BBC news 2011-05-11 加文本

短语讲解：

1. The American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says China will fail in what she says are its efforts to resist democracy.

fail in (使) 在…方面失败了
例句：He failed in business.
他经商失败。

2. We discussed everything, and whether it was something that was sensitive to us or sensitive to them, all the difficult issues including human rights.

be sensitive to对…敏感
例句：He is sensitive to details.
他对细节敏感。
human rights 人权

3. Speaking to the BBC, Mr Kapoor said that the cultural community needed to stand side by side with Ai Weiwei, a vocal critic of the Chinese government.

side by side相互支持, 肩并肩地
例句：We must stand side by side in this trouble and help each other.
在这困难时刻我们必须团结一致, 互相帮助。

4. It's completely unacceptable that simply for recording the deaths that have occurred through bureaucracy and inefficiency in his country he has seemingly been arrested and put away in this way.

put away储存 关押
例句：He was put away for ten years for armed robbery.
他因为持械抢劫而被关押了十年。

5. Speaking in Texas close to the border with Mexico, Mr Obama said bringing illegal immigrants out of the underground economy would be good for the country as a whole.

be good for有益于
例句：The Olympics will be good for business.
奥运会的召开对促进商业发展有好处。
as a whole普遍说来, 一般地说
例句：There are some areas of poverty, but the country as a whole is fairly prosperous.
这个国家有些地区比较贫困, 但总的来说是相当富裕的。

6. President Obama said fixing the system would reduce the number of people entering the country illegally to look for work and allow border agents to focus on threats from drug traffickers and terrorists.

focus on对(某事或做某事)予以注意, 专注于
例句：Many firms are focusing on increasing their markets overseas.
许多商行都专注于扩大国外市场。

7. And I said immediately that in my view [the] proposition was out of the question.

out of the question不值得讨论的, 不可能的
例句：We cannot go out in this weather—it is out of the question.
天气这样糟, 我们不能出去, 这是完全不可能的。

8. There are concerns that a new civil war may break out if no solution is found.

break out (战争、打斗等不愉快事件)突然发生, 爆发
例句：It appears as if a war will break out.
看来一场战争似即将爆发。