ⑷more commonly known ⑸in this region ⑹supplies are limited ⑺has been heavily promoting ⑻.annual business ⑼are due to resume ⑽minor disagreements. Item 6:⑴300,000,000; ⑵every 11 seconds; ⑶results from estimates; ⑷7 ; ⑸13; ⑹31; ⑺is good for the American economy; ⑻are turning into; ⑼advantage; ⑽celebrations;
Unit 5
Item 1:⑴concerning；⑵have ended with no progress; ⑶dispute; ⑷discussed the differences; ⑸At the heart of the issue; ⑹claims; ⑺less than 0.25 square kilometer ⑻surrounding ⑼recourses ⑽potential
Item 2: ⑴improving ⑵move forward ⑶fastest growing economies, ⑷committed ⑸are aimed at reducing barriers ⑹tough political decisions. ⑺energy sources. ⑻dependence on foreign oil ⑼the biggest priorities ⑽build a major partnership
Item 3:⑴conference ⑵supplies ⑶a similar cut ⑷is based on ⑸the absence ⑹failing to ⑺as much as $700 million ⑻deliveries ⑼is fully prepared to pay for ⑽refusing to
Item 4:⑴biggest ⑵deal ⑶effect ⑷heated ⑸threatening ⑹failing ⑺imported ⑻officials ⑼jumped ⑽successful.
Item 5:⑴has expressed regret ⑵fired a warning shot ⑶statement ⑷at fault for the incident ⑸a strong protest. ⑹claimed ⑺confirms ⑻the island chain ⑼were seized ⑽under Russian control
Item 6:⑴within ⑵ceremony. ⑶lacking ⑷awkward ⑸improve ⑹remain ⑺interests, ⑻values.⑼agreed ⑽contacts
Unit 6
Item 1:⑴annual; ⑵a crowd of uncertainty; ⑶scheduled; ⑷follow; ⑸has been thrown into; ⑹failure;
⑺agree on ⑻in the face of; ⑼postpone; ⑽approve
Item 2: ⑴launching; ⑵more than double; ⑶at best; ⑷had to interrupt; ⑸fighting; ⑹were forced to; ⑺attack; ⑻signed; ⑼ending 21 years; ⑽significance; ⑾22%; ⑿are enrolled in ; ⒀succeed Item 3:
⑴made little progress ⑵on track to achieve ⑶hunger and poverty ⑷in half the rate of ⑸on average ⑹its proportion ⑺inadequate ⑻under 5 ⑼Experts ⑽related to many different aspects
Item 4:
⑴has announced ⑵ensure ⑶delivery of aid ⑷reviving the peace process ⑸Details of the measure ⑹without going through ⑺$10,000,000 ⑻repeating demands ⑼violence ⑽recognize
Item 5: ⑴highlight; ⑵growing; ⑶bring attention to; ⑷estimates; ⑸accounts for; ⑹leading; ⑺released; ⑻132; ⑼13 and 15; ⑽significantly
Item 6: ⑴has expressed; ⑵military observers; ⑶adopted; ⑷expressing; ⑸offering; ⑹resisted; ⑺called for; ⑻was satisfied with; ⑼initially; ⑽have been deliberated