2016年6月英语四级听力改革短篇新闻练习(3)

　　听力材料：

　　The French finance minister says the country has lostits AAA credit rating. Francois Baroin said thatStandard & Poor's had lowered the rating toAA+, but he said that France would not allow the agencies to dictate its policies. From Paris,Hugh Schofield.

　　This news does not come as a surprise for France - there had been warnings for weeks that thedowngrade was coming - but it's still a big blow. Economically, it means that the cost ofborrowing to cover the country's huge debt will probably become more expensive. Politically, it'svery bad news for President Sarkozy, who set such store on keeping the AAA. And for theeurozone, it's also a setback. Combined with bad news from Greece about the debt talks goingon there, it shows that the euro crisis is well and truly back on the agenda.

　　The United States has described the release of political prisoners in Burma as a substantialstep towards democratic reform. President Obama said the granting of amnesty to some 600prisoners, including leading dissidents, was crucial for Burma's national reconciliation. TheSecretary of State Hillary Clinton said the US would now strengthen ties.

　　"We will start the process of exchanging ambassadors with Burma. We will identify acandidate to serve as US ambassador to represent the United States government and ourbroader efforts to strengthen and deepen our ties with both the people and the government.This is a lengthy process, and it will of course depend on continuing progress and reform."

　　Earlier, large crowds gathered outside jails across Burma to greet leaders of the democracymovement and dissident monks as they walked free.

　　Turkish police have raided more than 100 homes and offices in 17 cities as part of an operationagainst the Kurdish nationalist movement. At least 32 people have been detained. FromIstanbul, here's Jonathan Head.

　　There are now two parallel operations underway by the Turkish state against the Kurdishnationalist movement. In the mountains of the southeast, the Turkish armed forces continueto fight armed insurgents of the Kurdish Workers' Party, the PKK. But in urban areas, manyhundreds, perhaps thousands of civilians have also been rounded up in successive police raids.There have been so many no one is sure of the total number detained. They include lawyers,human rights activists and journalists. Turkey now has more journalists in jail than any othercountry.

　　A court in Norway has ordered a new psychiatric evaluation of Anders Behring Breivik, whowas found to have been legally insane when he carried out a bomb attack and mass shootinglast July. The court said the special and extremely serious nature of the case meant that theissue of Mr Breivik's criminal responsibility had to be studied more closely. The earlierassessment found that Mr Breivik was psychotic, but that assessment has been widelycriticised.

　　World News from the BBC

　　The long-time leader of the Turkish Cypriots, Rauf Denktash, has died. He was 87 and hadsuffered from ill health for a long time. Mr Denktash was a staunch defender of the interests ofTurkish Cypriots and became the first president of the self-declared Turkish Republic ofNorthern Cyprus in 1983. He refused to stand again in 2005 after Turkish Cypriots against hisadvice voted in favour of a plan to reunify the divided island. The plan was rejected by GreekCypriots.

　　The US State Department says it's raised concerns with Moscow and Cyprus about a Russian-operated ship carrying what's been described as a dangerous cargo to Syria. Media reports inCyprus the boat's last port of call suggested that the vessel was carrying ammunition.

　　A court in London has ruled that a British student, Richard O'Dwyer, can be extradited to theUnited States, where he faces allegations of US copyright infringement. He's accused ofcreating a website that allowed people to view films and television shows for free. Lawyers haveargued that the website simply directed users to other sites, and they say they'll appeal.Richard O'Dwyer and his mother Julia spoke outside the court.

　　"I'm obviously disappointed with the judge's decision today. I think I've got faith in the HighCourt in making the right decision. It just seemed like a bit of a guinea pig activity."

　　"Disgusted. I'd hoped for better from the judge. Disappointed with this government for signingus up to this treaty which has opened the floodgates to America to come and seize Britishcitizens without even having set foot out of this country."

　　The World Boxing Association has ordered a rematch between the British boxer Amir Khan andthe American Lamont Peterson after a controversial fight last month. The WBA said it wasconcerned about a number of questionable decisions by the referee and the presence of anunauthorised man apparently distracting the judges during the scoring process. Khan wasdefeated on points and lost his WBA and IBF titles.