AP美联社一分钟新闻 2009-01-22（在线收听）

1.President Barack Obama got down to work today, his first full day in office. Officials say he called a number of leaders in the Middle East, telling them he'll work to consolidate the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

2.Treasury Secretary-designate Timothy Geithner says he was careless in failing to pay 34,000 dollars in Social Security and Medicare taxes earlier this decade. But he told the Senate Finance Committee he now has paid all that he owes.

3.Senator Ted Kennedy has been released from the hospital. He suffered a seizure during an inaugural luncheon at the Capitol yesterday. Kennedy's office confirmed that he left Washington Hospital Center this morning where he had been resting.

4.Maybe these cowboys should give up their skis and keep their boots on. You are looking at the annual downhill cowboy skiing competition that involves slalom and lassoing skills. Of course that’s it if they can stay on their feet.

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1.seizure: n.

a sudden condition in which someone cannot control the movements of their body, which continues for a short time [= fit]

2.luncheon: n.

formal lunch

3.slalom: n.

a race for people on skis or in canoes down a curving course marked by flags

4.lassoing: n.

an act of using a lasso (a rope with one end tied in a circle) to catch cattle and horses, especially in the western US