英语听力精选进阶版 6150
时间：2019-02-13 作者：英语课 分类：英语听力精选进阶版
A Look Back at 2008 回顾2008年
2008 will be remembered by the British people as a year of economic crisis. Things have steadily 1 worsened as the year has gone on with companies going into administration, job losses, falling house prices and the collapse 2 of banking 3 institutions.
Britain is just one of the many victims of a wider global financial crisis and sadly the predictions for 2009 do not show any sign of improvement for the British economy.
2008 also sadly saw the worst earthquake in China in over 30 years. The Great Sichuan Earthquake registered 8 on the Richter scale and killed around 70,000 people in May, not to mention the tens of thousands who were injured or went missing.
On a happier note, China also hosted its first Olympic games this summer in Beijing. It was a very successful games with an amazing opening ceremony and a staggering 43 new world records and 132 new Olympic records set.
China topped the medals table with 51 gold medals and Great Britain had its most successful Olympics in over a century with 19 gold medals and 47 medals in total.
2008 will also be remembered in history as the year Barack Obama was elected as the first black President of the United States. This was particularly poignant 4 in a country where black people were once slaves and where segregation 5 existed as little as half a century ago between black and white people.
In the British world of entertainment, Madonna and Paul McCartney’s high-profile divorces were finalised.
Reality TV remained as popular as ever where celebrities 6 learning to ice skate, ballroom 7 dance and survive in the jungle dominated headlines.
TV talent shows also ruled the airwaves with 8 million people voting for Alexandra Burke to win the X Factor, Britain’s most famous talent contest. Her first single ‘Hallelujah’ has become this year’s biggest-selling UK song.
GLOSSARY 词汇表
economic crisis 经济危机
steadily worsened 逐步恶化
going into administration 被接管
banking institutions 金融机构
victims 受害者
show any sign of improvement 显示任何改进迹象
registered 登记
Richter scale 里氏
staggering 大量的
records 纪录
set 创造（纪录）
topped the medals table 名列奖牌榜首
poignant 强烈的，深刻的
slaves 奴隶
segregation （种族）隔离
half a century ago 半个世纪前
high-profile divorces 瞩目的离婚案
finalised 终结
dominated headlines 垄断报端
ruled the airwaves 垄断时空的
- The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
- Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。
- The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
- The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。
- John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
- He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。
- His lyrics are as acerbic and poignant as they ever have been.他的歌词一如既往的犀利辛辣。
- It is especially poignant that he died on the day before his wedding.他在婚礼前一天去世了，这尤其令人悲恸。
- Many school boards found segregation a hot potato in the early 1960s.在60年代初，许多学校部门都觉得按水平分班是一个棘手的问题。
- They were tired to death of segregation and of being kicked around.他们十分厌恶种族隔离和总是被人踢来踢去。
- He only invited A-list celebrities to his parties. 他只邀请头等名流参加他的聚会。
- a TV chat show full of B-list celebrities 由众多二流人物参加的电视访谈节目