英语听力精选进阶版 9627

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Hi there, I'm Ricky from the BBC World News for Schools. It's Wednesday the 25th of May. 

Coming up: 

?Ash cloud causes travel chaos¹ in Germany. 

?New York bans smoking in parks. 

?And Facebook calls for the age limit to be lowered. 

First, Germany has been forced to cancel hundreds of flights because of that volcanic² ash cloud. All planes in and out of two of the country's main airports - Bremen and Hamburg airports have been grounded and two Berlin airports are set to close too. It's because of worries that the ash could make it into the planes engines and damage them. 

European flight officials are warning that Denmark, Norway and Sweden could also be affected³. 

Next - kids in Libya have been telling the BBC what it's like living with a war going on around them. A rebel army has been trying to remove the country's leader since February and that's led to a lot of violence. It's made going to school in some areas very difficult and some children have even lost family members. Some of these children are now going to special day centres where they can play... 

CLIP: "Because there's no school it was kind of boring, but now when the people opened this school we have a lot of fun here. We hope this dictatorship will go away and then we will have a better time, like it was before." 

Now to New York where smoking has been banned in loads of parks, beaches and even in Times Square. City officials say the ban is meant to make it safer for people who don't want to breathe in other people's smoke... 

CLIP: "Fifty-seven percent of non smoking New Yorkers have evidence in their blood that they've been exposed to second-hand⁴ smoke. We can't protect people from second-hand smoke everywhere, but we think we should atleast protect them from second-hand smoke in parks - which are places we set aside for people to enjoy in a healthy way." 

And for today's question we want to know what the tallest building in New York is? Yesterday we asked you for the name of the American President's personal jet - and the answer is...Air Force One! 

Now, Facebook founder⁵ Mark Zuckerberg says kids under 13 years old should be allowed on the social networking site. He wants to fight a law in America that stops anyone younger than 13 from logging on. He reckons using Facebook can be educational and it would be good for kids to start using at a young age. But some people worry that this could lead to more online bullying⁶ and think the current rules are there to help protect children. 

Finally, President Obama was guest of honour at a star-studded banquet hosted by the Queen at Buckingham Palace last night. Loads of VIPs were there, including Harry⁷ Potter actress Helena Bonham Carter. But there was a bit of a slip up when the band accidentally started playing the national anthem⁸ while Mr Obama was still toasting the Queen. Check it out... 

CLIP: "Raise your glasses as I propose a toast to the vitality⁹ of the special relationship between our peoples." 

Yikes - a bit embarrassing! 

OK, that's all from the World News for Schools team. We're back tomorrow.