AP美联社一分钟新闻 2008-10-21（在线收听）

1. For the first time, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke says he supports the idea of a second stimulus package. The White House says President Bush is open to the idea of direct payments to Americans. Bernanke told Congress that the economy is likely to stay weak for several quarters.

 2. Republican John McCain told a crowd in Missouri not to count him out, even though Democrat Barack Obama is ahead in the polls. McCain says the national media have written him off before and have been wrong. Obama began a two-day swing to Florida, which twice went for George W. Bush.

 3. A school bus carrying two dozen preschool children overturned in Newark, New Jersey. Officials say it doesn't look like anyone was seriously injured.

 4. Police charged an 89-year-old Ohio woman with petty theft after she refused to give back a neighbor's football that ended up in her yard. Edna Jester said she would have eventually given it back. Other neighbors say there has been an ongoing dispute over where kids should and shouldn't be playing.

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. count out:  phr v.

to decide that someone or something is not important or worth considering.

 2. write off:  phr v.

If you write someone or something off, you decide that they are unimportant or useless and that they are not worth further serious attention.

 3. petty crime:

a crime that is not serious, for example stealing things that are not very valuable.