BBC News with Marion Marshall
The internationally recognised winner of the presidential election in Ivory Coast, Alassane Ouattara, has called on the West African regional grouping Ecowas tosend inspecial forces to remove his rival Laurent Gbagbo from power. Mr Ouattara said Ecowas must take the necessary measures which included legitimate force.
"During the month of January, Laurent Gbagbo will no longer be in power. Before the end of the month, he will leave. He will leave one way or the other."
Mr Ouattara was speaking from a hotel where he's under UN protection, but surrounded by Ivorian military checkpoints. The American Treasury has, meanwhile, said it's banned all US citizens from financial dealings with Mr Gbagbo and his inner circle.
The American Defence Secretary Robert Gates says he wants to make cuts of nearly $80bn in the military budget over the next five years. He said the action was required to help bring the country'sballooningfiscal deficit under control.
"A major objective beyond creating monetary savings is to make this department lesscumbersome, less top heavy and moreagileand effective in the execution of its responsibilities.My hope and expectation is that as a result of these changes over time, what had been a culture of endless money, where cost was rarely a consideration, will become a culture of savings andrestraint."
As part of the plan, military manpower will be cut to 47,000 from 2015, with 200,000-strong Marine Corps losing 15,000 to 20,000 and the armyaccounting forthe rest.
President Barack Obama has chosen a new chief of staff at the White House. He's Bill Daley, who comes from a powerful political family in Chicago, Mr Obama's political base. Bill Daley served as commerce secretary under President Clinton and is currently a top bank executive with JP Morgan Chase. His father Richard Daley ran Chicago in the 1960s and 70s. The BBC Washington correspondent says his appointment will please financiers and big business, with whom Mr Obama needs tomend fences. Our correspondent says the choice suggests that President Obama is moving to the centre politically.
The medical charity MSF says it's extremely concerned about the town of Fizi in eastern Congo, where most people have fled into the surrounding area following an attack on New Year's Day. Thirty-three women were raped, and MSF has treated the women for their wounds and provided them with drugs to reduce the risk of infection from HIV. The MSF operations manager in Congo is Katrien Coppens.
"Our team in South Kivu, Baraka, heard rumours that there was major rape happening in the town an hour down the road in Fizi. What they told the team is that they had been restrained with ropes or beaten often in front of their kids, and they made a reference to armed men in uniform."
World News from the BBC
Coptic Christians in Egypt are attending services to mark their Christmas Eve, surrounded by heavy security, following an attack last week. Twenty-one people were killed in a New Year bomb attack at a Coptic church in Alexandria, and some of today's worshippers wore blackrather thantheir usual festive clothes as a mark of respect. Jon Leyne reports from Cairo.
Worshippers entered the churches for Christmas Eve Mass in a ring of security. Most roads outside churches were blocked off. Metal detectors wereinstalled at the gates, and those arriving were asked to show identity. In some churches, Muslims came to showsolidarity. Egyptian state TV broadcast a message of national unity. And so far, it seems to have worked. Despite incitement to new attacks on some extremist websites, there have been no reports of trouble, though one small crude explosive device was found and made safe at a church in southern Egypt.
President Obama's special envoy to Sudan has told the BBC he believes Sunday's independence referendum in southern Sudan will take place successfully. Scott Gration said both the north and south of Sudan had pledged not todestabiliseeach other. He said the south had promised President al-Bashir that it would not support rebels from Darfur.
Police in Brazil say they've taken control of three poor districts in the city of Rio de Janeiro from drugs gangs. Two hundred and fifty members of an elite police unit moved into the shanty towns which have beenvirtualno-go areas for the security forces.
Scientists in France and the United States say they've discovered an important clue as to why ammonites, the prehistoric marine creatures,died outwith the dinosaurs, despite having survived previous massextinctions. The study, published in the journal Science, suggests that the ancient invertebrates' main diet was zooplankton, which are tiny ocean surface creatures. The production of these is likely to have been damaged by the comet strike, believed to have wiped out the dinosaurs.
BBC News
1.ballooning adj.膨胀的
2.cumbersome adj.沉重的, 笨重的, 转动不灵的,大而笨重的;难以携带的
例句:It’s rather cumbersome having to carry all these cases around.
把这些箱子都带着走动是件相当麻烦的事。
3.agile adj.(动作)敏捷的,灵活的
例句:She is such an agile dancer!
她跳起舞来是那么灵巧!
4.restrain vt.抑制, 遏制; 管制, 克制, 约束
例句:If you can't restrain your dog you must lock it up.
如果你无法管住你的狗, 就必须把它关起来。
5.install vt.安装,安置,使就职
例句:He's going to install an air-conditioner in the house.
他要在这屋子里装冷气机。
6.solidarity n.团结,团结一致,共同一致
例句:They must preserve their solidarity.
他们必须维护他们的团结。
7.destabilise vt.破坏政府的稳定
8.virtual adj.实质上的, 事实上的, 实际上的, 很接近的, 几乎…的
例句:This is a virtual certainty.
这是一件已肯定的事。
This reply is a virtual acceptance of our offer.
这一回答实质上是接受了我们的建议。
9.extinction n.(植物、动物、生活方式等的)灭绝,绝种,熄灭,消灭,废除
例句:the mass extinction of the dinosaurs
恐龙的大规模灭绝
The plant is now in danger of extinction.
这种植物现在有绝种的危险。
1.The internationally recognised winner of the presidential election in Ivory Coast, Alassane Ouattara, has called on the West African regional grouping Ecowas to send in special forces to remove his rival Laurent Gbagbo from power.
send in提交; 派遣
例句:He has sent in his report.
他已呈交了报告。
The coach sent two players in.
教练派两名运动员上场。
2.As part of the plan, military manpower will be cut to 47,000 from 2015, with 200,000-strong Marine Corps losing 15,000 to 20,000 and the army accounting for the rest.
account for占有,占...百分比
例句:APEC members account for more than half of the world's economic output.
亚太经合组织成员的经济总量在世界占一半以上。
3.The BBC Washington correspondent says his appointment will please financiers and big business, with whom Mr Obama needs to mend fences.
mend fences改善关系:改善不良关系,尤指在政治中
例句:They tried to mend their fences with us.
他们努力想与我们修好。
4.Twenty-one people were killed in a New Year bomb attack at a Coptic church in Alexandria, and some of today's worshippers wore black rather than their usual festive clothes as a mark of respect.
rather than而不是
例句:They thus increased their annual grain production rather than diminished it.
他们这样增加了而不是减少了粮食年产量。
5.Scientists in France and the United States say they've discovered an important clue as to why ammonites, the prehistoric marine creatures, died out with the dinosaurs, despite having survived previous mass extinctions.
die out(指物种、家族、习惯、观念等)绝迹, 消失
例句:He is the last of the family; after his death the name will die out.
他是他家族活在这世上的最后一个成员, 他一死, 他们家族便不复存在了。
That style of music died out ten years ago.
那种风格的音乐10年前就消失了。
1.My hope and expectation is that as a result of these changes over time, what had been a culture of endless money, where cost was rarely a consideration, will become a culture of savings and restraint.
what引导名词性从句的五种用法
一、用法归纳
1. 表示“……的东西或事情”:
They’ve done what they can to help her. 他们已经尽力帮助了她。
He saves what he earns. 他赚多少,积蓄多少。
What Mary is is the secretary. 玛丽的职务是秘书。
2. 表示“……的人或的样子”:
He is no longer what he was. 他已经不是以前的那个样子。
He is what is generally called a traitor. 他就是人们通常所说的叛徒。
Who is it that has made Fred what he is now? 是谁把弗雷德培养成现在这个样子的?
3. 表示“……的数量或数目”:
Our income is now double what it was ten years ago. 我们现在的收入是10年前的两倍。
The number of the students in our school is ten times what it was before liberation. 现在我校学生的数量是解放前的10倍。
4. 表示“……的时间”:
After what seemed like hours he came out with a bitter smile. 似乎过了几个小时他才苦笑着出来。
The young girl was too frightened to speak, standing there for what seemed like hours. 小女孩吓得不敢说话,在那儿站了几个小时。
5. 表示“……的地方”:
This is what they call Salt Lake City. 这就是他们称为盐湖城的地方。
In 1492, Columbus reached what is now called America. 1492年哥伦布到达了现在所称的美洲大陆。
二、用法说明
(1) 这样用的what相当于“先行词 关系代词”,所以其前不能有先行词:
你喜欢什么就拿什么吧。
正:You can have what you like. / You can have everything (that) you like.
误:You can have everything what you like.
(2) 有时what 可用作限定词,其后修饰一个名词:
I gave him what books I had. 我把我所有的书都给他了。
He gave me what money he had about him. 他把身边带有的钱全给了我。
(3) What 后的名词可以是复数名词或不可数名词,但通常不能是单数可数名词:
误:I gave him what book I had.
(4) What后接不可数名词时,有时可有little修饰。注意区别:what 不可数名词=所有的都,what little 不可数名词=虽少但全部。如:
I spent what time I had with her. 我所有的时间都是与她一起度过的。
I spent what little time I had with her. 我仅有的一点时间都是与她一起度过的。