专四听力训练VOA 100篇.docx

专四听力训练VOA 100篇.docx

《专四听力训练VOA 100篇.docx》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《专四听力训练VOA 100篇.docx（51页珍藏版）》请在冰豆网上搜索。

专四听力训练VOA100篇

1

VOA100

VOANewsItem1

IndianCommerceMinisterAnandSharmaandhiscounterpartsfromtheAssociationof

SoutheastAsianNationssealedtheagreementinBangkokThursday.Theymetonthesidelinesof

theannualASEANEconomicMinistersMeeting.

TheagreementcreatesoneofAsia’sbiggesttradingareasandintegratesIndia’sfastgrowing

economywith10ofitsneighbors.

TradebetweenIndiaandASEANamountsto$40billioneachyear.Underthepact,Indiaand

ASEANwilleliminatetariffsonvariousgoodsby2016.

VOANewsItem2

Britain’spoliticallifehasbeendominatedforthepastthreedecadesbytwopartiesthe

Conservatives,nowledbyDavidCameron,andLaborheadedbycurrentPrimeMinisterGordon

Brown.

Butathirdparty,theLiberalDemocrats,areturningthiselectionintoathree-horserace.

TheircampaignwasgivenamajorboostbyBritain’sfirsteverteleviseddebatelastweek;

LiberalDemocratleaderNickCleggemergedastheclearwinner.

Viewerpollstakenafterthisseconddebate,whichfocusedonforeignpolicy,showedthere

wasnorunawayvictor.

ThelasttimeBritainhadahungparliamentwasin1974.Afinalteleviseddebateistotake

placenextThursday,followedbytheelectiononMay6.

VOANewsItem3

Ontheseconddayofdebateallsignscontinuedtopointtowardaneasyconfirmationwinfor

Sotomayor,the55-year-oldfederalcourtjudgenominatedbyPresidentBarackObamaearlierthis

year.

Althoughmostofthe40SenateRepublicansarelikelytovoteagainsther,thedecision

WednesdayofMissouriSenatorKitBondaddedtothenumberofRepublicanswhohave

committedtovotingforher.

SenatorBond,whoisoneofseveralRepublicansretiringfromtheSenatenextyear,said

whileherespectsandagreeswiththelegalreasoningothersinhispartyusedtoopposeSotomayor,

lawmakershaveanobligationtoshowdeferencetoapresident’schoiceofanominee.

VOANewsItem4

ForeignministersoftheSouthernAfricanDevelopmentCommunitymetinMaputoto

prepareareportontheregion’spoliticalcrises.ItistobepresentedtoAfricanleadersattheir

upcomingsummitinEthiopia.

SADC’sPoliticalandDiplomaticCommitteehasbeenmediatingthreemajorcrisesinthe

region.

SADCofficialssaidtheministersarepleasedthevariouspartiestotheunitygovernmentin

2

Zimbabweresumednegotiationsonimplementingtheirpower-sharingagreement.Theysaidthey

believedZimbabwewasontherightpath.

Theofficialssaidtheministersalsobelievethatprogressisbeingmadetowardeasingthe

conflictineasternDemocraticRepublicofCongoandthatreconciliationeffortsbetweenthe

governmentandvariousrebelgroupswereontherighttrack.

ButtheofficialssaidtheywerelessoptimisticaboutthepoliticalcrisisinMadagascar.It

eruptedinMarchafterAndryRajoelina,backedbythemilitary,seizedpowerfollowingtheouster

ofthen-PresidentMarcRavalomanana.

SADCandtheAfricanUniondonotrecognizetheRajoelinagovernmentandhave

suspendedMadagascarfromtheirorganizations.

VOANewsItem5

SecurityhasbeentightenedaroundIsraeliDefenseMinisterEhudBarakafterhereceived

dozensofdeaththreats.SecuritysourcessaythethreatsweremadebyJewishmilitantswho

opposethegovernment’spartialfreezeonsettlementconstructionintheWestBank.Thefreeze

wasimposedinNovemberunderpressurefromtheUnitedStates,whichseesthesettlementsasan

obstacletopeace.

Thedeaththreatsarebeingtakenseriously.In1995,IsraeliPrimeMinisterYitzhakRabin

wasassassinatedbyanOrthodoxJewopposedtohispolicyoftradinglandforpeacewiththe

Palestinians.

VOANewsItem6

Governmentofficialssaytheywillinvestigatejusthowthreeleadersoftheanti-government

protestsmanagedtoescapewhenpolicetriedtosurroundtheirhotelFriday.

Oneoftheleadersclimbeddownthreefloorsusingarope,andwasrushedawayby

supportersthrongingthebuilding.

OfficialsearlierFridaysaidthegovernmentispreparingtoarrestpeoplelinkedtoclashes

withsecurityforceslastSaturdaythatleft24soldiersandprotestersdead.

Thegovernmentsaysarmedmeninfiltratedprotesterranksandfiredontroopstryingto

dispersearally.

Theanti-governmentmovement,ledbytheUnitedDemocraticFrontagainstDictatorshipor

UDD,demandsthattheGovernmentcallfreshelections.UDDsupportershaveheldprotestsin

Bangkokformorethanamonth.

Thailandisfacingitsmostseverepoliticalcrisisinalmost20years.Somepartiesinthe

governingcoalitionwanttosetacleartimeframeforelectionstoeasetensions.Butthe

governmentsaysitwillonlycallelectionsoncethepoliticalsituationhascooled.

VOANewsItem7

Kyrgyzstan’sfive-day-oldprovisionalgovernmentisvowingtousethecountry’smilitaryto

launchaspecialoperationtoneutralizePresidentKurmanbekBakiyevifhedoesnotresign.

InterimKyrgyzleaderRozaOtunbayevasayshergovernmentiswillingtonegotiatehis

departurefromthecountryandwantstoresolvethestandoffwithoutanymoreharmtoinnocent

3

civilians.

ThepresidentwaseffectivelyoustedafterlastWednesday’sclashesbetweengovernment

forcesandprotesters.Authoritiessayabout80peoplehavediedandmorethan1,600were

wounded.

VOANewsItem8

OntheeveofIsrael’s62ndIndependenceDay,PrimeMinisterBenjaminNetanyahusaidthe

nationmustnotrelyonthehelpofforeigners.

CommentatorssayitisaclearreferencetoIsraelitieswiththeUnitedStates,whichhave

plummetedoverJewishconstructionindisputedinEastJerusalem.TheU.S.backsPalestinian

demandsthatEastJerusalemshouldbethecapitalofafuturePalestinianstate.

ButIsraelseesallofJerusalemasitseternalcapital,andMr.Netanyahu,whoheadsa

right-winggovernment,hasrejectedU.S.demandstostopbuildingthere.Asaresult,the

PalestinianshaverefusedtoreturntoU.S.-sponsoredpeacetalks,andthediplomaticprocesshas

beendeadlockedfor15months.

DefenseMinisterEhudBaraktookasofterapproach.BaraksaidIsraelwouldnotmakeany

compromiseswhenitcomestothesecurityofthestate.Buthesaiditwouldshowcourageinthe

struggleforpeacewiththePalestiniansbasedonthetwo-statesolution.

VOANewsItem9

Nearly5,000farmersinBurkinaFaso,Cameroon,Ghana,Senegal,andSierraLeoneare

exportingorganically-grownproducetoEurope,aftergainingorganicandfair-tradecertification

withhelpfromtheU.N.FoodandAgricultureOrganization（FAO）.

Theprogramfocusesonallstagesofproductionfromplantingandharvestingtopackaging

andpromotion,increasingtheprofitabilityoffarmerswhopreviouslystruggledtoaffordcostly

chemicalfertilizers.

30small-scalepineapplefarmersinGhanasawsalesgrowfrom26tonstomorethan115

tonsaftergainingtheirorganiccertification.

PascalLiuisaneconomistwiththeFAO’stradeandmarketsdivision.LiusaystheUnited

Nationsexpectsdemandfororganicfoodswillgrowbybetweenfiveand15percentduringthe

nextfiveyears.AndAfricanfarmersarewellpositionedtobenefitfrommorepeopleeating

healthierfood.

VOANewsItem10

TheheadsoftheInternationalMonetaryFundandtheEuropeanCentralBankwereinBerlin

WednesdayfortalkswithChancellorAngelaMerkelandotherseniorofficials.Theaim:

toget

agreementonabailoutpackageforGreece.

GreecehasbeeninnegotiationswithEUmembercountriesandtheIMFtosecureabailout

moneythatwouldallowittopaydebtscomingdueintimetoavoidhavingtodefault.

InreturnGreeceisunderpressuretorestructureitseconomyandimplementausterity

measures.

Disgruntledpublic-sectorworkerswentonstrikeinGreeceWednesdaytoprotestagainstthe

4

cutbacks.Adaylonggeneralstrikehasbeencalledfornextweek.

OpinionpollsshowthemajorityofGreeksareagainstanIMF-EUbailout,seeingitas

foreigninterference.

WorriesabouttheGreekeconomy’spotentialmeltdownhavesentjittersthroughworld

markets.AndhelpisimperativebecausetheGreekcrisiscouldspread.

AjointEU-IMFpackageforGreeceisputat$60billion,butsomeEuropeanofficialssaid

Wednesdaythefullcostcouldbemuchhigher,reachingabout$160billionoverthreeyears.

VOANewsItem11

Aiminghisappealdirectlyatthefinancialindustryandskepticswithinit,andatRepublican

criticsinCongress,thepresidentwarnedofthedangerofarepeatofeconomiccollapse.

CallingthefinancialcrisistheoutcomeofafailureofresponsibilityfromWallStreetto

Washington,hesaidthetimehascometoseizethemomenttomakefundamentalchangesinthe

rulesofthefinancialroad.

Withmany,butnotall,ofthemostprominentexecutivesofWallStreetfirmspresent,the

presidentoutlinedkeyaspectsoflegislationtheU.S.Senatewilldebateincomingdays.

Theseincludestepstoimposenewoversightandcontrolsonhedgefundsandcomplex

financialinstrumentsknownasderivatives,andprotectionsforconsumersoffinancialproducts.

Ofparticularimportancewouldbeasystemtoensurethattroubledfinancialcompaniescould

bedismantledinanorderlywaywithoutposingthekindofsystemicrisktheydidin2008.

CallingtheSenatebillandonetheHouseofRepresentativesapprovedlastyearasignificant

improvementoverflawedrulesnowinplace,hesaidchangeswouldbeadvantageousforthe

industryandthecountry.

VOANewsItem12

TheInternationalAirTransportAssociationsaysglobalcarriersarelosinganestimated$200

millionadayinrevenueasaresultofairlinegroundingsrelatedtotheIcelandvolcano.Albert

Tjoeng,aSingapore-basedspokesmanfortheassociation,saysthatisjustpartoftheproblem.

Travelerswaitingaroundherearemiss