CNN 2012-02-27

 First up today.Authorities are investigating an accident that led to the death of seven US Marines.It happened Wednesday night when two military helicopters collided in mild-air.The crash took place during a training operations near a Marine¹ base in Arizona.Arizona governor said it's a reminder² that no military mission is ever routine,whether it's in combat or in training.The two helicopters that were involved in the crash were Super Cobra attack helicopter and a Huey utility chopper.The Marines on board were getting to deploy³ in Afghanistan and that's why they were training in Arizona because the terrain⁴ there is so similar to what they would experience overseas.The tension in parts of Pakistan doesn't look like it will ease up anytime soon.This, of course is related to the coalition⁵ forces,admitting that they accidentally burned some copies of the Quran,Islam's holly⁷ book.President Obama apologized yesterday to Afghanistan's president for the "error".

 

Meantime,hundreds of Afghans have been protesting for days.Sometimes outside the military bases in the country.Afghanistan officials who are investigating the situation have urged the protesters to avoid resorting to violence.

 

Two US troops were killed in Afghanistan on Thursday and a un-named official said the gunman is thought to have been acting⁸ in conjunction with the protests taking place outside the base.

 

Is this legit?The world"forensics"means the study a formal debate.This one is true.You might have heard about "Forensics" science but the word also applies to debates.

 

And it applies to an event held in Arizona Wednesday night.Another forensic⁹ foray,if you will,for the leading Republican presidential candidates.They got together for the 20th debate this campaign season and the last one before a bunch of up-coming primaries and caucuses¹⁰.Health care,the economy,and social issues were some of the big topics the candidates focused on and this was the first time, Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt⁶ Romney, former Senator Rick Santorum and Texas Representative Ron Paul shared a stage since the debate in Florida about a month ago and it was the last opportunity the candidates will have to face off against each other before next Tuesday's primaries in Arizona and Michigan. 

 

The eventual¹¹ Republican nominee¹² will face off against President Obama,the all but certain Democratic nominee.Yesterday,the president was focused on another issue that came up during Wednesday night's debate---energy.

 

This is something a lot of people are worried about especially as prices of the pump climb higher and higher.In fact,the average cost of a gallon of gas is up more than 10% over the last two months.

 

And during speech in Miami yesterday,President Obama talked about developing a policy that includes different sources of energy, like oil,nuclear,solar and wind.President said he will work to help Americans who were dealing¹³ with the rising cost of gas.

 

 

 

 

 

We are gonna look at every single aspect of gas prices because we know that the burden that is putting on consumers and we will keep taking as many as steps as we can in the coming weeks.

 

The Housing Industry is one of the big factors that experts look at when they are figuring now the US economy is doing.Now,this much we know,home sells are increasing.Good news,if you are looking to buy,but part of the reason for that increase is that home prices are incredibly low and that's of course, bad news if you already own a house.Christine Romans has a look at where things stand right now.

 

Home prices in this country are now the lowest they have been in a decade,since November,2001,that's the verdict from a national association of realtors.

 

This is what home prices look like：In January of 2012,last month,154,700 is the medium price of an existing home in this country.Take a look at how that has come down dramatically from the peak of 219,000 dollars in 2007.

 

Let's move forward,shall we?

 

Zillow says last year home prices were down nationwide almost 5% and this year,they could go down another 3.7%,that means overall home prices are still falling but look:all real-estates are local.It's different where you live and there are three categories here:places where home prices are still falling,where they are bottoming out and also where they are starting to rise.Let's look at zones that are still falling---Atlanta.This year,Zillow says,Atlanta home prices could go down another 8% change；Chicago as well,down more than 7%;Seattle,Sacramento, St. Louis,you get the picture,these are some of the areas,where home prices in this country are still falling.

 

Where are they bottoming out?Places like Dallas-Ft. Worth, San Diego, San Francisco,you could see small,very minor¹⁴ losses in home prices for the year,but for the most part,there's a feeling that those places,the worst price losses were behind this.

 

And where prices rising?Because there are some parts of the country where very low mortgage rates and a washout for all these foreclosures is proving some opportunity.Those are places like Baltimore,Riverside,California,even Phoenix,which had a real-estate crisis for several years,Los Angles and Washington,DC.

1 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

2 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

3 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

4 terrain   

n.地面，地形，地图

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• He knows the terrain of this locality like the back of his hand.他对这一带的地形了如指掌。

5 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

6 mitt   

n.棒球手套，拳击手套，无指手套；vt.铐住，握手

参考例句：

• I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日，我送给他一只棒球手套。
• Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。

7 holly   

n.[植]冬青属灌木

参考例句：

• I recently acquired some wood from a holly tree.最近我从一棵冬青树上弄了些木料。
• People often decorate their houses with holly at Christmas.人们总是在圣诞节时用冬青来装饰房屋。

8 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

9 forensic   

adj.法庭的，雄辩的

参考例句：

• The report included his interpretation of the forensic evidence.该报告包括他对法庭证据的诠释。
• The judge concluded the proceeding on 10:30 Am after one hour of forensic debate.经过近一个小时的法庭辩论后，法官于10时30分宣布休庭。

10 caucuses   

n.（政党决定政策或推举竞选人的）核心成员( caucus的名词复数 )；决策干部；决策委员会；秘密会议

参考例句：

• Republican caucuses will happen in about 410 towns across Maine. 共和党团会议选举将在缅因州的约410个城镇进行。 来自互联网

11 eventual   

adj.最后的，结局的，最终的

参考例句：

• Several schools face eventual closure.几所学校面临最终关闭。
• Both parties expressed optimism about an eventual solution.双方对问题的最终解决都表示乐观。

12 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

13 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。

14 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。