美联社新闻一分钟 2006-12-16

1. Small size of hope for South Dakota Senator Tim Johnson. His spokesman says Johnson responded to his wife and held her hand. Johnson is recovering from brain surgery. If his illness proves fatal, power in the Senate could revert¹ to the Republicans.

2. Searchers looking for three lost climbers in Oregon will use a helicopter to help them. They found a note from the three men at a ranger² station listing the supplies they took with them up Mount Hood³. Rescue team members say the supplies could help them survive blizzard⁴ conditions.

3. A new twist in the Duke lacrosse rape⁵ scandal. The stripper who claims she was raped⁶ is pregnant and judges ordered a paternity test to see if any of the three players accused in the crime is the father of the child. The alleged⁷ rape happened in March. All the players say they are innocent.

4. America is better off having had Donald Rumsfeld as Defense⁸ Secretary. That's the praise from President Bush at Rumsfeld's resignation ceremony. He stepped down last month the day after Democrats⁹ won control of Congress.

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. ranger: n-count
A ranger is a person whose job is to look after a forest or a park.

2. blizzard: n-count
A blizzard is a very bad snowstorm with strong winds.

3. twist: n-count
A twist in something is an unexpected and significant development.

4. paternity: n-uncount
Paternity is the state or fact of being the father of a particular child. (FORMAL)

1 revert   

v.恢复，复归，回到

参考例句：

• Let us revert to the earlier part of the chapter.让我们回到本章的前面部分。
• Shall we revert to the matter we talked about yesterday?我们接着昨天谈过的问题谈，好吗？

2 ranger   

n.国家公园管理员，护林员；骑兵巡逻队员

参考例句：

• He was the head ranger of the national park.他曾是国家公园的首席看守员。
• He loved working as a ranger.他喜欢做护林人。

3 hood   

n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖

参考例句：

• She is wearing a red cloak with a hood.她穿着一件红色带兜帽的披风。
• The car hood was dented in.汽车的发动机罩已凹了进去。

4 blizzard   

n.暴风雪

参考例句：

• The blizzard struck while we were still on the mountain.我们还在山上的时候暴风雪就袭来了。
• You'll have to stay here until the blizzard blows itself off.你得等暴风雪停了再走。

5 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

6 raped   

v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的过去式和过去分词 )；强奸

参考例句：

• A young woman was brutally raped in her own home. 一名年轻女子在自己家中惨遭强暴。 来自辞典例句
• We got stick together, or we will be having our women raped. 我们得团结一致，不然我们的妻女就会遭到蹂躏。 来自辞典例句

7 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

8 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

9 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》