BBC news 2011-08-19 加文本

短语讲解：

1. The United States, Britain, France and Germany have demanded that President Bashar al-Assad of Syria leave office following the violent suppression of street protests against his leadership.

leave office离职，下台
例句：He is to leave office soon.
不久他将离职。

2. It's the first explicit call from the US and its allies for Mr Assad to step down, although Washington had previously said Syria would be better off without him.

step down退休, 辞职
例句：The manager had to step down on account of poor health.
那位经理由于身体不好, 只能辞职不干。
be better off没有……生活反而更好
例句：We'd be better off without them as neighbours.
要是没有他们这样的邻居，我们会过得更愉快。

3. President Obama on Thursday signed an order freezing Syrian assets and cutting commercial links, and after months of hardening rhetoric, the president called on Bashar al-Assad to stand down.

call on要求, 请求
例句：He called on his friends to help him.
他向朋友求助。

4. British, French and German leaders swiftly followed suit.

follow suit跟着做, 照着做
例句：Father bowed his head; she followed suit.
父亲点头, 她也跟着点头。

5. The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described the attacks in southern Israel as an assault on his country's sovereignty, and in a televised statement, said Israel had targeted those responsible.

describe as描述为
例句：I should describe the attempt as a failure.
我认为这次尝试失败了。

6. Prosecutors in Ivory Coast have brought the first charges against the former President Laurent Gbagbo, who was removed from power in April.

remove from将(某人)撤〔免〕职
例句：They removed him from his position.
他们撤销了他的职务。

7. Mr Gbagbo, who's under house arrest in the north of the country, is accused of theft, looting and embezzlement of public funds.

accuse of指责, 控告
例句：He was accused of murder.
他被指控犯了谋杀罪。

8. Earlier, there were reports of Colonel Gaddafi's forces being driven out of the area in a five-hour battle on Wednesday.

drive out驱逐, 驱散
例句：The invaders were driven out of the town.
入侵者被赶出城了。

9. The English Premier League football champions, Manchester United, are to sell off a significant stake in their club on the Singapore stock exchange to help pay off debts.

sell off廉价销售
例句：Many old clothes were sold off at greatly reduced prices.
许多旧衣服大幅度地降价出售。
pay off付清, 还清
例句：All his debt was paid off with cash.
他所有的债务都是用现金付清的。

10. The Mexican navy says it's holding five people in connection with the disappearance earlier this month of four naval personnel. Investigators said they had found items belonging to the three marines and a naval cadet in a cellar in the port city of Veracruz.

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。
belong to是(某团体、国家等)的成员
Britain belongs to the EEC.
英国是欧洲经济共同体的一个成员国。

11. The National Institutes of Health said that out of every 100 funding applications it considered, 30 were granted to white applicants, compared with 20 to black applicants.

compare with (把…)与…相比
例句：My knowledge is not to be compared with yours.
我的知识不能与你的相比。