美国有线新闻 CNN 2013-04-10

 And, of course, a big thank you to those Asiola High students for introducing today’s show. I am Carl Azuz. This week we’re starting off in Afghanistan.

 

The U.S. military mission in the country may be winding¹ down(松开；放松；摇下), but as we saw over this weekend, the violence in Afghanistan is not over. In one part of the country at least 11 Afghan children were killed as the result of a military operation on Saturday. That same day six Americans were killed. Five of them died when their convoy² was attacked by a suicide bomber³. Those Americans were delivering books to an Afghan school. One of them was Anne Smedinghoff. She was a diplomat⁴, someone who represented the U.S. government in Afghanistan. 

 

When I was in Afghanistan, she was part of my team. And she was someone who worked hard and put her life on the line, so that others could live a better life.

Heading back to the U.S. now to talk about the American economy and a report that came out last Friday. It tells us the national unemployment rate, how many jobs were added or lost in the previous months, and it’s one thing experts look at to get an idea of how the overall economy is doing. For March, the unemployment rate was 7.6 percent, that’s lower than a month before, but this isn’t necessarily good news. The report only counts people as unemployed⁵ if they are actively⁶ out there looking for work. Nearly 500,000 people stopped looking last months, and some experts say that’s why the unemployment rate went down. So how about jobs? The economy added 88,000 of those in March. That’s not good. Experts say it needs to add around 150,000 every month just to keep up with population growth.

 

It’s been a bit more than two years since a massive tsunami⁷ crashed in the parts of Japan, something unusual drifted across the Pacific and washed up in Washington State. It’s not this fishing boat, at least that’s not what unusual. It’s what’s inside. Stowing away in a bait box at the back were five fish and some other animals. They survived a 5,000 mile journey across the Pacific. Their container was open, and the part of the boat it was in was under water, so the fish could swim around outside their box, but still inside the boat. These species of fish are native to East Asia. Scientists don’t want them invading West Coast waters, so they are dissecting(解剖) all but one of the fish: they’re hoping to find out what these fish ate during the last two years. The last living fish will swim out the rest of its days in an aquarium⁸.

1 winding   

n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈

参考例句：

• A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
• The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。

2 convoy   

vt.护送，护卫，护航；n.护送；护送队

参考例句：

• The convoy was snowed up on the main road.护送队被大雪困在干路上了。
• Warships will accompany the convoy across the Atlantic.战舰将护送该船队过大西洋。

3 bomber   

n.轰炸机，投弹手，投掷炸弹者

参考例句：

• He flew a bomber during the war.他在战时驾驶轰炸机。
• Detectives hunting the London bombers will be keen to interview him.追查伦敦爆炸案凶犯的侦探们急于对他进行讯问。

4 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

5 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

6 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

7 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

8 aquarium   

n.水族馆，养鱼池，玻璃缸

参考例句：

• The first time I saw seals was in an aquarium.我第一次看见海豹是在水族馆里。
• I'm going to the aquarium with my parents this Sunday.这个星期天，我要和父母一起到水族馆去。