Fuel crisis eases in Britain

英国石油危机已逐渐趋缓

Lodon - Britain's fuel crisis eased Thursday as several blockades ended at refineries and depots, but other protests continued - and one abruptly restarted after demonstrators learned that an oil company had raised its prices. The protesters won that round, as Esso quickly rescinded the increases. "Not all the protests are over. There's some way to go,"Prime Minister Tony Blair said. "It will be days before regular supplies get back to normal, even if the protests finish today."Elsewhere in Europe, there were also signs of an easing of the protests. In Belgium, protesting truck drivers agreed Thursday to lift the blockade of highways, fuel depots and city streets that has caused traffic chaos for five days. As some protesters declared a moral victory and went home, others refused to budge. Some returned to the scenes of abandoned blockades, hoping to stop the tankers again.

（伦敦） 英国数起炼油厂及加油站遭到封锁的事件暂告落幕，英国的石油危机在周四也渐趋缓和，不过仍有几起抗议活动仍持续进行中。其中有一起原已平息的抗议事件在示威群众得知一家石油公司调涨油价后，又突然爆发新一波的抗议活动。由于「埃索」石油公司迅速收回涨价的决定，抗议群众因此赢得这一回合的胜利。英国首相布莱尔表示：「并不是所有的抗议活动都结束了。我们还有很多事得处理。即使抗议活动今天结束了，但要恢复常态供油的正常水准也得花上好几天的时间。」欧洲其它地区的抗议活动也出现缓和的征兆。而参加抗议的比利时卡车司机周四已同意解除日前封锁高速公路、加油站及市区街道的活动，这次封锁行动五天来造成交通大乱。当一些抗议人士宣告赢得精神上的胜利回家后，其它人却仍无动于衷。还有一些人重回遭弃置的封锁现场，希望再次阻止油罐车进入.

abruptly 突然地
A: How did you bruise your arm?
你是怎么把手臂弄瘀青的？
B: I bumped it when the bus stopped abruptly.
我是在公车突然煞车的时候撞伤的。

Russia joined five leading Western powers on Thursday in calling on Yugoslavia to respect democratic norms and warning Belgrade to refrain from political violence in Serbia or against Montenegro.

俄罗斯周四加入五个西方主要国家的行列，同声呼吁南斯拉夫尊重民主规范，并警告贝尔格勒当局不要在塞尔维亚及蒙地内哥罗境内进行政治迫害.

refrain from 避免
A:Why aare you drinking so much coffee today?
你今天为什么喝这么多咖啡。
B: I'm just trying to refrain from drowsing at work.
我只是试着别在工作时打瞌睡而已。

Hungry refugees displaced by the two-year civil war in neighboring Congo and forced to eat small apes threaten to wipe out the chimpanzee population in western Uganda, a conservationist said Thursday.

一名保育人士周四表示，乌干达西部的人民因邻国刚果长达两年的内战而流离失所，饥民被迫以小型黑猩猩果腹，此举已威胁到黑猩猩族群的生存。