VOA新闻听力100篇.pdf

: .
entists, politicians and even President Barack Obama, who welcomed them to the White House. These
high achievers were whittled down from nearly 2,000 contestants’ nationwide, representing excellence
across many disciplines.
News Item 5
The billionaires’ club is growing. Forbes magazine’s annual list shows there are now 1,210 billionaires
around the world—that is 199 more than last year. Although the world’s top three earners are unchanged
from last year, the newcomers in the list of the world’s richest did not come from the . or Western
Europe, but from Russia and the Asia Pacific region. Magazine chairman Steve Forbes says of the 200 new
1billionaires this year, the majority are from the BRIC countries—Brazil, Russia, India and China.
News Item 6
Defense attorneys for former Liberian president Charles Taylor say testimony from prosecution
witnesses is tainted by cash payments from a special fund provided by the United States. Mr. Taylor’s war
crimes trial is drawing to a close after more than three years. Defense attorney Terry Munyard says money
“lavished” on prosecution witnesses has polluted “the pure waters of justice.” He told the court that those
payments went far beyond the simple reimbursement of expenses and were used in such a way “as to taint
the testimony of some of the prosecution witnesses.”
News Item 7
Many world leaders are expressing shock and sympathy following the devastating earthquake and
tsunami in Japan, and are offering to assist the country as it struggles to recover from the disaster. .
President Barack Obama pledged assistance for what he called a potentially catastrophic disaster in Japan.
Mr. Obama called Japan one of America’s strongest allies and said the . is offering whatever assistance
is needed. . Defense