美国有线新闻 CNN 2013-05-07

 Fridays are awesome¹. Welcome to CNN studentnews. My name is Carl Azuz. First up today, the U.S. and North Korea, you know,there has been a lot of attention between these countries. Right now, a U.S.citizen is in the North Korea jail. He has been sentenced to be held there for15 years. Kenneth Bae was arrested in North Korea back in November. He haddocuments that let me travel there legally. The North Korea officials say theycan admit hostile against that country, although they haven't given anydetails. U.S. government is calling for him to release immediately. Dan Rivershas more on the case and how it could play out.

 

There is curiously² little information aboutKeneth Bae online, just this Facebook page started by his friends campaigningfor his release from the secretive regime. He has been jailed for 15 years hardlabor for quote his criminals and aimed to topple whole North Korea. Officialsnews agency claiming quote his criminals were proved by evidence possiblereference to material to material reportedly found on a hard drive. One ofBae's friends suggesting it may have been as innocuous as photos of or phansbegging. Whatever he has done or hasn't done, experts say he is now abargaining chip for new leader Kim Jong-un.

 

I think North Korea kind of looks as any U.S. citizens, in or round North Korea as a mere³ asset, a commodity that can betraded in the open market, and so Kenneth Bae was just at the wrong place at the wrong time.

 

And Bae is not the first. Scenes like this are becoming all too familiar, cue emotional captive reunited with their families accompanied by a high profile politician. These was 2009, journalistsLaura Ling and Euna Lee celebrate freedom. Former president Bill Clinton takes the credit. A year later, it's a different former president Jimmy Carter withanother relieved American Aijalon Gomes. Kenenth Bae is the sixth American in the wrong place at the wrong time and North Korean may once again be holdingout for a high profile visitor before they gave him out.

 

What North Korea wants above all out is theentire one-on-one talks with the United States to gain concessions⁴ and get anend to punitive⁵ sanctions. They may see Kenneth Bae as the perfect way toachieve that aim.

 

With the announcement of their thirdsuccessful nuclear test in February, the states couldn't be higher. North Korea even threatened a preemptive nuclear strike during South Korea and U.S. wargames last month. Those maneuvers⁶ are over but it seems the brink⁷ ship is not.

 

From North Korea, we are coming back toNorth America. Our first stop is in Mexico. President Obama arrived there yesterday. He went to meet with Mexico President Enrique Pena Nieto and talkabout some of the issues that affect both their countries that includes security and immigration. Some people in Mexico City greeted President Obama's arrivalwith protest. Their angry about U.S. immigration policies. The latest estimates show that more than 11 million Mexicans live in the United States that includesan estimate 6 million who were in the U.S. illegally. U.S. and Mexico share a border. They do a lot of businesses with each other. We are talking about 500billion dollars worth of business last year. Mexico is the United States third biggest trade partner. The U.S. is Mexico's top trade partner. So businesses in these countries economy were likely to be big subjects of discussion yesterday.Just like they were when President Obama met with Pena Nie to at the White House last year.

 

Our next story takes us to SouthernCalifornia where hundreds of fire fighters are dealing⁸ with at least two wildfires. And an acre, for reference, is about the same size as a football field.As of yesterday, these fires had burnt across more than 60,000 acres. Some crews are working from the air, they are using helicopters to drop water and chemicals on the flames, trying to get these things under control. Part of the problem is that southern California has only gotten a couple inches of rain this year. It doesn’t get a lot to start with, but it’s gotten less than usual.That’s left the area dry, and officials say that plus strong winds and warm weather can create extreme fire behavior. 

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 curiously   

adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地

参考例句：

• He looked curiously at the people.他好奇地看着那些人。
• He took long stealthy strides. His hands were curiously cold.他迈着悄没声息的大步。他的双手出奇地冷。

3 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

4 concessions   

n.（尤指由政府或雇主给予的）特许权( concession的名词复数 )；承认；减价；（在某地的）特许经营权

参考例句：

• The firm will be forced to make concessions if it wants to avoid a strike. 要想避免罢工，公司将不得不作出一些让步。
• The concessions did little to placate the students. 让步根本未能平息学生的愤怒。

5 punitive   

adj.惩罚的，刑罚的

参考例句：

• They took punitive measures against the whole gang.他们对整帮人采取惩罚性措施。
• The punitive tariff was imposed to discourage tire imports from China.该惩罚性关税的征收是用以限制中国轮胎进口的措施。

6 maneuvers   

n.策略，谋略，花招( maneuver的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He suspected at once that she had been spying upon his maneuvers. 他立刻猜想到，她已经侦察到他的行动。 来自辞典例句
• Maneuvers in Guizhou occupied the Reds for four months. 贵州境内的作战占了红军四个月的时间。 来自辞典例句

7 brink   

n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿

参考例句：

• The tree grew on the brink of the cliff.那棵树生长在峭壁的边缘。
• The two countries were poised on the brink of war.这两个国家处于交战的边缘。

8 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。