News with David Austin.
The United States Federal Reserve, the country’s central bank, has said its main interest rate is likely to remain exceptionally low until at least late 2014. The bank’s main policy-making committee said in a statement that growth is likely to be modest with inflation low and unemployment declining only gradually. The statement was read out by the chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke.
“To support of a stronger economic recovery and to help ensure that inflation over time is at levels consistent with our statue of mandate. The committee expects to maintain a highly accommodative stance for monetary policy. And particularly, the committee decided to keep the target range for the federal fund rate 0-0.25%, and currently anticipates economic conditions are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels for the federal fund’s rate at least until late 2014.”
The same elite unit of US special force that killed Osama Ben Laden last year has successfully rescued two western aid workers kidnapped by pirates in Somalia. Jessica Buchanan and Poul Thisted were abducted on October while working for a Danish demining organization. Here is our security correspondent, Frend Governor.
The US military and the White House are celebrating today’s rescue mission as an unqualified success. Swooping in under cover of darkness, an elite team of US Navy Seal commanders parachuted into a remote thorn scrub in northern Somalia and moved in on the pirate camp where two western aid workers were held prisoner. The American Jessica Buchanan and Poul Thisted from Denmark were kidnapped by gunmen three months ago. And fears were growing for their chances of survival. The nine pirates holding them, reportedly suffering from the after-effect of chewing the narcotic cut leaf the day before, were quickly overpowered in an exchange of fire. All nine were killed. Both hostages were released unharmed and none of the rescue team were injured.
Doctors in Pakistan say contaminated medicines are believed to have killed at least 70 heart patients in the eastern city of Lahore. A hundred others are being monitored in hospitals. Some are said to be in a critical condition. Aura Garron reports from Islamabad.
The deaths are believed to be linked to a suspect batch of drugs given out in mid-December. A government official has told the BBC that 28,000 patients received the drugs. He denied the medications have no expiry dates. As other officials have claimed, several arrests have been made and at least one pharmaceutical firm has been closed. But relatives of the dead have accused the authorities of responding too late. Hospital sources have told the BBC they are under pressure to buy the cheapest drugs available.
The Senegalese musician, Youssou N'Dour, has registered to stand for the country’s presidential elections to be held on the 26th, February. He announced his plans to run earlier this month.
World News from the BBC.
The Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan has sacked the country’s police chief after a spate of attacks by the Islamist group, Boko Haram. And the attack by Boko Haram in the northern city of Kano last Friday left 185 people dead and the group is suspected of striking again on Tuesday night. From Lagas, Mark Lobel reports.
The earlier retirement of Hafiz Ringim, Nigeria’s most senior police officer just weeks before his official leaving date, illustrates the urgent pressure on the authorities to restore public faith in the force after the recent deadly attacks by the militants across the country. A fatal blow to Mr.Ringim’s reputation as someone unable to deal with the Boko Haram insurgency, came with the escape after 24 hours in custody of the suspected mastermind’s bombings which killed at 38 people in the church on Christmas day.
Palestinian negotiators say their talks with Israeli officials have run their course, failing to achieve any progress. Palestinian and Israeli negotiators have met five times in recent weeks in the Jordanian capital of Amman with Jordanian government trying to bring the two sides back together in full-scale peace negotiations.
A Christian priest and a regional head of the Red Crescent have been killed in Syria. Activists say the priest father Bassilius Nassa was shot dead during a military attack on the city of Hama. The Red Crescent official, Doctor Abdulrazak Jbeiro, died in a car on his way from Damascus to the northwestern town of Idlid.
European Union has launched new proposals to give people more control over their personal electronic data. The measures include the right to be forgotten, which would prevent leading Internet sites storing photos and information from users who want their profiles erased completely. The European Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding says the new rules will give people great control over personal information. Some business groups say the legislations will be too costly and in practice too difficultly to enforce.
BBC News.
第二页:中英双语听力稿
The United States Federal Reserve, the country’s central bank, has said its main interest rate is likely to remain exceptionally low until at least late 2014. The bank’s main policy-making committee said in a statement that growth is likely to be modest with inflation low and unemployment declining only gradually. The statement was read out by the chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke.
美联储即美国的中央银行,说至少到2014年底,基准利率将保持极低水平。该行的主要政策制定委员会在一份申明中预测,经济将较小幅度增长,通货膨胀和失业率将逐渐下降。美联储主席本·伯南克宣读了该申明。
“To support of a stronger economic recovery and to help ensure that inflation over time is at levels consistent with our statue of mandate. The committee expects to maintain a highly accommodative stance for monetary policy. And particularly, the committee decided to keep the target range for the federal fund rate 0-0.25%, and currently anticipates economic conditions are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels for the federal fund’s rate at least until late 2014.”
支持更加强劲的经济复苏进程和帮助确保长期内通胀水平的措施符合美联储的使命。该委员会预计将维持高度宽松的货币政策。尤其是,委员会决定将联邦基金利率维持在0-0.25%,目前预测,当前的经济状况需要将较低水平的联邦基金利率至少维持到2014年底。
The same elite unit of US special force that killed Osama Ben Laden last year has successfully rescued two western aid workers kidnapped by pirates in Somalia. Jessica Buchanan and Poul Thisted were abducted on October while working for a Danish demining organization. Here is our security correspondent, Frend Governor.
去年击毙本·拉登的美国精英特别行动小组成功营救了两名被索马里海盗绑架的西方援助工作者。为丹麦一个扫雷小组工作的杰西卡-布坎南和波尔-齐斯泰兹于10月被绑架。安全事务记者Frend Governor报道。
The US military and the White House are celebrating today’s rescue mission as an unqualified success. Swooping in under cover of darkness, an elite team of US Navy Seal commanders parachuted into a remote thorn scrub in northern Somalia and moved in on the pirate camp where two western aid workers were held prisoner. The American Jessica Buchanan and Poul Thisted from Denmark were kidnapped by gunmen three months ago. And fears were growing for their chances of survival. The nine pirates holding them, reportedly suffering from the after-effect of chewing the narcotic cut leaf the day before, were quickly overpowered in an exchange of fire. All nine were killed. Both hostages were released unharmed and none of the rescue team were injured.
美国军方和白宫庆祝今日的营救行动,称其为了不起的成功。在黑暗的掩护下,美国精英小组海军海豹突击队突降位于索马里北部的偏僻灌木丛中,然后迅速潜入监禁两名西方援助工作人员的海盗营地。三个月前,美国人杰西卡·布坎南和丹麦人波尔·齐斯泰兹遭遇海盗枪手的绑架,人们越来越担心他们能否生还。九名看守他们的海盗交火后很快被制服,据说海盗们前天咀嚼了具有催眠作用的草叶。九人全部被击毙。两名人质安全获救,营救队员无一人受伤。
Doctors in Pakistan say contaminated medicines are believed to have killed at least 70 heart patients in the eastern city of Lahore. A hundred others are being monitored in hospitals. Some are said to be in a critical condition. Aura Garron reports from Islamabad.
巴基斯坦医生说,东部城市拉合尔至少有70名心脏病患者因服用污染药品致死。100名服药者正在医院接受观察。据说有些患者情况危险。Aura Garron在伊斯兰堡报道。
The deaths are believed to be linked to a suspect batch of drugs given out in mid-December. A government official has told the BBC that 28,000 patients received the drugs. He denied the medications have no expiry dates. As other officials have claimed, several arrests have been made and at least one pharmaceutical firm has been closed. But relatives of the dead have accused the authorities of responding too late. Hospital sources have told the BBC they are under pressure to buy the cheapest drugs available.
死亡原因被认为与10月中旬分发的一批可疑药品有关。一名政府官员告诉BBC,28000名病人领了这些药品。他否认这些药品未注明失效日期。有其他官员申明,已实施了几次逮捕,至少有一家制药厂被勒令关门。但死者的亲戚指控官方反应迟缓。医院方面告诉BBC,他们购买廉价药品是出迫于经济压力。
The Senegalese musician, Youssou N'Dour, has registered to stand for the country’s presidential elections to be held on the 26th, February. He announced his plans to run earlier this month.
塞内加尔的音乐家,Youssou N'Dour 已登记参加2月26日举行的总统大选。他于本月初宣布了竞选计划。
World News from the BBC.
BBC世界新闻
The Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan has sacked the country’s police chief after a spate of attacks by the Islamist group, Boko Haram. And the attack by Boko Haram in the northern city of Kano last Friday left 185 people dead and the group is suspected of striking again on Tuesday night. From Lagas, Mark Lobel reports.
在一连串由伊斯兰极端组织“博科圣地”实施的暴力袭击后,尼日利亚总统古德勒克·乔纳森解除了国家警察总监的职务。上周五“博科圣地”在北部城市卡诺的袭击造成185人死亡,该组织有嫌疑将在周二晚上再次攻击。Mark Lobel在拉格什报道。
The earlier retirement of Hafiz Ringim, Nigeria’s most senior police officer just weeks before his official leaving date, illustrates the urgent pressure on the authorities to restore public faith in the force after the recent deadly attacks by the militants across the country. A fatal blow to Mr.Ringim’s reputation as someone unable to deal with the Boko Haram insurgency, came with the escape after 24 hours in custody of the suspected mastermind’s bombings which killed at 38 people in the church on Christmas day.
作为警察最高长官,哈菲兹·林吉姆几周后本该正常离职,此时被解职表明当局面临巨大压力—因为近来武装分子在全国范围内实施的数起致命袭击,当局急需恢复人民对国家警察保卫安全的能力的信仰。哈菲兹·林吉姆本来已被认为无能力处理“博科圣地”组织的叛乱,而仅被关押24小时爆炸案件(该次爆炸袭击在圣诞节当天致死38人)主谋嫌疑犯的逃脱更使其名声遭受致命打击。
Palestinian negotiators say their talks with Israeli officials have run their course, failing to achieve any progress. Palestinian and Israeli negotiators have met five times in recent weeks in the Jordanian capital of Amman with Jordanian government trying to bring the two sides back together in full-scale peace negotiations.
巴勒斯坦的谈判人员说他们与以色列官方的谈话正在进行,但未取得进展。近几周,双方的谈判人员已在约旦首都安曼,在约旦政府官员的陪伴下会见了五次。约旦政府试图将双方拉回到全面和平谈判的进程上来。
A Christian priest and a regional head of the Red Crescent have been killed in Syria. Activists say the priest father Bassilius Nassa was shot dead during a military attack on the city of Hama. The Red Crescent official, Doctor Abdulrazak Jbeiro, died in a car on his way from Damascus to the northwestern town of Idlid.
东正教会司铎和一名红新月会秘书长在叙利亚被杀害。活动家们说这名司铎Bassilius Nassa是在哈马市的一次武装攻击中遭遇枪击而死亡的。红新月会的官员,阿卜杜勒-拉扎克·杰布罗医生乘车从首都大马士革前往伊德利卜省的途中遇害而死。
European Union has launched new proposals to give people more control over their personal electronic data. The measures include the right to be forgotten, which would prevent leading Internet sites storing photos and information from users who want their profiles erased completely. The European Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding says the new rules will give people great control over personal information. Some business groups say the legislations will be too costly and in practice too difficultly to enforce.
欧盟已推出新的提案,旨在给予个人更多电子数据控制权。这些措施包括遗忘权,以阻止主要的网站储存用户想完全消除的照片和信息。欧盟司法理事维维安·雷登说,这项新些新法律将赋予用户更多的个人信息控制权。一些商业组织认为这些法规的实施成本太高,因此难于付诸实践。
BBC News.
BBC新闻
第三页:词汇解析
1.The United States Federal Reserve 美联储
main interest rate 基准利率
federal fund rate 联邦基金利率
2. mandate 授权;托管(可用作动词或名词)
(1) Mr Sarkozy intends to use the five-year mandate in three phases.
萨尔科齐先生打算把五年任期分为三个阶段。
(2)China said before that it would not take part in peace-keeping in Afghanistan without UN mandate.
中方此前曾表示,中国不会参与没有联合国授权的阿富汗维和行动。
3. accommodative 随和的,宽松的,适应的
(1) I like clothes of accommodative type. 我喜欢宽松型的衣服。
(2) Offer adjutant therapy to accommodative myopia, insomnia, and dark eye sockets and help eliminate fatigue.
对调节性近视、消除疲劳、失眠、黑眼圈等有辅助治疗作用。
4. unqualified 无条件的,不胜任的, 毫无保留的
(1) The answer is an unqualified yes. 答案是无条件的肯定!
(2) We have to weed out unqualified applicants . 我们必须淘汰不合格的申请人。
(3) As parents know how to produce the sort of unqualified praise that bosses almost never provide.
正如父母懂得怎样毫无保留的表扬孩子,而老板几乎从来不会给予同样程度的溢美之词。
5. pharmaceutical firm 制药厂
(1) To a young biochemist, working for a big pharmaceutical firm is far more tempting than government research.
对一个年轻的生化学家,为大制药公司工作肯定比作政府研究更有吸引力。
6. a spate of 大量的,一连串的
(1) Police are investigating a spate of burglaries in the area.
警察正在调查这一地区发生的大量盗窃案。
(2) A spate of strikes has thrown a spanner into the workshop of the world.
一系列的罢工让世界工厂乱套了
7. insurgency 暴动,叛乱
(1) Delivering development and economic growth in the middle of an insurgency is difficult.
在叛乱局势下,实现发展和经济增长是很困难的。
(2) Hundreds of thousands of troops are stationed in Kashmir, which has suffered two decades of insurgency.
二十年来,克什米尔地区叛乱不断,而印度在此驻有军队几十万
8. profile 侧面,轮廓
(1) The Lis turned down interview requests, saying they preferred to keep a low profile.
李锂夫妇拒绝了采访请求,表示他们更喜欢保持低调。
(2) The network connection profile is corrupted.
网络连接配置文件损坏。