本集内容

• EU and Africa heads discuss migrant crisis 欧非峰会商讨移民潮对策
• Russia's weapons threat 俄罗斯发出武力威胁
• Rare diamond sells for more than $28m 罕见钻石拍售价超 2800 万美元

文字稿

More than 60 leaders from Europe and Africa are in Malta for a two-day summit on how to stem the flow of migrants into the European Union. The European Commission is offering €1.8bn to start a trust fund for development in Africa.

来自欧洲和非洲的60多名领导人在马耳他举行为期两天的峰会，商讨如何解决流入欧洲的移民潮问题。欧盟委员会提出将出资18亿欧元资金来创建一个非洲发展信托基金。

President Putin has declared that Russia is working on weapon systems that can penetrate any anti-missile shields: relations with the West, it seems, still deteriorating. Moscow has repeatedly expressed concern over the expansion of an American ballistic missile defence system into Eastern Europe. At a meeting of Russian defence chiefs, he said his country would take all necessary retaliatory steps.

俄罗斯总统普京宣布俄国正在研究可以穿透任何反导弹防御的武器系统，显示俄罗斯与西方国家的关系似乎仍在恶化。莫斯科对美国向东欧扩张其弹道导弹防御系统一再表示担忧。普京在俄罗斯国防官员的一次会议上说，俄国将采取所有必要的报复性措施。

A rare pink diamond – the largest of its kind ever to appear at auction – has sold for $28.5m. The cushion-shaped diamond weighing 16 carats and graded vivid fancy pink was the star lot at a Christie's jewellery sale in Geneva. The price narrowly beat its pre-sale estimate that was $23m to $28m. The diamond, owned by an American family, has been bought by an unidentified Hong Kong buyer who is said to have named it 'The Sweet Josephine'. 

一颗罕见的粉红钻石，卖出了2850万美元。这是有史以来出现在拍卖会上的同类钻石中的最大一颗，呈垫形，重16克拉，被定级为鲜彩粉色。这枚钻石是日内瓦的克里斯蒂（佳士得）珠宝拍卖会上的热宠。2850万美元的实际售价稍稍超出了预估的2300万美元。钻石的主人是一家美国人。买家则是一名不透露身份的香港人。据说，买家已把这颗钻石命名为“甜美的约瑟芬”。 

词汇

stem the flow        阻止（移民）潮

deteriorating         趋于恶化

retaliatory steps    报复性（步骤）措施

star lot                （此处）热宠品

练习 

Use one of the words or phrases from Lingohack to complete each of these sentences. Note that you may have to change the form of a word or phrase to complete the sentence correctly.

stem the flow / deteriorating / retaliatory steps / star lot

1. We decided not to walk up the mountain when we saw the weather was _______ .

2. There was so much rain that we had to use blankets and towels to try to _______ of water coming under the door.

3. I decided to bid for the ________ but someone else offered a much higher price.

4. I told my lawyer to take ________ against the newspaper that published false stories about me.

答案

1. We decided not to walk up the mountain when we saw the weather was deteriorating.

2. There was so much rain that we had to use blankets and towels to try to stem the flow of water coming under the door.

3. I decided to bid for the star lot but someone else offered a much higher price.

4. I told my lawyer to take retaliatory steps against the newspaper that published false stories about me.