CNN 2009-02-10

Hey, there, good to see you, from the CNN center in Atlanta, I’m Virginia Cha. Thanks for checking in with us today. Here is a look at what’s happening NOW IN THE NEWS.

Oh, some deadly brush fires done under some perhaps intentionally¹ set. Australia’s prime minister calls it “mass murder”. The death toll² from the devastating³ blaze stands at more than 150 right now. Many of the residents that did make it out watched as their homes burned. “All I've got left is what I stand up in and my bag and my house, my house for 25 years. It’s gone. I've worked so hard to get that house” A harrowing ordeal⁴, at least half a million acres have been blackened, more than 800 homes destroyed. Arson⁵ investigators⁶ are under, they are underway launching an investigation⁷, trying to figure out how the fires might’ve been set.

A major fire lighting⁸ up the sky in Beijing, our i-reporters captured these pictures as an unoccupied luxury hotel burned and no one was inside. There are no injuries. It happened in the final hours of the Chinese Lunar New Year as people set off fireworks across the city.

The search is  underway to find the crew of a small plane that crashed near Puerto Rico last night. The U.S. Coast Guards says it found some debris⁹ that may be from that plane, but it's still looking for the six people who were on board. The private plane crashed in the ocean last night on the way from the Dominican Republic.

President Obama going on the road to try to sell his economic stimulus¹⁰ plan, Mr. Obama will travel to Elkhart, Indiana today which has been hit hard by unemployment. Meantime debate is continuing in the Senate on that economic stimulus plan, some Republicans criticizing the now 800- billion-dollar stimulus package, saying it spends too much and will lead to a quote “financial disaster”.

The car company Nissan says it is cutting its workforce¹¹ by 20,000. The automaker is also eliminating bonuses for the company board of directors and reducing board member salaries by 10%. Nissan’s CEO says the company’s planners’ worse expectations about the world economy have been met or surpassed.

We invite you to stick around with us here at CNN.com for news 247 from all around the world. Of course, we will have updates for you right here throughout the day.

1 intentionally   

ad.故意地，有意地

参考例句：

• I didn't say it intentionally. 我是无心说的。
• The local authority ruled that he had made himself intentionally homeless and was therefore not entitled to be rehoused. 当地政府裁定他是有意居无定所，因此没有资格再获得提供住房。

2 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

3 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

4 ordeal   

n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验

参考例句：

• She managed to keep her sanity throughout the ordeal.在那场磨难中她始终保持神志正常。
• Being lost in the wilderness for a week was an ordeal for me.在荒野里迷路一星期对我来说真是一场磨难。

5 arson   

n.纵火，放火

参考例句：

• He was serving a ten spot for arson.他因纵火罪在服十年徒刑。
• He was arraigned on a charge of arson.他因被指控犯纵火罪而被传讯。

6 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

8 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

9 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

10 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

11 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。