美联社新闻一分钟 2006-09-23

1. Health officials are investigating two more deaths possibly linked to taint¹ed spinach³. A Maryland woman who was infected with E. coli died September, 13th. An Idaho toddler died Wednesday from a kidney disease associated with the deadly bacteria. Both had eaten spinach.

2. Police in east St. Louis are searching for three young children whose mother was killed, and apparently⁴ had her fetus⁵ cut from her womb. Jimella Tunstall's kids were last seen Monday. Police have a person of interest in custody⁶.

3. President Bush says he was taken aback at a report that US threatened to bomb Pakistan after 9/11 if it didn't cooperate in the war on terror. General Pervez Musharraf says the threat came from then Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage who says there was no such threat.

4. A member of the space shuttle Atlantis crew collapsed⁷ twice Friday during a welcome-home ceremony in Houston. Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper joked with the crowd, "boy! If that's not a little embarrassing" before she collapsed a second time. NASA officials say it's not unusual for astronauts returning from space to become faint.

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. taint: verb
If an unpleasant substance taints⁸ food pr medicine, the food or medicine is spoiled or damaged by it.

2. toddler: n-count
A toddler is a young child who has only just learned to walk or who is still walks unsteadily with small, quick steps.

3. fetus: n-count
A fetus is an animal or human being in its later stages of development before it is born.

4. womb: n-count
A woman's womb is the part inside her body where a baby grows before it is born.

5. take aback: phrase
If you are taken aback by something, you are surprised or shocked by it and you cannot respond at once.

1 taint   

n.污点；感染；腐坏；v.使感染；污染

参考例句：

• Everything possible should be done to free them from the economic taint.应尽可能把他们从经济的腐蚀中解脱出来。
• Moral taint has spread among young people.道德的败坏在年轻人之间蔓延。

2 tainted   

adj.腐坏的；污染的；沾污的；感染的v.使变质( taint的过去式和过去分词 )；使污染；败坏；被污染，腐坏，败坏

参考例句：

• The administration was tainted with scandal. 丑闻使得政府声名狼藉。
• He was considered tainted by association with the corrupt regime. 他因与腐败政府有牵连而名誉受损。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 spinach   

n.菠菜

参考例句：

• Eating spinach is supposed to make you strong.据说吃菠菜能使人强壮。
• You should eat such vegetables as carrot,celery and spinach.你应该吃胡萝卜、芹菜和菠菜这类的蔬菜。

4 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

5 fetus   

n.胎，胎儿

参考例句：

• In the fetus,blood cells are formed in different sites at different ages.胎儿的血细胞在不同时期生成在不同的部位。
• No one knows why a fetus is not automatically rejected by the mother's immune system. 没有人知道为什么母亲的免疫系统不会自动排斥胎儿。

6 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

7 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

8 taints   

n.变质( taint的名词复数 )；污染；玷污；丑陋或腐败的迹象v.使变质( taint的第三人称单数 )；使污染；败坏；被污染，腐坏，败坏

参考例句：

• Meat taints readily in hot weather. 天气炎热，肉容易变味。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This disease of money and greed taints other people. 别人会为了贪财争赃而丧心病狂。 来自辞典例句