美联社新闻一分钟 2006-12-15(在线收听

1. Democratic Senator Tim Johnson is in critical condition after undergoing emergency surgery to repair bleeding inside his brain. His illness leaves many wondering if Democrats will lose their newly-won control of the Senate.

2. One of the three stranded climbers lost on an Oregon mountain in billowing snow has been turning his cell phone on and off. T-Mobile receives signals from the climber's phone, raising hopes for his rescue.

3. A sweeping police inquiry on Thursday ruled out a murder conspiracy in Princess Diana's death, saying the chauffeur in the 1997 car crash was drunk and driving at a high speed. The report also said Diana was not pregnant at the time of the crash, nor was she about to marry her boyfriend Dodi Fayed.

4. In a startling turnaround, breast cancer rates in the US dropped dramatically in 2003, and experts believe it's because many women stopped taking hormone pills. The 7.2% decline came a year after a big federal study linked menopause hormones to higher risk of breast cancer.

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. strand: verb
If you are stranded, you are prevented from leaving a place, for example because of bad weather.

2. billow: verb
When smoke or cloud billows, it moves slowly upwards or across the sky.

3. inquiry: n-count
An inquiry is an official investigation.

4. chauffeur: n-count
The chauffeur of a rich or important person is the man or woman who is employed to look after their car and drive them around in it.

5. turnaround: n-count
A turnaround is a sudden improvement, especially in the success of a business or a country’s economy.

6. menopause: noun
The menopause is the time during which a woman gradually stops menstruating, usually when she is about fifty years old.

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