BBC news 2009-10-24 加文本

1.More than 200 Roman Catholic bishops from all over Africa have urged corrupt political leaders there to repent or step down.

step down走下,逐步减低,辞职,下台

例句：He is entertaining no thoughts of stepping down.
      他现时没有下台的想法。

今天，另外一篇新闻里还有一个词组：step up走近,逐步增加,提升,提高

例句：The chairman stepped up and declared the meeting open.
      主席登上讲台, 宣布开会。

      When John found he was going to be late, he stepped up his pace.
      约翰发现要迟到了, 就加大步伐。

2.Either Tehran is playing for time, or there are genuine differences within the Iranian government.

play for time为争取时间而拖延

3.three, the international community including the forces under General McChrystal’s command are going to go all out to help make this a success.

go all out to全力以赴做某事

例句：We must go all out to mobilize the masses.
      我们要大力发动群众。

4.Mr. Holbrooke said his relationship with President Hamid Karzai was fine and if he was reelected in the contest against Abdullah Abdullah, the US looked forward to working with him.

look forward to期望, 盼望

例句：I'm looking forward to your visit next week.
      我在盼望着你下周光临。

      We look forward to seeing you again.
      我们期待着与你再次相见。

5.By contrast, France, Germany and Japan have all returned to growth already in the second quarter while America's economy shrank only very slightly over the summer.

by contrast相比之下,相反

例句：By contrast, he was much cleverer.
      相比之下, 他要机灵得多。

      His composition is very good by contrast.
      对比起来，他的作文写得很好。