CNN 2010-12-05

How can a video game of sorts help train you for real life? That answer's coming up in this Thursday edition of CNN Student News. Hello, everybody, and welcome! My name is Carl Azuz. Let's get started.

First up, it's "The Moment of Truth" for some ideas about how to lower the country's debt. Right now, it is gigantic; the U.S. owes nearly $14 trillion. President Obama put together a commission of 18 people to come up with ideas about how to lower that debt. This group is made up of Democrats¹ and Republicans, so it is bipartisan. Yesterday, it released some ideas in a report titled "The Moment of Truth." These ideas include things like cutting spending, changing some taxes, and maybe even holding a one-year income tax holiday. The commission says these proposals could lower the debt by $4 trillion over the next 10 years.

Here's the thing: they might not be too popular. Politicians who tend to be more liberal usually are against spending cuts. Politicians who tend to be more conservative might not like some ways it proposes to increase revenues. But just because the commission suggests something doesn't mean it's gonna happen. In fact, the commission can't officially make a recommendation to Congress unless at least 14 members vote for it. A lot of experts don't think that's gonna happen, since these ideas are controversial. And even if the recommendations do get made, Congress doesn't have to take them. If they become law, none of the ideas would start until at least 2012.

President Obama seems to be changing his mind about drilling in the Gulf² of Mexico. Back in late March, he said he was planning to open up the Gulf region to oil and natural gas drilling. Now, he's saying he won't allow any new drilling in parts of the Gulf for at least seven years. A big reason for the change: this, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history. It's forcing the government to reconsider safety standards in the drilling industry. This new ban isn't good news to some officials and people who live around the Gulf, though. They say it'll hurt oil and gas workers in a region that's already suffering.

Parts of the U.S. are cleaning up after severe weather brought heavy rains and floods this week. It stretched from the Southeast all the way up to New York and into New England. At least two people were killed. And here in Georgia, roads were closed, trees and power lines knocked down. Officials confirmed that a tornado³ ripped across the metro⁴ Atlanta area. It did the most damage in a town called Buford. That is where Jacqui Jeras is to check out the impact of this storm.

1 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

3 tornado   

n.飓风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• A tornado whirled into the town last week.龙卷风上周袭击了这座城市。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。

4 metro   

n.地铁；adj.大都市的；(METRO)麦德隆(财富500强公司之一总部所在地德国，主要经营零售)

参考例句：

• Can you reach the park by metro?你可以乘地铁到达那个公园吗？
• The metro flood gate system is a disaster prevention equipment.地铁防淹门系统是一种防灾设备。