CNN 2010-12-22

Hi, I'm Carl Azuz, and this is CNN Student News, where Fridays are awesome¹! This one, though, is a little sad, because it's actually our last show of 2010. Before we move ahead into 2011, we're going to look back at some of the biggest stories from this year. And we kick things off with today's headlines.

First up, a quick check of where things stand with some high-profile proposals in Congress. The tax cut deal: Thursday afternoon, that was with the House of Representatives. Some Democrats² were indicating that it would probably pass, despite being controversial. If that happens, everyone's taxes will stay at this current rate, where they are right now, for the next two years. The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or START, a new nuclear treaty between the U.S. and Russia. Treaties like this have to be approved by the U.S. Senate, and that group was getting ready to begin debating this proposal yesterday.

Finally, Don't Ask Don't Tell, the policy that bans homosexuals from serving openly in the U.S. military. The House voted to overturn that ban on Wednesday. Now, Don't Ask Don't Tell heads to the Senate. Congress is scheduled to go on break starting tomorrow. You can get the latest details on all of these proposals at CNN.com.

Over at the White House, there's a new report about how the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan is going. This comes out once a year, and this year's report seems to be fairly positive. And President Obama says the U.S. is making a lot of progress in the nine-year war in Afghanistan, although recent polls suggest that a growing number of Americans do not support the war.

The president says the goals that have been set for that conflict are on track. That includes the plan to start pulling troops out of Afghanistan in 2011. But the president acknowledged that the war is difficult. While U.S. and Afghan forces are making progress, he said those gains are fragile. The strategy report discussed the importance of a long-term commitment to helping³ that region of the world.

The president wants to improve the relationship between the federal government and Native American communities. He met with the leaders of 565 tribes at the White House conference yesterday to try and work on that. President Obama said he wants to get more input⁴ from the tribes about ways the U.S. government might be able to help them. That could include supporting education and health care on Native American reservations, for example, or making changes to the criminal justice system there. He says there's been some progress, but there needs to be more.

A lot of people looking to take a flight Wednesday were delayed by these winter storms that have been pounding parts of the United States. It's not even officially winter yet. You wouldn't know that by stepping outside, though. The National Weather Service put out winter storm warnings and advisories⁵ for more than a dozen states. Sandra Endo examines the impact of the cold.

1 awesome   

adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的

参考例句：

• The church in Ireland has always exercised an awesome power.爱尔兰的教堂一直掌握着令人敬畏的权力。
• That new white convertible is totally awesome.那辆新的白色折篷汽车简直棒极了.

2 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》

3 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

4 input   

n.输入(物)；投入；vt.把(数据等)输入计算机

参考例句：

• I will forever be grateful for his considerable input.我将永远感激他的大量投入。
• All this information had to be input onto the computer.所有这些信息都必须输入计算机。

5 advisories   

n.（有关进展、动向、建议等的）报告( advisory的名词复数 )；公告；通告；通报

参考例句：

• Compliance with Practice Advisories is optional. 是否遵守实务公告由审计师自行选择决定。 来自互联网
• Hardened-PHP: not as such a PHP security information website, but it does have security advisories. 增强PHP:不仅仅是一个PHP安全新的网站，它还提供安全建议。 来自互联网