读BBC练习雅思阅读：汇丰银行大幅削减运营成本

　　新东方在线雅思网为大家带来了读BBC练习雅思阅读：汇丰银行大幅削减运营成本。文章包含词汇讲解和内容解析。希望以下内容能够为同学们的雅思备考提供帮助。新东方在线雅思网将第一时间为大家发布最新、最全、最专业的雅思报名官网消息和雅思考试真题及解析，供大家参考。

　　原文与译文BBC News with Charles Carroll.

　　One of the world's biggest banks, HSBC, has announced the first details of a major cost-cutting exercise. It's to sell its businesses in Brazil and Turkey, reduce its asset base and shrink its investment bank. Kamal Ahmed reports.

　　“Europe's largest bank has announced that it wants to be significantly smaller. HSBC has revealed that its UK operations will be hit hard as it battles to find over 3.2 billion pounds of cost-savings. Stuart Gulliver, the bank's chief executive, said that it was time to recognize the world had changed, and the growth in Asia had to be the new focus. The bank is selling businesses in Turkey and Brazil, and will look to reduce the value of its risky assets by 290 billion pounds. HSBC also said that it will make a decision on whether it will retain its headquarters in London by the end of the year.”

　　The Islamic State group has created a network of booby-traps, tunnels and barricades in Mosul to defend the Iraqi city against an offensive by government forces. A BBC investigation into life there one year after its capture by IS has found that the group now controls most aspects of life, from dress codes to schools, which residents say have been used to indoctrinate children. Mahmud spoke to the BBC.

　　“I came home one day and saw my little brother drawing their Islamic State's flag and humming one of their chants. I went crazy, I took the drawing and tore it to pieces. We immediately removed him from school, as we'd rather he has no education at all than one such as IS is trying to spread. I’ve come to the conclusion that the goal of this organization is to plant the seed of violence, hate and sectarianism into children's minds.”

　　The Hong Kong government has issued a red alert against travel to South Korea because of the outbreak of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome there. The warning advises against all non-essential travel, and indicates that the authorities believe visiting South Korea could pose a significant threat. The Health Ministry in Seoul says that seven people have now died from the outbreak of the respiratory disease.

　　A judge in the United States has ordered the release of Albert Woodfox, the last of the so-called “Angola Three” still in prison. Woodfox has been in solitary confinement for 43 years after the killing of a guard at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in 1972. Richard Hulls reports.

　　“Campaigners for the ‘Angola Three’ have always maintained there was no physical evidence to link them to the crime and all convictions have been overturned on numerous occasions. In his ruling, the judge said Albert Woodfox's poor health and the length of the time spent in solitary confinement had contributed to the decision to free him. No man in the US has ever spent as much time in solitary confinement as he has. With the exception of a six-month period in a secure dormitory in 2008, Albert Woodfox has spent all of the past 43 years incarcerated on his own.”

　　查尔斯·卡罗尔为你播报BBC新闻。

　　全世界最大银行之一汇丰银行宣布削减成本重大举措的首批细节，该公司将出售在巴西和土耳其的业务，减少资产基础，并收缩其投资银行。卡麦勒·艾哈迈德报道。

　　“欧洲最大银行宣布缩减规模，汇丰银行透露希望削减32亿美元的成本，其在英国的业务将受最大影响。银行总裁斯图尔特·格利佛表示，是时候承认世界已经不一样了，在亚洲的发展将是新重点。这家银行将出售在土耳其和巴西的业务，并希望减少2900亿英镑的风险资产。汇丰还表示将在年底之前决定是否保留其在伦敦的总部。”

　　伊斯兰国组织在曼苏尔创建了一个包含陷阱、隧道和路障的网络来加固这个伊拉克城市，用以对付政府军的进攻。该市已被伊斯兰国占领一年，BBC对当地的生活做了调查，发现该组织现在控制着当地生活的大多数方面，从着装规范到学校都被其所控制，当地居民称他们将这些规定灌输给了儿童。马哈茂德接受了BBC的采访。

　　“我有一天回到家，看到我的小弟弟画着IS的旗帜，哼着他们的口号。我都要疯了，我拿起画就撕了粉碎。我很快就让他退学了，我们宁愿他不接受教育，也不要接受IS灌输的东西。我的结论是，这个组织的目的是在儿童的思想里播下暴力、仇恨和宗派主义的种子。”

　　由于韩国爆发中东呼吸综合征(MERS)，香港政府对赴韩国旅行发布了红色预警，建议不要进行任何不必要的旅行，并表示当局认为赴韩国旅行会造成重大威胁。首尔卫生部称已有7人死于这场呼吸疾病。

　　美国法官下令释放人称“安哥拉三人党”中最后一个仍在监狱的阿尔伯特·伍德福克斯，他因1972年杀害路易斯安那州监狱警卫而被判43年的单独囚禁。理查德·赫尔斯报道。

　　“‘安哥拉三人党’的支持者一直坚称没有物证表明他们犯下罪行，且所有的定罪都已在无数情况下被推翻。在对他的判决中，法官称阿尔伯特·伍德福克斯的健康状况不佳和长期单曲囚禁使他最终决定释放他。美国没有哪个人像他那样被单独囚禁那么久，除了2008年在一个安全宿舍度过6个月的时间外，阿尔伯特·伍德福克斯过去43年都一直被单独囚禁。”

　　请词汇解释1.booby-trap n.饵雷 v.在微开的门上放一东西以惊打来人;设诡雷，布陷阱

　　Police were checking the area for booby traps.

　　警察在这一地区搜索饵雷。

　　2.indoctrinate vt. 灌输;教导

　　They have been completely indoctrinated.

　　他们完全被洗脑了。

　　3.sectarianism n. 宗派主义;教派意识

　　He condemned religious sectarianism.

　　他谴责宗派主义。

　　4.red alert 紧急警报，红色警报;应急状况

　　All the St. Louis hospitals are on red alert.

　　所有的圣路易斯医院都拉响了紧急警报。

　　5.confinement n. 限制;监禁;分娩

　　She had been held in solitary confinement for four months.

　　她曾被单独关押了4个月。

　　6.incarcerate vt. 监禁;下狱;禁闭 adj. 监禁的;禁闭的

　　They were incarcerated for the duration of the war.

　　他们在战争期间被监禁。

　　7.parachute n. 降落伞 vi. 跳伞，空投

　　They fell 41,000 ft. before opening their parachutes.

　　他们下落了41000英尺才打开他们的降落伞。

　　8.supersonic adj. 超音速的;超声波的 n. 超音速;超声波

　　There was a huge bang; it sounded like a supersonic jet.

　　发出一声巨响;听起来像一架超音速喷气式飞机。

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