点击此处下载新闻RM格式文件：

点击此处下载单词RM格式文件：

Learning English - Words in the News
 
23 May, 2005 - Published 10:58 GMT
 
BBC strike
  
 
Journalists and technicians at the BBC began a 24-hour strike at midnight in protest at plans to cut thousands of jobs. Union leaders say thousands of workers will join the walkout today. The BBC has said it regrets the unions' decision and will do everything it can to broadcast programmes. This report from Torin Douglas:

Listen to the story
News output on radio, television and online is expected to face the severest disruption today. Union leaders say they believe flagship news programmes on BBC radio and television will not be broadcast, and twenty-four-hour news networks will be badly hit.
The three unions - the National Union of Journalists, BECTU and Amicus - say they expect the walkout to be joined by around eleven-thousand workers - out of a BBC staff of twenty-seven-thousand. They say plans to cut almost four-thousand jobs over three years are savage and will damage the BBC's output.

The BBC says the efficiency savings are vital for it to respond to rapid changes in technology and the money will be reinvested in programme services. It's told the unions the strike will damage its relations with the public.

Torin Douglas, BBC, London

Listen to the words
output
here, programmes

to face the severest disruption
to be badly affected ('to face' means 'to deal with')

flagship
main

walkout
strike

to cut
to reduce (the number of jobs)

savage
cruel, barbaric

damage
harm, result in lower quality

efficiency savings
reduction in money spent in order to be more productive with minimum waste of effort

reinvested in
put back into

免责声明：
牛津英语网为广大网友提供VOA和BBC等国外电台资料，目的是提高英语水平，请提高对其内容的判断能力，我们已尽全力保证资料符合《全国人大常委会关于维护互联网安全的决定》的要求，但我们不对其内容负责！