BBC听力文本

BBC听力文本 2009-10-01 Scientists say the remains of a 4.4-million-year-old creature from the earliest known skeleton of the human ancestor, the research reported in the journal Science says the 1.2-metre-tall skeleton found in Ethiopia in 1994 shows signs of the first stage of human evolution better than anything seen to date. The finds nicknamed "Ardi" is more than a million years older than the fossil Lucy which has long been considered as the earliest remains of human ancestor. Our science reporter Matt McGrath has the details. The last common ancestor of humans and chimpanzees is believed to have lived more than 6 million years ago, that this discovery is noted, but after 17 years of examination, scientists believe that this finding is one of the most important discoveries in the study of human evolution. Researchers say that while all the fossils have been found Ardi, short for Ardipithecus, is the earliest skeleton yet found from the human branch of the primate family tree. 2009-10-02 Typhoon Pama has hit the northeast of the Philippines, it's toppled the power lines, torn off roofs, ripped up trees and killed at least two people. The Philippines is still reeling from floods a week ago. S.P. our Asia-Pacific desk reports. People in the Philippines have been ready near arrival of Typhoon Pama, tens of thousands have been evacuated from their homes, large parts of the capital Manila and surrounding areas are still under water after the worst floods in decades last Saturday and more heavy rain in those areas would be disastrous. But the officials now say the storm appears to be varying further north into less densely-populated areas and that could limit the damage. Typhoon Pama though is now causing alarm in Taiwan where people from villages in its predictive path will be evacuated. 2009-10-03 Irish voters have given the decisive approval to the Lisbon Treaty, giving the European Union streamline decision making powers. The official result was announced by the Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen who said the Irish people have spoken with a clear and resounding voice. Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen: On this day, the full and final credit for this victory rests with the Irish people, they showed that Ireland is embracing her future with Europe. Ireland is ready to grow and prosper. Today's vote will help us achieve a common aim: a prosperous productive and forward-looking Ireland. No detailed figures have been given, but early indications suggested the voting favor by two to one. The referendum came after Ireland rejected the treaty in a similar vote last year. 2009-10-04 The Argentine folk singer Mercedes Sosa has died in Buenos Aires. She was 74 years old and had been suffering from kidney problems. She was known to her fans as the voice of the Voiceless in Latin America. In recognition of her work for greater social justice and her opposition to the military governments that ruled Argentina and other South American countries. Kanders Piat looks back at her life. Mercedes Sosa was born in the north western Argentine province of Tucum??n, a French and unmarried Indian Quechua descent. At age of 15, she won a singing competition organized by a local radio station. Along with her first husband Manuel Oscar Matus, she became a founding member of the mid-sixties nueva canci??n movement. It combined traditional Latin American folk music with progressive and often politicized lyrics. At a concert in the Argentine City of La Plata in 1979, Mercedes Sosa was searched and arrested on stage along with the crowd. She was subsequently banned and left the country to live in Paris and Madrid. She returned to Argentina in 1982 just before the collapse of military rule. 2009-10-05 The Nobel Prize for medicine has been awarded to three US-based scientists Elizabeth Blackburn, Carol Greider and Jack Szostak for their work on chromosomes. Announcing / the award, the Karolinska Institute in Sweden said the three scientists had solved the major problem in biology. Namely how chromosomes were copied completely during cell division and protected against degradation. Keith Adams reports. The work of the three Nobel laureates sheds light on the tiny building blocks of life, cells. Our DNA is carried in chromosomes and at the each end of this, a sort of protective caps called telomeres. The scientists found that these caps and the enzyme they are made of plays a crucial role in the life of the cell. If the telomeres are shortened, the cell ages, if too active, it can cause the rampant reproduction--seaming cancer cells. The discoveries are already being applied in research into new therapies against the host of diseases and conditions. 2009-10-06 Australia has become the first major developed country to increase its interest rate since many economists believed the world is starting to recover from economic crisis. Australian rates were already higher than most western countries, and now they've gone up by a quarter of 1% to three and a quarter percent. The move have been expected by the end of the year, but the early timing took most analysts by surprise. The Australian Fedarel Treasurer Wayne Swan warned, however, that it was too soon to say the Australian economy had recoverd fully. Wayne Swan: There is no doubt that the Australian economy is recovering, but I think as the statment from the Reserve Bank makes clear today, there are still challanges ahead. And we must still keep in place expansionary monetary and fiscal policy. The two must work hand in glove. 2009-10-07 The Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer has told a news conference in Brusseles that he fully expects the Lisbon Treaty on Greater European Unity to be ratified in the Czech Republic by the end of the year. The Czech Republic is one of two EU members not to ratify the treaty so far. Poland is expected to complete ratification in a few days' time. The Lisbon Treaty must be ratified by all member states so as to come into effect. From Brussels, Jonny Dymond reports. Slowly and not very steadily, the Lisbon Treaty is limping towards ratification. Following the Irish yes vote at the weekend, only the Polish and Czech presidents have yet to sign. Both their respective parliaments have passed it, but both men are hostile to the treaty. Politicians across Europe want the treaty ratified swiftly so as to get the new structures within it up and running and to eliminate the possibility that any new British government might reverse the country's ratification of the treaty. 2009-10-08 A man who was once the top anti-corruption official in Indonesia has appeared in court in Jakarta, charged with ordering a murder. Indonesian prosecutors alleged that Antasari Azhar ordered the killings of the boss of a state-owned company early this year. Mr. Azhar has denied any wrongdoing. Karishma Vaswani reports from Jakarta. Antasari Azhar has been in police custody since May after he was arrested. In court today, he shook his head in disbelief when the charges against him were read out. They sound like something out of a cheap paperback thriller. He's been accused of allegedly masterminding the killing of a rival in a love triangle. But Mr. Azhar says the accusations are untrue and that he's been set up. He's made some powerful enemies during his time at Indonesia's Anti-Corruption Commission, putting some of the country's richest and most influential people behind bars. 2009-10-09 The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to the American president Barack Obama. The Norwegain-based Nobel Committe said he had made extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation. It's said that only very rarely had anyone given people such hope for a better future. A White House spokesman said President Mr. Obama felt humbled by the award. L B reports from Oslo. Announcing the award here in Oslo, the Norwegain Nobel Committee said he had created a new climate in international politics. It also noted his work towards a global treaty on climate change. President Obama made history last year when he became the first black president of the United States. He will be the fourth US president to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. During his short stand as US president, Barack Obama has expressed strong support for the United Nations and he said he wants to reach out to the Muslim world and fight global threats like terrorism and nuclear proliferation. 2009-10-10 China, Japan and South Korea have agreed to press for an early resumption of international talks with North Korea over its nuclear weapons programme. At a summit in Beijing, the Chinese Premier Wen Jiaobao said they should take this opportunity to make progress after North Korea said it was willing to return to talks. Michael Bristow reports from Beijing. The three countries say dialogue is the best way of getting rid of North Korea's nuclear weapons and they want to sit down and talk to the North leaders as soon as possible. The Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said they must seize this opportunity to push for a nuclear-free Korean peninsula. A few days ago, North Korea's reclusive leader Kim Jong-il said his country is willing to return to multi-lateral talks on the issue. There are obstacles ahead, not least is North Korea's insistence said it wants to talk with the United States before sitting down with other countries. 2009-10-11 An Irish paramilitary group, the Irish National Liberation Army, is to formally renounce violence and abandon its weapons. The republican group killed more than 150 people during the conflict in North Ireland. J O reports from Belfast. The INLA is viewed as being capable of serious violence, but its ability to mount a sustained terrorist campaign is doubted. Despite a ceasefire declared 11 years ago, it's committed crimes like extortion and carried out a small number of murders, but nowhere near the level at which it operated during the troubles. One of its victims was the conservative MP Airey Neave who died in a booby-trap explosion at Westminster in 1979. Weapons decommissioning is now expected to follow. But the move will not really lessen the overall threat posed by dissident republican groups. 2009-10-12 Scientist has proved for the first time that the cancer cells can be passed from mother to baby during pregnancy. The research published in Proceedings of National Academy of Science(s) suggests it's possible for cells to invade the child's immune system. Helen Fawkes has the details. The British-led team of scientists looked into the case of a Japanese woman and her baby daughter who both developed leukaemia. Using a genetic finger printing technique, they proved that the cancer cells found in the child had originated from the mother. It's been stressed that this is exceedingly rare, there have been 17 previous cases. The scientist leading the study said it was presumed that the cancer cells have managed to cross into the developing fetus because they were somehow invisible to the immune system. 2009-10-13 The United States and Russia said there has been considerable progress in talks on the new treaty to reduce their nuclear arsenals. The American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who is in Moscow said the world's two largest nuclear powers had responsibility to show leadership on nuclear disarmament, but our Rupert Wingfield-Hayes reports from Moscow there was no agreement on new sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program. A month ago in New York, Russia's president Dmitry Medvedev appeared to suggest his country might support new sanctions against Iran. Today in Moscow Hillary Clinton was looking for a more solid commitment. She didn't get one. The Secretary of State and the Russian Foreign Minister talks a great deal about the wonderful new relationship between Washington and Moscow. Nuclear arms talks are they said on track for an agreement in December. Mrs. Clinton said the US is ready to develop a new missile defense shield in partnership with Russia but when it came to the neety greety of sanctions against Iran there was nothing. 2009-10-14 Engineers in Australia say they have failed for a second time to stop oil pouring into waters off the country's western coast. The leak happened in August following an accident in the Timor Sea. From Sydeny, Phil Mercer reports. Conservationists have said this is Australia's most damaging oil spill in 25 years. Each day for almost 2 months, hundreds of barrels have been flowing into the Timor Sea. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority has said the flow of oil from the damaged well appears to be slowing. Boats have been springing chemicals to help disperse the slick and stop it spreading. A spokeswoman has insisted that the impact on wildlife would've been minimal. Environmentalists, however, worried about the long-term effects of contamination on vulnerable marine species. 2009-10-15 Vaccination against swine flu will begin across Britain next week following a sharp increase in cases, including the death of a pregnant teenager on Thursday. Doctors will contact over 13 million people in priority groups like pregnant women and frontline health workers to encourage them to be immunized. Adam Bromley reports. The UK has ordered two types of swine flu vaccine. But most people have the version produced by Glaxo Smith Cline called Pandemrix which requires just one jab. Cases of the disease have increased across the UK. There's also been a steep increase in a proportion of swine flu patients in hospital requiring intensive care. The total of swine flu-related death in the UK has risen to 106. 2009-10-16 One of the leading banks in the United States Bank of America has announced net losses were around 1 billion dollars. It's the second quarterly loss in less than a year. Our economics correspondent Andrew Walker reports. In the last three months, Bank of America made losses of more than 11 billion dollars on problem loans only partly offset by profits on other business. The bank mentioned rising unemployment as one fact of making many borrowers unable to make repayments. As the bank has been bailed out with tax payers' money, executive pay is subjected to scrutiny by the US administration. As a result, Bank of America's chief executive Ken Louis has agreed that he would not be paid this year. It has already been announced that he would retire at the end of December. 2009-10-17 Celebrations went on into the night in Ghana after the national football team won the Under-20 World Cup. Ghana is the first African nation to win the tournament. Caspar Leighton reports from Accra. Ghana ends up a waited long time for this victory. The Black Satellites has made it sort of final choice before at the end of 20 World Cup, *(?À?ÆÊÇ?öÈËÃû) finally lift the ultimate prize for the world's young footballers. Accra erupted in joy as the team finally pulled ahead in the penalty shoot-out. Fireworks soaring the sky, people are running out into the streets, cars blocking the roads of central Accra, blaring their hones. Everyone saying this victory of the Black Satellites has gotta to be a good sign for the performance of the senior team in next-year's World Cup in south Africa. 2009-10-18 Iran says several commanders of the revolutionary guards are among around 30 people killed in an attack in the southeast of the country. Our correspondent Jon Leyne reports. The attack happened in the tribal Sistan-Balochistan province on Iran southeast border with Pakistan, where a long running insurgency is fueled by the lucrative drugs trade from Afghanistan. According to State media, one or more suicide bombers targeted a group of senior revolutionary guards leaders who were arranged to meet tribal leaders. They killed the provincial head of the guards as well as a number of the senior tribal figures. Iran said that the militant group Jundallah or Army of God admitted carrying out the attack. Iranian media were also quick to blame Britain and the United States for being behind the bombing. The United States has condemned the attack and described the Iranian reports of US involvement is completed false. 2009-10-19 The Pakistani Army spokesman General Athar Abbas says troops have pushed deeper into the South Waziristan as the military continues its offensive against Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants. The Taliban say they, too, have inflicted heavy casualties. Mark Dummett reports from Islamabad. Pakistan's military spokesman said that the troops deployed to the South Waziristan, a key stronghold the Pakistan's Taliban militants have been making progress. Killing enemy fighters, seizing strategic important higher ground and destroying ammunition dumps. As journalists are not allowed into the region, it' not possible to verify this claims. And the Taliban spokesman earlier said that many more soldiers have been killed than officially reported, but whatever the truth, no one doubt that this will be an extremely tough and drawn-out struggle. 2009-10-20 A senior commander in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard said his troops should be allowed to cross into Pakistan to hunt down members of a militant group accused of killing almost 60 people in the suicide bombing on Sunday. Here's James Reed. Sunday suicide bombing provoked outrage in Iran security operators. Among the dead were some of the Revolutionary Guard's top commanders, and Iran is convinced that the militant group responsible is operating from bases in Pakistan. The Revolutionary Guard has asked for permission to cross the border and tackle the militants head on. Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has demanded action from Pakistan saying the hands of those behind the crimes must be cut off. Pakistan has denied giving any support to the militants and condemned the attack as an attempt to damage its relations with Iran. 2009-10-21 The head of the UN Nuclear Agency Mohamed ElBaradei has given Iran and three world powers the text of a draft deal aimed at reducing concerns about Iran's nuclear program. The IAEA wants to persuade Iran to allow most of its uranium to be shipped abroad for further enrichment before being returned for use in the civilian research reactor. Joe Lynam reports. The deal will mean Iran gets the fuel it needs and stays off pressure for more sanctions. The outside world sees Iran's enriched uranium taken out of the country and process in the way that will make it more difficult for Iran to make nuclear bombs. But Iran has still not signed up publicly on the crucial element, the shipping out of Iran of its precious stocks of enriched uranium. And that could be hard for the Iranian government to accept in light of the prestige President Ahmadinejad has attached to the nuclear program. 2009-10-22 The world's biggest mobile phone maker Nokia is suing its American rival Apple. The legal action covers ten patents which it says the Apple has breached with its massively popular Iphone. Duncan Bartlett reports. The Apple Iphone has been a huge success, selling over 34 million units since it was launched two years ago. Most users prize it for its innovative technology, but now Nokia is claiming that much of that technology was devised by its research scientists and wants Apple to compensate it financially hence the lawsuit filed in the United States. Nokia says patents relating to wireless datas, speech coding, security and encryption have all been infringed. So far there is no response from Apple and it's not clear how much money Nokia is seeking in compensation. 2009-10-23 The 23-year-old son of the French President Nicolas Sarkozy has said he will give up his attempt to become the head of the body overseeing a major business district of Paris. The district called Ladefens employs more than 150,000 people and generates 10% to France's Gross Domestic Product. Ron Sarkozy's nomination had been strongly criticized as nepotistic. Catherine Utley reports. Ron Sarkozy's decision follows house of protests at his nomination from critics who accuse his father of orchestrating the unprecedented promotion. The fledgling politician--an elected councilor but one who hasn't yet finished his law studies was dubbed the Prince by the press and derided by politicians from all sides. The opposition Socialist said his nomination was a disastrous project that made France a laughing stock among democracies. 2009-10-24 A Saudi Arabian court has sentenced a female journalist to 60 lashes for her part in producing a television program in which a Saudi man broke a major taboo in the deeply conservative country by describing his extra marital sex life. Sebastian Ashier has more. The original program was part of the series called Redlines, it is examined to buzz in the Arab world. Unmarried sex in Saudi Arabia among Saudies is one of the biggest. The Saudi man in the show Mazen Abdul Jawad provoke outrage by describing his techniques for meeting and having sex with Saudi women. He later tearfully apologized who was jailed for 5 years and sentenced to 1,000 lashes. Mr. Abdul Jawad blamed LBC producers for tricking him. The station's offices in Saudi Arabia were closed down and two of its producers both female put on trial. 2009-10-25 An international meeting on climate change has heard the prospect of saving the world's coral reefs now appear so bleak that plan has been drawn up to free samples to preserve them for the future. The meeting in Denmark to give evidence from researchers who say most coral reefs won't survive even if tough new regulations on green house gas emissions are putting into place. Our science reporter Matt McGrath is in Copenhagen. Legislators from 16 major economies have been meeting here in the Danish capital to try and agree the way forward on climate change. One of the issues that have been considering is what to do with coral reefs which make up less than a quarter of one percent of the ocean floor yet for around 500 million people worldwide. They are key source of food, income and coastal protection. At this meeting, politicians and scientists have been acknowledging that the global emissions of carbon dioxide are rising so fast that we are losing the fight to save coral and the world must develop/ an alternative plan. 2009-10-26 Health ministers from around the world are meeting in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa to tackle the numbers of women dying in pregnancy and child birth. The meeting organized by the United Nations Population Fund will focus on achieving by 2015 the Millennium Development Goals of reducing the proportion of women dying during pregnancy and child birth by 2/3. Sarah Rainsford reports. A woman dies in pregnancy or child birth every minute according to the United Nations Population Fund which argues that many of those deaths could be prevented. It's brought health ministers from around the world to meet in Ethiopia where it's arguing for a new political focus on the problem and for funds to help tackle it. The United Nations body says 90% of maternal deaths occur in Africa and Asia where there is an urgent need for more health workers better access to treatment during pregnancy and birth and to improve health education for women. 2009-10-27 8 women and children are known to have drowned after a boat carrying migrants hit rocks and sank near the Greek Island of Lesvos. One of ten people found alive has been arrested, he is suspected of trafficking the Afghan migrants to Lesvos from Turkey. From Athens, M B reports. The smuggling gangs charge asylum seekers thousands of dollars to make the journey in unseaworthy vessels to Greek Islands nestling close to Turkey's Aegean coast. The survivors of this wreck will inevitably end up in the notoriously overcrowded and insanitary Pagani Detention Center in Lesvos. This week the UN Refugee Agency demanded that the center be closed and called for an inquiry into the alleged severe beating of a teenage Turkish migrant who made the perilous crossing from Turkey earlier this year. 2009-10-28 Angela Merkel has been sworn in for a second term as Chancellor of Germany. The ceremony took place shortly after her new center right coalition government was confirmed in office by vote in parliament. Ms. Merkel whose Christian Democrats won the general election in September is expected to push through a package of tax cuts to try to boost the economy and the natural reform of the health-care system. From Berlin, Steve Rosenberg.. The last time Angela Merkel took the oath of office back in 2005. She only just squeaked into power. She was chancellor in name. But she was weak and she'd been forced to share power with her center left opponents in an awkward grand coalition. This time round things look very different. Chancellor Merkel has developed political muscle. She's popular and she's able to govern now with her preferred coalition partner the Liberals. 2009-10-29 Latest figures from the United States show its economy is growing for the first time in more than a year. The growth rate was the fastesst since 2007. Our economics correspondent Andrew Walker reports. The US economy grew 0.9% in the last three months, an annual rate of 3.5%. It's the first time since early last year that the US economy has grown. The figure may be revised, but as long as it is greater than 0, it would, by one widely used definition, mean the recession is over and the recovery underway. However, many economists think that there are underlying witnesses and there could be further setbacks. In any event, unemployment usually continues to rise for months after production starts to expand again. So further bad news on the jobs front is still likely. 2009-10-30 Officials from Colombia and the United States have signed an agreement on drug trafficking. It will allow American troops to use 7 Colombian military bases. They'll provide training, logistical and intelligent support to the Colombian army in what the government calls the war against narcoterrorism. Greg Morsbach has the details. The accord was signed in the low-key ceremony inside Colombia's Foreign Ministry. Now only the US Congress needs to ratify it. Colombia's government has decided that its parliament doesn't need to authorize the military pack provoking sharp criticism from the opposition. President Uribe of Colombia argues the deal will give him the military mussel he needs to fight drug traffickers and left-wing guerilla groups. American troops will gain a bigger foothold in Colombia. Left-wing leaders such as Venezuela's Hugo Chavez suspect this will allow the US to better spy on him and even destabilize the wider region. 2009-10-31 Officials in South Africa have expressed concern about the deterioration of Robbin Island on which Nelson Mandela spent most of his 27 years in jail. Thousands of feral rabbits are devastating local wild life and burrowing under the historic prison buildings, damaging their foundations. Let's get more from our Africa Editor Martin Plaut . Sitting in the bay just 7 kilometers from the beaches of Cape town, Robbin Island is a key tourist attraction. They come to see the grim conditions under which political prisoners including Nelson Mandela were held. But the island is in trouble, exotic animals from rabbits to rats are destroying the island's fragile ecology, digging under historic buildings and threatening the penguins and endangered species. Local government leaders have criticized the management of the site and called for a meeting with the Ministry of Culture. 5