美联社一分钟新闻 2009-03-18（在线收听）

1. The White House says President Barack Obama is working closely with Congress to find ways to block the bonuses at AIG or recoup that money. Millions have gone to AIG executives despite the fact the insurance giant received billions in federal bailout money.

2. The family of a Connecticut woman attacked by a chimpanzee has filed a 50-million-dollar lawsuit against the primate's owner. The victim is badly disfigured and possibly brain-damaged.

3. Former 1970s radical Sara Jane Olson is a free woman again. She was released from prison Tuesday after serving seven years. She admitted taking part in a deadly bank robbery while she was a member of the Symbionese Liberation Army, most notorious for kidnapping newspaper heiress Patty Hearst.

4. It was a sea of green along New York's Fifth Avenue as tens of thousands of revelers turned out for New York's 248th annual St.Patrick's Day march.

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. disfigure: v.

If someone is disfigured, their appearance is spoiled.

2. St. Patrick’s Day: 圣帕特里克日

每年的3月17日是圣帕特里克日，这一天是为了纪念爱尔兰的守护神圣帕特里克而在他去世的日子设立的节日，也是爱尔兰的国庆日。如今，这个节日已经日渐国际化。全世界包括中国在内的众多国家都会庆祝圣帕特里克日。每年的爱尔兰国庆日人们都会穿戴绿色，那是爱尔兰国色。