美联社新闻一分钟 2006-09-24

1. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says President Bush may want to kill him for calling Bush a devil at the UN. Chavez spoke¹ before a crowd in his native country. He said friends in the US have told him that "They have condemned² me to death.”, but wouldn't elaborate.

2. Officials from several countries say there's no evidence terror leader Osama Bin³ Laden⁴ has died of typhoid. A French newspaper reported on what it says is an intelligence document that says Saudi officials are convinced Bin Laden is dead. The French government says the report is speculative⁵ and in no way confirmed.

3. Severe weather has claimed the lives of at least seven people across the country. In Midwest and South, high winds and heavy rains have done damage. In Kentucky, two women died when they were swept away while trying to cross a flooded roadway.

4. Ramadan has started for Muslims in some Arab countries. The holy month is a time to reflect on the personal, not the material. From sunup to sundown, Muslims do not eat, drink, smoke, or have sex. This is the month Muslims believe the Koran was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad.

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. elaborate : verb
If you elaborate on something that has been said, you say more about it, or give more details.

2. typhoid : n-uncount
Typhoid or typhoid fever is a serious infectious disease that produces fever and diarrhoea and can cause death. It is spread by dirty water or food.

3. claim : verb
If you say that a war, disease, or accident claims someone's life, you mean that they are killed in it or by it..

4. reflect on : phrasal verb
When you reflect on something, you think deeply about it.

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

3 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

4 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

5 speculative   

adj.思索性的，暝想性的，推理的

参考例句：

• Much of our information is speculative.我们的许多信息是带推测性的。
• The report is highly speculative and should be ignored.那个报道推测的成分很大，不应理会。