(BBC News with Joe Ma)cintosh.
The United States government is announcing big defence cuts aimed at saving billions of dollars. With the details, here is James Reynolds.
The US Department of Defence is expected to spend more than $ 700 billion this year - that's more than any other military service in the world. The man in charge of all this spending, the Secretary of Defence Robert Gates, has announced that he's found plenty of excess costs that can be trimmed. Mr Gates has decided to close Joint Forces Command. That's one of the military's ten major commands. The command trains troops from the different services to work together. It employs nearly 5,000 staff. Mr Gates has also announced that he's cutting by 10% the number of contractors employed by the military, and he will cap the number of generals, admirals and senior civilian officials in the armed forces.
With Moscow shrouded in smoke from nearby wildfires and pollution at a dangerous level, city officials say twice as many people as normal are dying each day. Moscow's health department said that normally some 380 people died daily in the city at this time of the year, but this has risen to 700. Richard Galpin reports.
For five weeks, the people of Moscow have endured record-breaking temperatures of up to 40 degrees Celcius. Then last week, a thick blanket of smog descended on the city as fires, not far to the south and the east, burnt out of control. As the amount of oxygen in the air has gone down, the concentration of carbon oxide and other dangerous gases has shot up. Over the weekend, it was five or six times higher than levels considered safe.
Russia has warned that the grain harvest could drop by a third this year due to wildfires and drought.
Two witnesses at the war crimes trial of the former Liberian President Charles Taylor have contradicted evidence by the model Naomi Campbell about alleged blood diamonds. Ms Campbell had said she didn't know who gave her the diamonds, but her former agent, Carole White, said the model was promised the diamonds by Charles Taylor at a dinner party in 1997. Earlier, the Hollywood actress Mia Farrow said Ms Campbell had told her the day after the party at breakfast about an unusual visit by two men the night before.
"She didn't even sit down before she had said, 'In the middle of the night, these men knocked at my door and they were representatives of Charles Taylor, and he's given me a huge diamond.' That's what I remember. And then she said 'of course, I'm not gonna keep it, I'll give it to Madiba’s children's charity.'"
Linking the former Liberian leader to illegal conflict diamonds is the key to the prosecution's case.
Votes are being counted in the Rwandan presidential election. The incumbent, Paul Kagame, is expected to win by a large majority. The three candidates who stood against him are all allies of his Tutsi-dominated Rwandan Patriotic Front.
You are listening to the World News. It's coming to you from the BBC in London.
A campaign group has warned that a booming dam building project for renewable energy is having a devastating impact on indigenous peoples in many parts of the world. The group, Survival International, says major hydroelectric projects in countries including Brazil, Malaysia and Ethiopia are being carried out without fully consulting indigenous communities. It says many hydroelectric projects threaten indigenous people disproportionately.
The Japanese carmaker Honda is recalling more than 400,000 vehicles in North America to fix a potential problem with the ignition switch on automatic models. In a statement, Honda said that if the switch was warm, the driver could pull out the key after driving without the gear lever in park mode; if the parking brake was off, the car could roll.
The Colombian Vice President Angelino Garzon is having emergency heart surgery after falling ill just two days after he assumed his post. Mr Garzon, who's 63, was said to be conscious and stable when he arrived at hospital, complaining of chest pains. A former trade union leader and regional governor, he was sworn into office by Colombia's new President Juan Manuel Santos on Saturday.
A former British soldier has become the first known person to walk the length of the Amazon, the world's second longest river. Ed Stafford took 859 days to walk from the origin of the Amazon in the mountains of Peru to its mouth on the coast of Brazil, a distance of 6,400 kilometers. During his epic trek, he suffered countless mosquito bites, was wrongly accused of murder and was chased by tribesmen. But in video footage for a documentary, Mr Stafford said the bad times were not nearly as bad as many had predicted.
"Everyone told me I was crazy when I was doing this. I have been told I was gonna be killed so many times, I can't remember how many times. And, but I'm not dead, I’m here now and, yeah, anyone can achieve what they wanna achieve if they work hard enough."
That was Ed Stafford.
And that was the BBC News.
为了节约数十亿美元,美国政府宣布大幅削减国防支出。James Reynolds报道详细信息。
预期今年美国国防部的支出将超过7000亿美元,超出世界上任何一个国家的军队支出。负责所有支出的国防部长罗伯特·盖茨已经宣布,他发现了大量的可以削减的过多花费。罗伯特已经决定关闭联合部队司令部(US Joint Forces Command),这是美国十个主要的司令部之一。该司令部训练不同的兵种协同作业,总共雇佣了接近5,000名员工。盖茨还宣布,他还将削减由军方雇佣的大约10%的承包商。此外,他还将减少将军,海军上将和军队平民官员的人数。
由于附近森林大火的浓烟笼罩着莫斯科,污染上升到危险水平,城市官员称,每天死亡的人数上升到正常水平的两倍。莫斯科卫生部表示,在每年的这个时间,该市每天大约有380人死亡,但是现在上升至700人。Richard Galpin报道。
五周以来,莫斯科民众一直遭受创纪录的40摄氏度高温。上周,由于东部和南部的森林大火失去控制,浓烟逐渐笼罩了莫斯科。由于空气中氧气的含量降低,二氧化碳和其他危险气体的浓度上升。周末期间,这些有害气体的浓度比安全水平高出五至六倍。
俄罗斯警告称,由于森林大火和干旱,今年的谷物收成将减产三分之一。
利比里亚前总统泰勒的战争罪审判的两名目击证人反驳了超模坎贝尔提供的关于血钻的证据。坎贝尔说,她不知道钻石是谁送给她的,但是她的前经纪人,卡萝尔-怀特说,在1997年的晚宴上,泰勒许诺送给坎贝尔钻石。此前,好莱坞女演员米亚-法罗表示,坎贝尔在晚会之后早餐时告诉她前一天晚上两名男子不寻常的造访。
“她刚刚坐下就告诉我,‘昨天晚上,这两名男子敲我的门,他们是泰勒总统的代表,他们给了我一颗很大的钻石。’这就是我记得的。然后她说,‘当然,我不会要的。我会送给曼德拉儿童基金会’。”
将利比里亚前总统泰勒与这些非法钻石联系起来是这宗检控案件的关键。
卢旺达总统选举计票工作正在进行。预期现任总统保罗·卡加梅(Paul Kagame)将获得大多数选票。与他竞争的三名候选人都是图西人控制的卢旺达爱国阵线的盟友。
您现在收听的是世界新闻,由伦敦BBC广播电台报道。
一个活动组织称,世界各地不断涌现可再生能源大坝建筑项目可能对本地居民造成破坏性的影响。国际生存组织(Survival International)表示,巴西,马来西亚和埃塞俄比亚等国的水力发电项目并没有与当地社区进行充分的协商。该组织表示,许多水力发电项目严重影响了当地居民。
日本汽车制造商本田在北美召回400,000多辆汽车,解决汽车上潜在的点火开关的问题。在声明中,本田表示,开关损坏之后,即使排挡没有在停车挡,车主也可以拔出钥匙。如果刹车失效,汽车会自动启动。
哥伦比亚新上任副总统加尔松(Angelino Garzon)上任仅两天便住院接受心脏搭桥手术。据称,加尔松抵达医院时神智清楚,状况稳定,只是感到胸口痛。加尔松以前曾担任贸易联盟领袖和地方长官,周六由新任总统桑托斯任命副总统。
一名英国前士兵成为已知的第一个走完世界第二长河亚马逊河的人。Ed Stafford花费了859天的时间,从秘鲁山区的亚马逊河源头走到巴西海岸的河口,总距离为6,400千米。在这次史诗般的艰苦跋涉中,他遭受着无数的蚊虫叮咬,被错误的指控谋杀,被土著部落追逐。但是在纪录片的视频剪辑中,Stafford表示,最艰难的时刻也不像他曾经预料到的那样艰难,数量那样多。
“我决定这样做的时候,每个人都告诉我,我疯了。许多次,别人都告诉我我会被杀死,我已经记不清楚多少次了。但是我没有死,我回来了。只要足够努力,任何人都能做到自己想做的事情。”Ed Stafford说。
以上就是最新的BBC新闻。
1.endure vt.vi.(长时间地)忍受, 忍耐, 容忍
例句:You needn't endure.
你不需要忍受。
I cannot endure her rudeness any longer.
我再也不能忍受她的无礼了。
2.concentration n.浓缩,集中,专注,专心,全神贯注
【化】浓度
3.drought n.干旱(时期);久旱;旱灾
例句:The crops failed because of the drought.
干旱造成农作物歉收。
4.contradict vt.vi.反驳, 否认…的真实性
例句:He contradicted his own statement.
他否认他自己说过的话。
5.unusual adj.罕有的, 异乎寻常的
例句:It was an unusual day for summer, damp and chilly.
这是夏季少有的一天, 又湿又凉。
6.incumbent adj.在职的
例句:He defeated the incumbent governor by a large plurality.
他以压倒多数票击败了现任州长。
7.devastating adj.毁灭性的
例句:It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.
这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
8.indigenous adj.土生土长的
例句:Kangaroos are indigenous to Australia.
袋鼠为澳大利亚本地的动物。
9.disproportionately ad.不匀称, 不相称
10.conscious adj.神志清醒的;有知觉的;有意识的
例句:She spoke to us in her conscious moments.
她神志清醒时跟我们说过话。
1.In a statement, Honda said that if the switch was warm, the driver could pull out the key after driving without the gear lever in park mode; if the parking brake was off, the car could roll.
pull out拔出
例句:The drawer won't pull out.
这抽屉拉不出来。
Vargas pulled out his gun.
瓦格斯掏出他的枪。
2. The man in charge of all this spending, the Secretary of Defence Robert Gates, has announced that he's found plenty of excess costs that can be trimmed.
plenty of很多, 大量的
例句:There is plenty of coal in this area.
这个地区有丰富的煤。
in charge of主管,负责
例句:The teacher is in charge of the class.
这位教师负责这个班。
I'll be in charge of the whole factory next week when the director is away.
下周厂长不在时, 我将负责整个工厂。
3.Then last week, a thick blanket of smog descended on the city as fires, not far to the south and the east, burnt out of control.
descend on突然袭击;突然访问
例句:Bob and his girl friend descended on us for the weekend.
鲍勃和他女友突然来我家过周末。
4.As the amount of oxygen in the air has gone down, the concentration of carbon oxide and other dangerous gases has shot up.
shoot up迅速成长
例句:That boy has shot up since we last saw him.
自上次见面后, 那男孩长得很快。
The plants are just shooting up.
作物迅速生长。
5.The three candidates who stood against him are all allies of his Tutsi-dominated Rwandan Patriotic Front.
stand against反对…
例句:We stand against all forms of cruelty, especially to children.
我们反对任何形式的虐待, 尤其是虐待儿童。
1.The US Department of Defence is expected to spend more than $ 700 billion this year - that's more than any other military service in the world.
more than any other比较级表示最高级
比较级表示最高级的几种情况:
1)、直接使用比较级
①How beautiful she sings! I've never heard a better voice.
= She has the best voice I've ever heard.
她唱得多好啊!这是我听到的最美的歌喉。
②I have never read a more interesting novel.
= It is the most interesting novel I've ever read.
这是我读过的最有趣的小说。
2)、比较级 than the other 复数名词/ any other 单数名词/ any of the other 复数名词
①She goes to school earlier than the other girls.
她比其他女孩早上学。
②He works harder than any other student.
她学习最用功。
③China is larger than any of the other countries in Asia.
中国是亚洲最大的国家
3)、比较级 than anything/ anyone else
①George did more work than anyone else.
乔治干活最多。
②Tom cared more for money than for anything else
汤姆最喜欢钱。
4)、在比较句型中使用 "no", "nobody", "nothing" 等词。
①I like nothing better than swimming.
我最喜欢游泳。
②Nobody can do the work better than he did.
这项工作他做得最出色。
③No other building is as grand as the new hotel.
新建的宾馆是当地最豪华的。
2.The group, Survival International, says major hydroelectric projects in countries including Brazil, Malaysia and Ethiopia are being carried out without fully consulting indigenous communities.
without fully consulting做状语
现在分词或分词短语做状语时,也可以表示时间、原因、结果、 条件、让步、方式、伴随状况等.其逻辑主语必须和句子的主语一致,有时
withwithout 名词或代词宾格 分词也可以表示伴随状况如:
While reading the book, he nodded from time to time. (时间)
The teacher stood there surrounded by the students. (方式)
He sent me an e-mail, hoping to get further information.(伴随)
分词作时间状语,如果先与主动词的动作,且强调先后, 要用having done。如:
Having answered the letter, she went on to listen to the radio.
Having been criticized by the teacher, Li Ming gave up smoking.
注意:如果是否定句,not 一般放在句首,如:
Not having received his reply, he decided to write again.