BBC news 2011-04-09 加文本

短语讲解：

1. Security forces used live ammunition against thousands of anti-government demonstrators.

thousands of 数千的
例句：A computer consists of thousands of components.
电脑由成千上千个部件组成。

2. Demonstrators took to the streets across the country, chanting "Allah, Syria, Freedom only".

take to 开始从事
例句：He gave up medicine and took to literature.
他放弃医学, 开始从事文学。

3. One of the world's biggest media groups, News International, is apologising and offering compensation for the actions of one of its newspapers which hacked into the mobile phones of celebrities over a sustained period. Here's Gabriel Gatehouse.

hack into 侵入，潜入
例句：There is no doubt that it is a criminal offence to hack into others' computers and get secret data .
毫无疑问，非法侵入他人电脑获取机密资料是刑事犯罪。

4. He added that he was making frantic efforts to contact election workers.

make efforts to do 努力做…
例句：We need to make efforts to clean the house. 
我们得努力把家弄干净。 

5. Aid agencies have warned of a humanitarian crisis in the city.

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

6. Hundreds of thousands of public sector workers in the United States will be sent home unless politicians in Washington can reach a deal on the government's budget by midnight local time.

hundreds of thousands of 成千上万的，无数的
例句：The city subways carry hundreds of thousands of passengers a day. 
市内的地下铁每天运载数十万乘客。 
reach a deal 达成协议
例句：A delegation from the European Union flew to Moscow to urge the two sides to reach a deal.
欧盟的一位代表飞往莫斯科敦促乌俄双方达成协议。

7. A BBC correspondent in Washington says their reputation is likely to be damaged if they fail to reach a consensus.

reach a consensus 达成共识
例句：They are likely reach a consensus on this matter .
他们很可能就这事达成了一致意见。

8. A court in the United States has acquitted a veteran Cuban anti-communist activist and former CIA agent, Luis Posada Carriles, who had been on trial on immigration charges.

on trial 受审
例句：He's on trial for his life. 
他正在受决定他生死的审判。