BBC news 2011-07-09 加文本

短语讲解：

1. The last US space shuttle has blasted off from Cape Canaveral in Florida, bringing an end to the 30-year-old programme.

space shuttle 航天飞机
blast off 离地升空; 发射
例句：The country blasted off another man-made satellite.
这个国家又发射了一颗人造卫星。
bring an end结束
例句：Neutral state in the area have tried to bring an end to the war
该地区的中立国为结束战争作出了努力。

2. For the first time in half a century, the space agency Nasa has no manned space flights on its agenda.

for the first time第一次
例句：The astronauts landed on the moon for the first time.
宇宙飞行员第一次登上月球。

3. The orbiter's engines fired, then the slim white solid rocket boosters leapt into life; steam billowed from the launch site; two torrents of yellow fire poured from the shuttle; a deep roar took hold of the sky.

take hold of握住, 控制住, 吸引, 对…有影响力
例句：Their writings took powerful hold of academic circles.
他们的著作在学术界有巨大的影响力。

4. A digital clock is counting down to midnight. South Sudan will start out as one of the poorest nations on the planet, where one in seven children dies before the age of five.

count down倒计时
例句：The spaceship is already being counted down.
宇宙飞船已开始倒数计时了。
start out启程, 出发
He started out on his journey very early in the morning.
他一清早就踏上了旅途。

5. The first arrests have taken place in the scandal surrounding Rupert Murdoch's British media empire.

take place发生，进行
例句：The threatening strike did not take place after all.
可能来临的罢工终究没有发生。

6. Police questioned Andy Coulson, the former editor of the News of the World who later worked as the government communications chief for nine hours, over allegations of corruption and phone hacking by the paper.

work as任…职, 当…
例句：It must be a hard life, working as a nurse in a backward country.
在落后的国家当一名护士, 生活必定是艰苦的。

7. Another former senior journalist of the paper was arrested in connection with alleged illegal payments to the police.

in connection with与…有关,连同
例句：He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.
他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

8. There are well over 380,000 people here now, and some have to wait for days or even weeks before they get regular rations of food.

wait for等待, 等候
例句：I've been waiting for the bus for half an hour.
我等车已等了半个小时了。

9. There are conflicting reports about the number of passengers on board, and the number of those killed could be higher.

on board在船〔火车, 飞机, 汽车〕上
例句：When all the people were on board, the boat bore away.
当所有人都上船后, 那艘船离岸了。

10. A Kisangani resident said the plane had broken into three pieces.

break into把…分成
例句：Mary broke the chocolate into pieces, one for each person.
玛丽将巧克力分成小块, 每人一块。

11. State media in Venezuela say prisoners who took control of a jail near the capital Caracas three weeks ago have released 148 fellow inmates whom they were allegedly holding hostage.

take control of控制
例句：Surely she would take control of the situation; after all she was a professional.
她肯定会控制这局面，她毕竟是个行家。

12. But relatives of the prisoners say the men were resisting a massive police operation aimed at getting rid of the gangs.

aim at (以…)瞄准; 针对, 以…为目标
例句：The visit was aimed at expanding the relations between the two countries.
访问的目的是扩展两国的关系。
get rid of除掉, 去掉；摆脱
例句：How to get rid of these things is a big problem.
如何清除这些东西是个大问题。