BBC news 2009-12-27 加文本

1.A statement released by the Department of Justice said Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab tried to set off an explosive device which was attached to his body on the Northwest Airline's flight from Amsterdam to Detroit on Friday.

set off 出发, 动身

例句：He proposed to set off immediately.
       他建议立即动身。

(使)开始; 引起

例句：She had stopped crying but his shouting set her off again.
      她已经不哭了, 但是他的大声喊叫使她又哭了起来。

点燃, 爆
 
例句：Be careful that you don't set the fireworks off by mistake.
      当心点, 别弄错了引起那些爆竹爆炸。

2.US officials say Motala quickly told them he was acting on behalf of al-Qaeda and got the device in Yemen.

on behalf of代表...

例句：The legal guardian must act on behalf of the child.
      法定监护人应该维护这个孩子的利益。

3.Elsewhere, the security forces used batons, tear gas and electric cattle prods in an attempt to control the protesters.

in an attempt to试图…,企图…

例句：The police fired in an attempt to disperse the crowd.
      警察开枪想驱散群众。

4.Opposition protesters break into chanting as few passengers on a couple of city buses.

break into爆发出

例句：The boys broke into shrill, excited cheering.
      男孩子们突然迸发出刺耳的兴奋的欢呼声。

a couple of一对,一双,两三个

例句：The doctor ordered him to stay in bed for a couple of days.
      大夫嘱咐他卧床一两天。

5.That's resulted in eight more soldiers being taken in for questioning.

result in导致,引起

例句：Failure of crops often results in famine.
      歉收常引起饥荒。