美国有线新闻 CNN 2012-09-13

 　　Thousands of teachers in Chicago didn'tstart their week in the classroom. They were here, you are about to find outwhy, because that's story is the first up in today's edition of CNN studentnews.

　　Chicago has the third largest district inthe United States. A lot of schools didn't open yesterday, and that's becausethe Teachers Union which represents nearly 30,000 Chicago teachers and otherschool staff went on strike, that means around 350,000 students had anunplanned day off on Monday.

　　The Union has been negotiating with cityofficials on a new contract. As of yesterday, they had not reached the deal,teacher salaries are part of the issue here. The two sides are pretty close onthat, the biggest sticking point seems to be over job security for teachers,and how they are evaluated. Even though they hadn't made an agreement, the cityand the teachers union have both talked about the progress being made. And someparents are angry about the situation.

　　"I believe that what has beendiscussed over the last 100 plus meetings over five months, over 400 hours, isan agreement that is an honest compromise, that respects our teachers, doesright by our kids, and is fair to our taxpayers¹.""We're here to negotiate for betterschools in Chicago, period, the end, and a fair contract to go along withthat.""My kid is at home missing out on allthe education, so now they get to go home and play around and pretend like thisa is a fun day. This ain't fun for nobody."For Americans and for many people aroundthe world, today is a day of mourning and remembrance. Eleven years ago, onSeptember 11th, 2001, terrorist attacks claimed the lives of nearly 3,000people. Most of those were killed in New York City, where hijackers flew twoplanes into the World Trade Center's Twin Towers. Every year since then,mourners gather at the memorial site, that's been built in that same location.Others pay tribute in Washington D.C, like in this video from last year. That'swere a third hijack² plane crashed into the Pentagon building. A fourth planecrashed in Shanks Ville, Pennsylvania, after passengers tried to disrupt thehijackers. A memorial has been built there as well. The 9.11 terrorist attacksled to the war in Afghanistan. That's because the Taliban, the militant³ groupthat was running most of Afghanistan in 2001, allowed members of the Al-Qaedaterrorist group to live and trained there. Now, U.S and other internationalforces are gradually turning control over Afghanistan. Back over the Afghanauthorities, what you are seeing is another sign of that handover. Americantroop is transferring a prison at Bagram Air Base over to Afghan control. TheUS didn't turn over all of the prisoners though, it held on to a handful ofthat is considers high value members of the Taliban. Until unspecified USconcerns are addressed by Afghan leaders. This transfer of power is happeningall over Afghanistan. Ann Coren examines how that's going in the role that theTaliban is playing.

　　After the foothills of Sayad Abad incentral Afghanistan, smoke rises from an army outpost. The smoldering⁴ ruinssignal of end of a battle, the Taliban plans to have won. They say US forceshanded over this post in Wadak province to the Afghan national army back in July.And after weeks of relentless⁵ fighting, the Taliban forced the army troops toflee. And the outpost is now under Taliban control. The spokesman for coalitionforces dismisses such claims, saying that while the transfer of power ishappening, there is no evidence to suggest Afghan forces are losing ground.

　　"This was sheer propaganda, and thisone of the few things that is left for the Taliban."But violence is on the rise across thiswar-ravaged country. Making the transition that much more difficult. UnderMount Darul Aman on the outskirts⁶ of Kabul, in between the ruins of the kingsand queens palaces destroyed during the civil war that followed the Sovietoccupation is the training headquarters for the Afghan national army, oftenreferred to as the ANA. It's here where army recruits learned to skills tofight the insurgency⁷. They used to be under the guidance of the British army.Now Brigadier Richard Dennis, the deputy commander of NATO's training missionis here as a guest.

　　"The Afghan National Army is doingbetter than we thought they would, and better they thought they could, and whatyou see behind me here is the evidence about of that."Well, this training school which are now90% Afghan led, are a positive sign this transition is working. There areserious concerns whether the Afghan forces, both army and police, will be readyto take over their nation security after the foreign combat troops leave herein 2014.

1 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

2 hijack   

v.劫持，劫机，拦路抢劫

参考例句：

• Most countries refuse to give sanctuary to people who hijack aeroplanes.大多数国家拒绝对劫机者提供庇护。
• The hijack take place just after the plane take off.劫持是飞机刚起飞后发生的。

3 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

4 smoldering   

v.用文火焖烧，熏烧，慢燃( smolder的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The mat was smoldering where the burning log had fallen. 燃烧的木棒落下的地方垫子慢慢燃烧起来。 来自辞典例句
• The wood was smoldering in the fireplace. 木柴在壁炉中闷烧。 来自辞典例句

5 relentless   

adj.残酷的，不留情的，无怜悯心的

参考例句：

• The traffic noise is relentless.交通车辆的噪音一刻也不停止。
• Their training has to be relentless.他们的训练必须是无情的。

6 outskirts   

n.郊外，郊区

参考例句：

• Our car broke down on the outskirts of the city.我们的汽车在市郊出了故障。
• They mostly live on the outskirts of a town.他们大多住在近郊。

7 insurgency   

n.起义；暴动；叛变

参考例句：

• And as in China, unrest and even insurgency are widespread. 而在中国，动乱甚至暴乱都普遍存在。 来自互联网
• Dr Zyphur is part an insurgency against this idea. 塞弗博士是这一观点逆流的一部分。 来自互联网