BBC英语听力doc费下载

BBC英语听力doc费下载 1 Scotland's had a close relationship with alcohol for hundreds of years. Scotch whisky generates vast export revenues and drink has long been a part of social occasions: dances, weddings and even funerals. Offering a drink is a gesture of hospitality. Gaelic speakers have a phrase for it: a wee deoch an dorus or one for the road. But other Northern European nations have also had a tradition of heavy drinking. The trouble for Scotland is that our consumption now outstrips that of Norway, Finland and even Russia. The Scottish government says one of the reasons is that drink has become 70% more affordable here over the last 30 years but shop-keepers who sell alcohol say they're not to blame. "If people drink too much it is not up to shopkeepers to decide that. It needs to be tackled from an educational and a social point of view rather than merely legislation. It is not the shopkeeper's duty to police what people drink." The evidence of Scotland's steadily worsening booze habit is clear. It plays a big part in all crime and especially violent crime, and drink places a huge strain on the health service. 40,000 people are taken to hospital every year with alcohol-related illness. Scottish pubs can be lively, friendly places, but alcohol has come to play a central role in the lives of too many Scots. alcohol 酒/酒精 whisky 威士忌 vast export revenues 巨大的出口收入 funerals 葬礼 gesture of hospitality 热情好客的一种表示 Gaelic 盖尔语 consumption 消费 outstrips 超过了 affordable 有能力支付的 tackled 对付，解决 legislation立法 booze 酗酒 huge strain 沉重的负担 alcohol-related illness 和酗酒有关的疾病 2 Saudi Sewing Machine Frenzy Saudis have been racing to buy Singer sewing machines for up to fifty-thousand dollars because they believe they contain traces of red mercury. This is a substance which may or may not actually exist. Some sources say it can be used to make a devastating, pure nuclear fusion bomb. Others say it's an urban myth. In 2006, it featured in the British trial of three men accused of trying to make a dirty bomb. They went looking for red mercury, but during the course of the trial it became clear that no-one - not even the defendants themselves - knew what it was. But that hasn't stopped internet sites suggesting that one kilogram of the substance can fetch hundreds of thousands of dollars on the black market. However the rumours in Saudi Arabia started, it's the hope of such huge profits that's caused the sewing machine buying frenzy. Saudi papers have pictures of old men with pick-up vans, stacked with piles of sewing machines. People believe they can use their mobile phones to test if the machines contain red mercury. The Saudi authorities say it's all a hoax and they’ve launched a police investigation. racing to buy 争先购买 traces 少量的 substance 材料 devastating 毁灭性的 fusion bomb 热核弹 urban myth 都市传奇 dirty bomb 脏弹 defendants 被告 black market 黑市 buying frenzy 抢购热 pick-up vans 皮卡(货车) hoax 恶作剧 3 If you're a T-shirts and jeans kind of a person, then here's some statistics worth knowing. According to the Reuters poll, you should head to Hungary for a job, given that a mere twelve percent of people there dress smartly for work. India on the other hand might be a trickier proposition, with nearly six in ten Indians wearing formal clothes in the office. As a rule it seems Europeans are scruffier, whilst workers in South Korea, China, Turkey and Saudi Arabia all tend to make more effort. If you want to don a pair of shorts in the office, then nearly half of all Australians asked think that's fine. However a mere tenth of Brazilians would agree. Russians too would disapprove, although with the heatwave Moscow is experiencing, the temptation must be great. And what happens if you want climb the corporate ladder? Around two thirds of people believe senior managers should be smarter than their minions. In Sweden you're less likely to be judged on what you wear on your way to the top. But in France you might find the corridors of power closed to you if you intend to slouch down them wearing whatever you could find that morning. kind of a person 的一种人 head to 去 a mere 仅仅 dress smartly穿着讲究 trickier proposition 更为棘手的情况 formal 正式 scruffier (和其他国家相比)衣着不整齐 make more effort 更加注意 to don穿上 heatwave热浪 temptation诱惑 corporate ladder 公司晋升 minions 下属 on your way to the top 晋升之路 slouch down 懒散 the corridors of power 权利走廊(暗中左右和制定重大政策的政府或管理机构的上层权力中心) 4 The extraordinary images of a startled Amazon tribe, their bodies painted red and black, firing arrows at an aircraft circulated the world last week. The Brazilian government organised a flight packed with photographers to prove that such groups of people still live in isolation in the Amazon rainforest. Although anthropologists weren't able to name the tribe it's believed that they had travelled a short distance from neighbouring Peru. Illegal loggers have been accused of driving the tribes into Brazilian territory. Now authorities in Peru's Amazon state of Madre de Dios say they'll stop illegal loggers who travel deep into the forest in search of tropical hardwoods and are often the first to encounter the tribes. Apart from the possibility of violent confrontations, encounters with outsiders are often fatal because the isolated people lack the antibodies to protect themselves from a common cold or the flu. The Peruvian government has also sent a team to the jungle to determine whether or not the photographed tribe had been displaced from Peru by loggers. It's been reluctant to set aside new areas of land for uncontacted tribes. Some officials have even denied the existence of such tribes but there are signs of a changing attitude. In the state oil leasing agency's latest auction of concessions earlier this year it pointedly avoided areas set aside as indigenous reserves. The impact of the latest sighting is forcing Peru to accept that some of mankind's last isolated people live on its territory and it has a duty to protect them. Amazon tribe 亚马逊部落 isolation (与世)隔绝 anthropologists 人类学家 illegal loggers 非法伐木者 tropical hardwoods 热带硬木 violent confrontations 暴力冲突 fatal 致命的 antibodies 抗体 common cold 感冒 flu 流感 displaced 被迫迁移 set aside 划定;保留 latest auction of concessions 特许土地的最新拍卖 indigenous reserves 土著人保留地 5 The hair is greyer, the waistlines larger than when they first faced off in September 1984. But like two heavyweight boxers coming out of retirement, the mere prospect of Kasparov versus Karpov has chess fans enthralled. Exactly a quarter of a century ago the 21-year-old Gary Kasparov fought the reigning world champion, Anatoli Karpov, to a standstill in an epic series which, after five months and 48 games, was called off - without a clear winner. The organisers said the contest had put the health of both players at risk. But in a rematch the following year, the young pretender triumphed, heralding a new era in world chess. Now aged 46, Gary Kasparov has prepared for this rematch by training with one of today's teenage prodigies, while the 58-year-old Mr Karpov has ‘sparred’ with a computer and grandmasters, from a base on the Spanish coast. The two giants of Soviet-era chess will turn back the clock in a series of 12 games played, this time, under strict time limits. The host city, Valencia, claims to be the birthplace of the modern game. waistlines腰围 faced off 对峙 retirement 退休 enthralled 迷惑 reigning 在位的 standstill停顿 called off取消young pretender年轻的挑战者 triumphed 取得胜利 heralding a new er宣告一个新时代到来 teenage prodigies 少年神童 turn back the clock让时光倒转、回复过去的情况 strict time limits严格的时间限制 Soviet-era苏联时代 6 Sankt Peter-Ording is one of the most popular seaside resorts in Germany. Even in deepest winter you'll find people braving the snow and the ice and the freezing temperatures to experience the stunning beauty of the North Sea coast. But it's not without its dangers and its dramas. German police have revealed that last week a man got lost on the ice. He'd been taking photographs of the glorious sunset but, as the dark had descended, he'd lost his bearings and got stranded. In a desperate effort to attract assistance, the man had begun flashing a torch. And he was spotted by a woman, 500 kilometres away in the Westerwald region, on the River Rhine. Luckily for him, at that moment she was at her computer, online and watching a live webcam of Sankt Peter-Ording, and in that little video box she noticed the figure in distress. She alerted the local police and the marooned man was saved. All thanks to an internet search and rescue. resorts 旅游胜地 braving 勇敢面对，不怕 lost his bearings 迷失了方向 flashing 用光发出信号in distress遇险，在困境中 alerted 通知 marooned 处于孤立无援的境地 7 Police made the arrests in two separate swoops in Paris and its northern suburbs. They also found one and a quarter million Euros in cash as well as a quantity of arms. It seems they had obtained information that intermediaries carrying some of the stolen jewels had come back to France with the intention of selling them. The heist at the Harry Winston store on the luxury Avenue Montaigne was among the most daring and certainly the biggest jewel theft in French history. Two of the four man gang were dressed as stylish women. They pulled out revolvers and made off with the store's entire contents. Police think there must have been an inside connection and among those who've been arrested is a guard at the store. It's believed the suspects have links to the Paris underworld and are not therefore members of the international gang known as the Pink Panthers which has been blamed for scores of jewellery thefts in some twenty different countries in recent years. swoops 突然袭击 suburbs 郊区 arms 武器/军火 intermediaries 中间人 heist 持械抢劫 daring 胆大妄为的 stylish 着装讲究的 revolvers 左轮手枪 suspects 嫌疑犯 underworld 地下非法组织 scores 好几十起 8 It’s 60 feet (18.3 metres) long, made of lightweight, fuel-efficient material and can carry eight people out of this world and back. The first commercial spaceship was unveiled by Sir Richard Branson, who hopes to start passenger trips within two years. The price tag: ?130,000 (1.4 million yuan). "In time we hope to get that price down and down and down so that, you know, one day, people can think: 'Shall I take my family on holiday to the Caribbean or maybe we should try space travel this year?' That’s our aim." Those that can pay will get the ultimate three-hour thrill ride. The spaceship rockets to 62 miles above the earth’s surface. Passengers will feel weightless for up to five minutes before heading down through the atmosphere and gliding back to earth. Organisers say some 300 have already signed up. Space, as a tourist destination, may be one step closer feet 英尺 fuel-efficient省油的 commercial 商业化的 unveiled 揭幕，揭开 the Caribbean 加勒比海地区 ultimate 终极的 thrill ride 刺激的航行 spaceship 宇宙飞船 rockets 用火箭运载 gliding 滑行 some 差不多 signed up 登记了 9 Student Quiz Scandal It's one of Britain's longest-running TV quiz shows, where the best and brightest from universities all over the country, compete to show off their knowledge on a myriad of topics. University Challenge first went to air nearly fifty years ago, and over the decades it's been a showcase for students facing quick-fire questions on literature, physics, geography and philosophy, and everything in between. This year's final was one of the most keenly watched with students from Corpus Christi College at Oxford University, taking on a team from Manchester University. All eyes were on Corpus Christi's captain, Gail Trimble, who had been dubbed "the greatest contestant ever", as she almost single-handedly won their place in the final, earning two-thirds of her team's points. But in what turned out to be a tightly-fought match, other team members, including chemist Sam Kay, scored some vital points. At the gong, Corpus Christi were victorious but the trophy wasn't theirs for long. It emerged that by the time of the final Sam Kay was no longer a student; he had graduated and started work as an accountant, but hadn't realised he couldn't compete. On Monday the BBC announced the team was being disqualified, and the trophy handed to Manchester, who paid tribute to their opponents, saying they were sad to have won in such circumstances. But the dramatic highs and lows of Corpus Christi's game, seem certain to make them one of the most memorable teams not to have won University Challenge best and brightest 尖子/精英 myriad 多种多样的/综合 went to air 演播 showcase 展示 quick-fire questions 猝不及防的 taking on 较量 dubbed 被称为 single-handedly 单枪匹马的 tightly-fought match 激烈的竞赛 gong 授奖仪式上 victorious 充满胜利的喜悦 trophy 奖杯 graduated(已经)毕业 disqualified 取消比赛资格 paid tribute 称赞highs and lows 起起落落 10 Neil Armstrong: "It's one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind." Or should that have been, "One small step for a man"? Neil Armstrong has always said that he thought that that's what he said and maybe the vital 'a' got lost in a crackle of static. Now researchers analysing recently released digitally-enhanced recordings of the entire Apollo 11 mission have confirmed that he did not say the word 'a'. But a linguistic analysis of the way in which he spoke suggested that he intended to say 'a' and that the first words spoken on the moon were spontaneous and not memorised from a written script. The researchers also argue that although the expression was not strictly correct its rhythm and symmetry poetically capture the sense and mood of one of humanity's most epic moments. leap 飞跃 mankind 人类 vital 关键的 crackle (无线电干扰)噼啪声 static 静电的 analysing 分析 digitally-enhanced 经过数码化处理的 Apollo 11 mission 阿波罗11号登月使命 linguistic 语言的 spontaneous 即兴的 memorised 记在脑子里了 rhythm 韵律 symmetry 对称的 capture 抓住 humanity's 人类的 epic 壮丽的/史诗般的