Politics

Donald Trump’s first State of the Union speech to Congress conveyed his dark view of a hostile world, but one in which he would “make America great again for all Americans”. The president touted his plan for immigration reform. This would introduce a decade-long path to citizenship for the “Dreamers”, migrants who came to America illegally as young children, which could potentially help up to 1.8m people, in return for lower overall immigration and money to build a border wall.

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convey英 [kən'veɪ]美 [kən've] vt.传达、传输 hostile英 ['hɒstaɪl]美 [ˈhɑstl] adj.敌对的 n.敌对

tout英 [taʊt] 美 [taʊt] v.兜售、招徕 n.侦察者、兜售者  immigration 英 [ɪmɪ'ɡreɪʃn] 美 [,ɪmɪ'ɡreʃən] n.外来移民、移居 citizenship英 ['sɪtɪzən,ʃɪp]美 ['sɪtɪzənʃɪp] n.公民身份、公民资格 migrant英 ['maɪgr(ə)nt]  美 ['maɪɡrənt] n.候鸟、移民 adj.流浪的、移民的

In a rare public statement the FBI criticised the drive by Republicans in Congress to publish a classified memo. Written by Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee, the memo purports to show that the agency acted improperly when it carried out a surveillance operation on a former aide to the Trump campaign. The FBI said it had “grave concerns about material omissions of fact” from the document.

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House Intelligence Committee美国众议院情报委员会 purport英 [pə'pɔːt] 美 ['pɝpɔt]vt. 声称；意图；意指；打算 n. 意义，主旨；意图 surveillance英 [sə'veɪl(ə)ns; -'veɪəns] 美 [sɝ'veləns] n.监督、监视 omissions n.省略、遗漏

A few days earlier, Andrew McCabe stepped down as deputy-director of the FBI. He had faced relentless criticism from Mr Trump, in part for the political donations that Mr McCabe’s wife received from what the president has described as “Clinton puppets”.

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step down 辞职 deputy-director 副局长、副厅长 relentless英 [rɪ'lentlɪs] 美 [rɪ'lɛntləs] adj.无情的、残酷的 criticism英 ['krɪtɪsɪz(ə)m] 美 ['krɪtə'sɪzəm] n. 批评；考证；苛求  political donation政治资助

Steve Wynn resigned as finance chairman of the Republican Party following a report that he had coerced female employees at his casino in Las Vegas into sex or to massage him. The allegations, which Mr Wynn called “preposterous”,stretch back decades. Wynn Resorts is one of the world’s largest casino companies.

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resign 英 [rɪ'zaɪn] 美 [rɪ'zaɪn] v.辞职 coerce英 [kəʊ'ɜːs] 美 [ko'ɝs] vt.强迫 casino英 [kə'siːnəʊ] 美 [kə'sino] n. 俱乐部，赌场；娱乐场 allegation英 [ælɪ'geɪʃ(ə)n] 美 ['ælə'geʃən] n.指控、主张、陈词 preposterous英 [prɪ'pɒst(ə)rəs] 美 [prɪ'pɑstərəs] adj.荒谬的、可笑的 stretch back 回溯到

Negative connotations 

Colombia’s president, Juan Manuel Santos, suspended peace talks with the ELN, a guerrilla group that has been fighting the state for more than 50 years. He blamed the ELN for three bombings in which seven policemen were killed and 47 people injured. The group accepted responsibility for the bloodiest attack but not the others. Rodrigo Londoño, the leader of the FARC, a larger guerrilla group that made peace with the government in 2016, launched his candidacy for Colombia’s presidency.

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connotation英 [kɒnə'teɪʃ(ə)n] 美 [,kɑnə'teʃən] n. 内涵；含蓄；暗示，隐含意义 suspend英 [sə'spend] 美 [sə'spɛnd] vt. 推迟；使暂停；使悬浮 vi. 悬浮；禁赛  ELN哥伦比亚民族解放军 guerrilla英 [gə'rɪlə] 美 [gə'rɪlə] n.游击队 FARC哥伦比亚革命武装力量 candidacy英 ['kændɪdəsɪ] 美 ['kændədəsi] n. 候选资格；候选状态 presidency英 ['prezɪd(ə)nsɪ] 美 ['prɛzɪdənsi] n. 总统（或董事长、会长、大学校长等）的职位（任期）；管辖；支配

Honduras’s president, Juan Orlando Hernández, was sworn in for a second term. Protesters who say the presidential election in November was rigged marched towards the stadium in which the ceremony was held. Security forces fired teargas at them.

【词汇】

Honduras英 [hɔn'djuərəs]n. 洪都拉斯（拉丁美洲国家） be sworn in 宣誓就职 protester 英 [prə'testə(r)] 美 [prə'tɛstɚ] n. 抗议者；反对者；持异议者 rigged [rɪgd] adj. 作弊的，以不正当手段操纵的 teargas ['tiəɡæs] n. 催泪性毒气 vt. 用催泪瓦斯袭击

Spirited opposition

Alexei Navalny, a Russian opposition leader, was briefly jailed in Russia to prevent him appearing at a rally at which he was to demand a boycott of the presidential election inMarch. Meanwhile, America’s Treasury department released a list of politicians and oligarchs with ties to Vladimir Putin. Those who appear on the list (which seemed almost identical to a similar list reported in Forbes) are not necessarily subject to sanctions.

【词汇】

spirited 英 ['spɪrɪtɪd] 美 ['spɪrɪtɪd] adj. 英勇的；生机勃勃的 rally 英 ['rælɪ] 美 ['ræli] vi. 团结；重整；恢复；（网球等）连续对打 vt. 团结；集合；恢复健康、力量等 n. 集会；回复；公路赛车会 boycott 英 ['bɒɪkɒt] 美 ['bɔɪkɑt] vt. 联合抵制；拒绝参加 n. 联合抵制 Treasury department 财政部  politician 英 [pɒlɪ'tɪʃ(ə)n] 美 [,pɑlə'tɪʃən] n. 政治家，政客 oligarch 英 ['ɒlɪgɑːk] 美 ['ɑlə'gɑrk] n. 寡头政治执政者 tie to 依赖、依靠  subject to 使服从；使遭受；受…管制 sanction英 ['sæŋ(k)ʃ(ə)n] 美 ['sæŋkʃən] n. 制裁，处罚；认可；支持 vt. 制裁，处罚；批准；鼓励  

Defying the polls, the Czech Republic’s Eurosceptic president, Milos Zeman, was reelected in a tight second round of voting. The Speaker of Catalonia’s parliament postponed a session that had been expected to reinstate the separatist Carles Puigdemont as president of the region, prolonging a tense stand-off with the Spanish central government in Madrid.

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Defy英 [dɪ'faɪ] 美 ['difaɪ]vt. 藐视；公然反抗；挑衅；使落空 n. 挑战；对抗 poll 英 [pəʊl] 美 [pol] n.投票、民意调查 v.投票 Czech Republic n. 捷克共和国 Eurosceptic n. 欧洲怀疑论者，指反对欧洲一体化者 parliament 英 ['pɑːləm(ə)nt] 美 ['pɑrləmənt] n. 议会，国会 postpone 英 [pəʊs(t)'pəʊn; pə'spəʊn] 美 [po'spon] vt. 使…延期；把…放在次要地位；把…放在后面 vi. 延缓，延迟；延缓发作 reinstate 英 [riːɪn'steɪt] 美 [,riɪn'stet] vt. 使恢复；使复原 prolong 英 [prə'lɒŋ] 美 [prəˈlɑ:ŋ]vt. 延长；拖延 stand-off n. 平衡；冷淡 Madrid英 [məˈdrɪd] 美 [mə'drɪd] 马德里（西班牙首都）

The government of Ireland decided to hold a referendum before the end of May on whether to legalise abortion. Leo Varadkar, the prime minister, said he would campaign to repeal the Eighth Amendment of the constitution, which gives equal status to the life of a fetus and its mother.

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referendum 英 [,refə'rendəm] 美 [,rɛfə'rɛndəm] n. 公民投票权；外交官请示书 legalise ['li:ɡəlaiz] vt. 使合法化 abortion英 [ə'bɔːʃ(ə)n] 美 [ə'bɔrʃən] n. 流产，堕胎；流产的胎儿；（计划等）失败，夭折 repeal 英 [rɪ'piːl] 美 [rɪ'pil] vt. 废除；撤销；废止；放弃；否定 n. 废除；撤销 amendment 英 [ə'men(d)m(ə)nt] 美 [ə'mɛndmənt] n. 修正案；改善；改正 constitution 英 [kɒnstɪ'tjuːʃ(ə)n] 美 ['kɑnstə'tʊʃən] n. 宪法；体制；章程；构造；建立，组成；体格 fetus英 ['fiːtəs] 美 ['fitəs] n. 胎儿

As speculation swirled about her party plotting to depose her as prime minister, Britain’s Theresa May visited China to beat the drum for closer post-Brexit trade relations. Mrs May is under pressure to contain the battle raging in the Conservative Party between “hard” and “soft” Brexiteers.

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Speculation 英 [,spekjʊ'leɪʃn] 美 [,spɛkju'leʃən] n. 投机；推测；思索；投机买卖 swirl英 [swɜːl] 美 [swɝl] n. 漩涡；打旋；涡状形 vi. 盘绕；打旋；眩晕；大口喝酒 vt. 使成漩涡 plot to 密谋 depose 英 [dɪ'pəʊz] 美 [dɪ'poz] vt. 免职；作证；废黜 vi. 宣誓作证 beat the drum for 鼓吹、为...大力宣传 contain 英 [kən'teɪn] 美 [kən'ten] vt. 包含；控制；容纳；牵制（敌军）vi. 含有；自制 Conservative Party保守党 Brexiteer英国脱欧支持者

A princely sum 

Saudi Arabia said that a crackdown on corruption had raked in $107bn for the government. Prominent princes and businessmen had been detained at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Riyadh until they agreed to hand over a portion of their wealth.

【词汇】

a princely sum巨款 Saudi Arabia沙特阿拉伯 crackdow英 ['krækdaʊn] 美 ['krækdaʊn] n. 镇压；（美）制裁；强制取缔；惩罚 corruption 英 [kə'rʌpʃ(ə)n] 美 [kə'rʌpʃən] n. 贪污，腐败；堕落 rake in迅速敛财 detain 英 [dɪ'teɪn] 美 [dɪ'ten] vt. 拘留；留住；耽搁 Ritz-Carlton Hotel 丽思卡尔顿酒店 Riyadh 利雅得（沙特首都）  hand over 交出、移交

Separatist forces in Yemen captured most of the port city of Aden from the government, splitting an alliance formed to fight Houthi rebels in the north who occupy the Yemeni capital, Sana’a.

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port city港口城市 Houthi rebel胡塞武装 Yemeni也门人的

White commercial farmers in Zimbabwe are to be allowed to rent their land on 99-year leases, instead of a maximum term of five years, as the government tries to revive investment. The policy marks a reversal from that of Robert Mugabe, who was deposed as president last year and who had forced thousands of white farmers off their land.

【词汇】

Zimbabwe英 [zim'bɑ:bwei; -wi]n. 津巴布韦 lease英 [liːs] 美 [lis] n. 租约；租期；租赁物；租赁权 vt. 出租；租得 revive 英 [rɪ'vaɪv] 美 [rɪ'vaɪv]vi. 复兴；复活；苏醒；vt. 使复兴；使苏醒；回想起；重播

Officials at the African Union accused China of bugging its headquarters and hacking into its computer system. The AU’s headquarters, and its computer systems, were a gift from China to the organisation, which is based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

【词汇】

African Union非洲联盟 bug英 [bʌg] 美 [bʌɡ] n. 臭虫；故障；窃听器 vt. 烦扰，打扰；装窃听器 vi. 装置窃听器；打扰 Addis Ababa亚的斯亚贝巴（埃塞俄比亚首都）Ethiopia英 [ˌi:θɪ'əʊpɪə] 美 [,iθɪ'opɪr] n. 埃塞俄比亚

Some turbulence ahead

A dispute escalated between China and Taiwan over the opening of new civil-aviation routes by China in the Taiwan Strait, without asking Taiwan’s government. Taiwan responded by refusing permission for two Chinese carriers, China Eastern and Xiamen Airlines, to lay on 176 extra round-trip flights across the strait in February during the lunar new-year holiday.

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 turbulence英 ['tɜːbjʊl(ə)ns] 美 ['tɝbjələns] n. 骚乱，动荡；[流] 湍流；狂暴 civil-aviation民用航空 lay on加...于人、猛攻

Officials in Hong Kong barred two people from standing in a by-election that is due to be held in March for having expressed support for the territory’s self-determination.

【词汇】

bar vt.禁止 by-election n. 递补选举 self-determination自主权

A bomb placed in a fake ambulance killed more than 100 people in Kabul. Islamic militants also attacked an army base in the Afghan capital, killing 11 soldiers.

【词汇】

militant英 ['mɪlɪt(ə)nt] 美 ['mɪlɪtənt] adj. 好战的 n. 富有战斗性的人；好斗者；激进分子 army base陆军基地

Malaysia’s highest court ruled that the consent of both parents is needed before a child can convert from one religion to another, closing a legal loophole whereby a Muslim parent could win a custody battle with a non-Muslim spouse by having their children declared Muslim. The ruling is a rare instance of Malaysia’s civil courts standing up to Islamic ones.

【词汇】

consent 英 [kən'sent] 美 [kən'sɛnt] vi. 同意；赞成；答应 n. 同意；（意见等的）一致；赞成 legal loophole法律漏洞 custody 英 ['kʌstədɪ] 美 ['kʌstədi] n. 保管；监护；拘留；抚养权

A trove of top-secret documents turned up in a consignment of second-hand furniture that had once belonged to the Australian government. Among the secrets revealed were several other instances when officials had been careless with important papers.

【词汇】

trove 英 [trəʊv] 美 [trov] n. 被发现的东西；收藏的东西 consignment 英 [kən'saɪnm(ə)nt] 美 [kən'saɪnmənt] n. 委托；运送；托付物