BBC news 2010-12-04 加文本

1.President Obama has warned of difficult days ahead in Afghanistan, despite significant progress being made in the fight against the Taliban, but he vowed that America would be victorious.

warn of发出关于…的警告
 
例句：The weather station warned of severe snowfalls ahead.
      气象台预报将有大雪。

2.She was speaking in Bahrain in the wake of the Wikileaks controversy.

in the wake of尾随,紧跟,仿效

例句：There were a lot of fallen trees in the wake of the storm.
      暴风雨之后，很多树倒了。

3.Officials from Kenya's finance ministry have estimated that up to a third of the national budget is being swallowed up by corruption.

swallow up淹没,耗尽

例句：The increase in travel cost swallow up our pay increase.
      旅行费用的增加耗尽了我们的工资增长。

4.But his sentence was reduced as part of an amnesty programme for paramilitaries willing to give up arms.

give up放弃;投降，认输; 猜不出

例句：I can't answer that puzzle; I give up.
      我猜不出这个谜语, 我认输了。

      She will give up this journey.
      她将放弃这次旅行。

abandon，desert，forsake，leave，give up
这些动词或词组均含“抛弃、放弃”之意

abandon强调永远或完全放弃或抛弃人或事物等，这可能是被迫的，也可能是自愿的。
desert着重指违背法律责任和义务，或自己的信仰与誓言的行为，多含非难的意味。
forsake侧重断绝感情上的依恋，自愿抛弃所喜欢的人或物。也指抛弃信仰或改掉恶习。
leave普通用词，指舍弃某事或某一职业，或终止同一某人的关系，但不涉及动机与果。
give up普通用语，侧重指没有希望或因外界压力而放弃。