美联社新闻一分钟 2006-10-03

1. A tragic¹ day in Pennsylvania Amish country. Police say a gunman killed at least 3 young girls in a schoolhouse. The suspect who police say killed himself reportedly told his wife he was seeking revenge for something that happened 20 years ago.

2. House Speaker Dennis Hastert says the Republican leadership did not know about lurid² instant messages between former Congressman³ Mark Foley and House pages from 2003. Hastert says he's disgusted and outraged⁴.

3. Iraq's government has extended its state of emergency in response to unrelenting violence. More than 19 people die today in bombings and shootings. Fifty bodies were found in just 24 hours. Gunmen kidnap 14 workers from computer shops near Baghdad's Technical University.

4. Two Americans have won the Nobel Prize for medicine. Craig Mello and Andrew Fire were recognized for discovering a way to turn off the effects of specific genes⁵. This could potentially give scientist a way to fight diseases from cancer to AIDS.

WORDS IN THE NEWS


1. schoolhouse : n
A building used as a school.

2. lurid : adj
Marked by sensationalism: a lurid account of the crime.

3. instant messaging : n
The transmission of an electronic message over a computer network using software that immediately displays the message in a window on the screen of the recipient⁶.

4. unrelenting : adj
Not diminishing in intensity⁷, pace, or effort.

1 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

2 lurid   

adj.可怕的；血红的；苍白的

参考例句：

• The paper gave all the lurid details of the murder.这份报纸对这起凶杀案耸人听闻的细节描写得淋漓尽致。
• The lurid sunset puts a red light on their faces.血红一般的夕阳映红了他们的脸。

3 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

4 outraged   

a.震惊的，义愤填膺的

参考例句：

• Members of Parliament were outraged by the news of the assassination. 议会议员们被这暗杀的消息激怒了。
• He was outraged by their behavior. 他们的行为使他感到愤慨。

5 genes   

n.基因( gene的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You have good genes from your parents, so you should live a long time. 你从父母那儿获得优良的基因，所以能够活得很长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Differences will help to reveal the functions of the genes. 它们间的差异将会帮助我们揭开基因多种功能。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术的世纪

6 recipient   

a.接受的,感受性强的 n.接受者,感受者,容器

参考例句：

• Please check that you have a valid email certificate for each recipient. 请检查是否对每个接收者都有有效的电子邮件证书。
• Colombia is the biggest U . S aid recipient in Latin America. 哥伦比亚是美国在拉丁美洲最大的援助对象。

7 intensity   

n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度

参考例句：

• I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings on this issue.我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋。
• The strike is growing in intensity.罢工日益加剧。