listentothis 高级英语听力 lesson 2

 

Lesson Two

  Section One: News in Brief
  Tapescript
  1. Iran's official news agency said today former US National Security Advisor¹ Robert McFarlane and four other Americans were jailed in Tehran for five days recently after they arrived on a secret diplomatic mission.  The report quoted the speaker of Iran's parliament as saying President Reagan sent the group to Tehran posing as aircraft crewmen.  He said they carried with them a Bible signed by the President and a cake.  He said the presents were designed to improve relations between the two countries.  Neither the Reagan Administration nor McFarlane had any comment on the report.
  2. There were published reports in the Middle East that hostage David Jacobsen was freed as a result of negotiations² between the United States and Iran.  Asked about that today, Anglican Church envoy³ Terry Waite said that he didn't want to comment on the political dynamics⁴.  But Waite said he may know within the next twenty-four hours from his contacts if he will be returning to Beirut to negotiate the release of more hostages.
  3. Jacobsen was reunited with his family today, but again said his joy could not be complete until the other hostages are freed.  He appeared on the hospital balcony with his family and talked with reporters.  Hospital director Colonel Charles Moffitt says Jacobsen needs to communicate with people now.  "He likes to talk, whether that be to a group of press or to individual physicians.  Once you get him started on a subject, he wants to talk because he hasn't been able to do that." Moffitt says Jacobsen is in good health and will not need followup medical care.
   4. A low to moderate turnout is reported across the'nation so far on this election day.  Voters are choosing members of the one hundredt" Congress, thirty-four senators and all four hundred thirty-five members of the US House of Representatives.  One of the big questions is which Party will control the Senate after today's voting.

  Section Two: News in Detail
  Tapescript
       President Reagan's former National Security Advisor, Robert McFarlane, and four other Americans may have visited Tehran recently on a secret diplomatic mission.  Today, on the seventh anniversary of the seizure⁵ of the US embassy in Tehran, Iran Speaker of the Parliament said the visiting Americans were held for five days before being expelled from the country.  NPR was unable to reach Mr. McFarlane today for comment and the White House says that it can  neither confirm nor deny the story.  NPR's Elizabeth Colton reports. Today in Tehran, Speaker of the Parliament, Hashami
  Rafsanjani took the occasion to tell a rally that President Reagan had recently sent personal envoys⁶ to Iran, calling for improvement of relations.  In response to the American overtures⁷, Rafsanjani announced that Iran will advise its friends in Lebanon, in other words the hostage takers, to free US and French hostages if Israel frees Lebanese prisoners, and if the American and French governments end their hostility⁸ to the revolutionary government of Iran. Rafsanjani then reportedly described for the tens of thousands outside his parliament, the visit of the five American emissaries. The Iranian said they flew in, posing as the flight crew of a plane bringing American military spare parts to Iran from Europe.  The US envoys
  reportedly carried Irish passports, now said to be held by Iranian officials.  And one of the men called himself McFarlane.  And according to Rafsanjani, he looked exactly like President Reagan's former National Security Advisor.  Rafsanjani claimed that Iranian security offacials also have a tape of telephone conversations between the American President and his envoys.  The Iranian cleric, Rafsanjani, said the five men were confined to a hotel for five days and later deported⁹ after Ayatollah Khomeini advised Iranian officials not to meet them or receive their message.  Rafsanjani said the Americans had brought a Bible signed by President Reagan and a key-shaped calce which they said was the symbol of the hope of reopening by-Iran relations.  In Tehran today, at the ceremony marking the anniversary of the seizure of the American embassy, Parliamentary Speaker Rafsanjani described the visit by the American emissaries as a sign of Washington's helplessness.  The White House said it would neither confirm nor deny the reports, because according to the press       there are certain matters pertaining¹⁰ to efforts to try to release the hostages, and comments might jeopardize¹¹ them. Robert WcFarlane, who was also a frequent political commentator¹² for NPR's morning edition, has been unavailable for comment.  I am  Elizabeth Colton in Washington.

  Section Three: Special Report
  Tapescript
       Over the last few years and around the country, the nurnber of fundamentalist religious groups is said to be growing.  Some are called 'ultra-fundamentalist' groups.  The estimates varied¹³ greatly.  The number could be as high as two thousand.  These organizations have different purposes and beliefs, but usually have one thing in common-strong leadership, quite often one person.  Four years ago in October at a fundamentalist Christian¹⁴ commune in West Virginia, a young boy died after a paddling session that lasted for two hours.  The child was spanked¹⁵ by his parents. He had hit another child and refused to say he was sorry.  We reported the story of that paddling  - the story of the Stonegate Community in November of 1982. Since that time, Stonegate leader has been tried and convicted, one of the first times a leader of a religious group has been held responsible for the actions of a member.  Also in that time the parents of the child have served jail terms, and now they have agreed to tell their story.
      The Stonegate Commune was near Charleston, West Virginia, in the northeast corner of the state.  It's mostly farming country.  The Stonegate members lived outside of town in an old white Victorian house, overlooking the Shenandoah River, eight young families living and working together.  They did some farming, some construction work and for a time ran a restaurant in Charleston.  It was their intention to become less of a commune and more of a community, with the families living in separate houses on the property.  We went to Stonegate on a Sunday evening in November of 1982.  We were reluctantly welcomed.  Less than a month before, two Stonegate members had been indicted¹⁶ for involuntary manslaughter.  They were the parents of Joseph Green, who was two years old when he died. On this night many of the Stonegate people were defensive¹⁷, almost angry.
     That was four years ago.  The parents, Stewart and Leslie Green, were convicted of involuntary manslaughter and both spent a year in jail. First Stewart, then Leslie.  Then in a separate legal action, the leader of the Stonegate commune, Dorothy McLellan was also indicted.  McLellan did not take part in the paddling but she was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and conspiracy¹⁸ in the death of Joey Green.Stewart Green, the father, testified against Dorothy McLellan.  Green now believes that his son died because of McLellan's teachings and influence.  He explained in court that the  Stonegate members were taught that a paddling session should continue until the child apologizes.  Green also testified that a four-hour spanking¹⁹ of Dorothy McLellan's grandson, Danny, had occurred two weeks before Joey Green's death.  He also said the Stonegate members, when Joey died, joined in a pledge of secrecy²⁰: the circumstances would be covered up; the deat would be called an accident. They were afraid all the Stonegate children would be taken away. Joey"s parents at first agreed to this.  It was later that they spoke²¹ out against what they called then a conspiracy of silence.  Both Stewart and Leslie Green grew up and married within the Stonegate community.  Leslie was only fifteen when she carrfe to the Stonegate.  They lived with several other teenagers in the home of Dorothy and John McLellan.  The McLellans had been taking in young people who were having trouble, usually with drugs.  They wanted to use their marriage as an example of Christian family life.  John McLellan worked for an accounting²² firm, travelling during the week, Dot McLellan staying at home, taking care of more and more teenagers.The Greens are now living in their first real home together, an apartment in Baltimore.  Stewart left the Stonegate, and Leslie joined  him as soon as she got out of jail.  The Greens have now agreed to talk about their lives at Stonegate and about the paddling of their son.

1 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

2 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

3 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

4 dynamics   

n.力学，动力学，动力，原动力；动态

参考例句：

• In order to succeed,you must master complicated knowledge of dynamics.要取得胜利，你必须掌握很复杂的动力学知识。
• Dynamics is a discipline that cannot be mastered without extensive practice.动力学是一门不做大量习题就不能掌握的学科。

5 seizure   

n.没收；占有；抵押

参考例句：

• The seizure of contraband is made by customs.那些走私品是被海关没收的。
• The courts ordered the seizure of all her property.法院下令查封她所有的财产。

6 envoys   

使节( envoy的名词复数 )； 公使； 谈判代表； 使节身份

参考例句：

• the routine tit for tat when countries expel each other's envoys 国家相互驱逐对方使节这种惯常的报复行动
• Marco Polo's travelogue mentions that Kublai Khan sent envoys to Malgache. 马可波罗游记中提到忽必烈曾派使节到马尔加什。

7 overtures   

n.主动的表示，提议；（向某人做出的）友好表示、姿态或提议( overture的名词复数 )；（歌剧、芭蕾舞、音乐剧等的）序曲，前奏曲

参考例句：

• Their government is making overtures for peace. 他们的政府正在提出和平建议。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He had lately begun to make clumsy yet endearing overtures of friendship. 最近他开始主动表示友好，样子笨拙却又招人喜爱。 来自辞典例句

8 hostility   

n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争

参考例句：

• There is open hostility between the two leaders.两位领导人表现出公开的敌意。
• His hostility to your plan is well known.他对你的计划所持的敌意是众所周知的。

9 deported   

v.将…驱逐出境( deport的过去式和过去分词 )；举止

参考例句：

• They stripped me of my citizenship and deported me. 他们剥夺我的公民资格，将我驱逐出境。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The convicts were deported to a deserted island. 罪犯们被流放到一个荒岛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 pertaining   

与…有关系的，附属…的，为…固有的(to)

参考例句：

• Living conditions are vastly different from those pertaining in their country of origin. 生活条件与他们祖国大不相同。
• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school. 视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。

11 jeopardize   

vt.危及，损害

参考例句：

• Overworking can jeopardize your health.工作过量可能会危及你的健康。
• If you are rude to the boss it may jeopardize your chances of success.如果你对上司无礼，那就可能断送你成功的机会。

12 commentator   

n.注释者，解说者；实况广播评论员

参考例句：

• He is a good commentator because he can get across the game.他能简单地解说这场比赛，是个好的解说者。
• The commentator made a big mistake during the live broadcast.在直播节目中评论员犯了个大错误。

13 varied   

adj.多样的，多变化的

参考例句：

• The forms of art are many and varied.艺术的形式是多种多样的。
• The hotel has a varied programme of nightly entertainment.宾馆有各种晚间娱乐活动。

14 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

15 spanked   

v.用手掌打( spank的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• We spanked along in his new car. 我们坐在他的新车里兜风。 来自辞典例句
• The nurse spanked the naughty child. 保育员打了一下那个淘气的孩子的屁股。 来自辞典例句

16 indicted   

控告，起诉( indict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The senator was indicted for murder. 那位参议员被控犯谋杀罪。
• He was indicted by a grand jury on two counts of murder. 他被大陪审团以两项谋杀罪名起诉。

17 defensive   

adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的

参考例句：

• Their questions about the money put her on the defensive.他们问到钱的问题，使她警觉起来。
• The Government hastily organized defensive measures against the raids.政府急忙布置了防卫措施抵御空袭。

18 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

19 spanking   

adj.强烈的，疾行的；n.打屁股

参考例句：

• The boat is spanking along on the river.船在小河疾驶。
• He heard a horse approaching at a spanking trot.他听到一匹马正在疾步驰近。

20 secrecy   

n.秘密，保密，隐蔽

参考例句：

• All the researchers on the project are sworn to secrecy.该项目的所有研究人员都按要求起誓保守秘密。
• Complete secrecy surrounded the meeting.会议在绝对机密的环境中进行。

21 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

22 accounting   

n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表

参考例句：

• A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
• There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。