CNN 2011-01-18

It's the best day of the school-week and you're about to get a front-row seat to world headlines without a single commercial. In other words, CNN Student News. I'm Carl Azuz!

The giant American flag was recovered in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks in New York City. That was a little over nine years ago, the same day that Christina Green was born. She was one of the victims of a shooting last Saturday in Tucson, Arizona. So the flag was raised in Christina's honor with those who knew and loved the girl walking past it, on the way to a service to remember her. Five other people were killed in the shooting. Speaking at a memorial service for all of them on Wednesday night, President Obama said he wanted America to be as good as Christina envisioned it.

Here on Earth, we place our hands over our hearts, and we commit ourselves as Americans to forging¹ a country that is forever worthy² of her gentle, happy spirit. May God bless and keep those we've lost in restful and eternal³ peace. May He love and watch over the survivors⁵. And may He bless the United States of America.

Arizona Representative Gabrielle Giffords is a survivor⁴ of the shooting. She's one of six people still in the hospital, and the only one in critical condition. Wednesday, Giffords opened her eyes for the first time since the shooting and gave her husband a sign she could hear him.

Australia isn't the only country dealing⁶ with ravaging⁷ floodwaters right now. We're gonna take you to Brazil, South America, a nation in its summer rainy season. Rains that are out of hand in some places. We want you to look at this -- families that are in "extreme risk" of being washed away. This includes people in the mountains, and people near riverbeds, as landslides⁸, mudslides, and rising waters leave thousands homeless. Around 400 people have died, many are missing. Some families are living in schools and gyms. In some spots, the only dry areas you can see are roofs and tree-tops. And more rains are in the forecast. The country's government is taking some heat for poor disaster planning and allowing people to build homes in dangerous, mountain areas

1 forging   

锻炼，伪造

参考例句：

• The blacksmith is forging the horseshoe. 铁匠正在打造马蹄铁。
• They are forging ahead with their plans. 他们正在慢慢推行他们的计划。

2 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

3 eternal   

adj.永久的，无休止的，永恒的，永不改变的

参考例句：

• Stop this eternal chatter!不要唠叨个不停！
• Rome has been called the Eternal City.罗马一向被称为不朽之城。

4 survivor   

n.生存者，残存者，幸存者

参考例句：

• The sole survivor of the crash was an infant.这次撞车的惟一幸存者是一个婴儿。
• There was only one survivor of the plane crash.这次飞机失事中只有一名幸存者。

5 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

6 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

7 ravaging   

毁坏( ravage的现在分词 )； 蹂躏； 劫掠； 抢劫

参考例句：

• It is believed that in fatigue there is a repeated process of ravaging the material. 据认为，在疲劳中，有一个使材料毁坏的重复过程。
• I was able to capture the lion that was ravaging through town. 我能逮住正在城里肆虐的那头狮子。

8 landslides   

山崩( landslide的名词复数 )； （山坡、悬崖等的）崩塌； 滑坡； （竞选中）一方选票占压倒性多数

参考例句：

• Landslides have cut off many villages in remote areas. 滑坡使边远地区的许多村庄与外界隔绝。
• The storm caused landslides and flooding in Savona. 风暴致使萨沃纳发生塌方和洪灾。