CNN 2011-04-10

It's Thursday, I'm Carl Azuz, this is CNN Student News. Today we going to talk about race that's out of this world. At least it's trying to get there. First up, we headed to Japan.

Officials are talking about sort of victory for workers at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The damaged one we've been talking about. Engineers have been fighting for nearly four weeks to keep the plant's nuclear reactors¹ from overheating. But they ran into another problem when radioactive water started leaking out into the ocean. Here, you can see the leak and the water flowing out of it.

That's the 'before' shot. Here's the 'after', no more leak. Workers were able to seal it up yesterday with a chemical compound they're calling glass.' The radiation levels in the water near the Fukushima Daiichi plant were already going down. But government officials say just because they were able to plug that leak doesn't mean they can be optimistic. They're worried about other leaks that might show up in other spots around the plant.

A quick update for you on Haiti's presidential election. Michel Martelly, you see right here, was declared the winner of the recent run-off election with more than 67% of the vote. Martelly has never been a politician before, he's a singer. But one analyst² said he represents the change that many Haitians have been calling for.

In Washington D.C, the clock is ticking down to midnight on Friday. Congress has until then to come up some sort of budget deal, either a new budget or extending the deadline for one. And if they don't, we are set for a government shutdown (n.). That doesn't mean that every part of the government turns off its lights. But if you're planning a trip to a national park or ***. Sorry, they'll be closed.

Government officials also say paychecks would stop for U.S. military forces, including troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Around 800,000 government employees would be in that same boat. They'd be asked to stay home and wouldn't get paid. Again, all of this is an 'if'. Congressional leaders are trying to work on a compromise and avoid a shutdown. But the two sides aren't holding back about their frustrations³.

Republicans refuse to take yes for answer. Every time we agree to meet in the middle, they move where the middle is.

Now we're gonna allow the Senate nor the White House to put us in a box where we have to make a choice between two bad options.

For you don't have your driver's licenses⁴ yet, you probably can't wait for the day when you get one. But your wallet, as all of the driversknow, might disagree. The cost of driving is going up. And some of the things make up that cost might not be what you would expecteven reallythink about. Karen Cafa explains how that adds up.

Every time you fill up the tank, there's bad reminder⁵, if you want to hit the road, it'll cost you. Higher gas prices might be the most obvious cost of owning (and) operating a car, but they're not the only numbers creeping upward. AAA's annual study of driving costs found that, on average, getting you where you need to go costs 3.4% more than last year. That's based on 15,000miles of driving the average standard ***, 58.5 cents per or total just under per year.

The biggest increase is the cost of tires up more than 15%, largely due to a rise in the cost of raw materials. Fuel costs up 8.6%. And depreciation⁶, the loss of your car's value that starts as soon as you drive off the dealer's lot up to 4.9%. A cost that many consumers don't think about because it doesn't have a price tag. That the greatest cost. It's something that you can willing to shop for cars that have low depreciation and save yourself considerably⁷.

The cost of insurance dropped on average for good drivers, as did maintenance. That's especially good news since regular maintenance can prevent pricy repairs down the road.

A lot of people might be inclined to save. Maybe not change oil or the tires, but just taking care of your car (are) can really make it last longer.

Maintenance also keep your car more efficient, maybe even saving you a little gas.

1 reactors   

起反应的人( reactor的名词复数 )； 反应装置； 原子炉； 核反应堆

参考例句：

• The TMI nuclear facility has two reactors. 三哩岛核设施有两个反应堆。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• The earliest production reactors necessarily used normal uranium as fuel. 最早为生产用的反应堆，必须使用普通铀作为燃料。

2 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

3 frustrations   

挫折( frustration的名词复数 )； 失败； 挫败； 失意

参考例句：

• The temptation would grow to take out our frustrations on Saigon. 由于我们遭到挫折而要同西贡算帐的引诱力会增加。
• Aspirations will be raised, but so will frustrations. 人们会产生种种憧憬，但是种种挫折也会随之而来。

4 licenses   

n.执照( license的名词复数 )v.批准，许可，颁发执照( license的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Drivers have ten days' grace to renew their licenses. 驾驶员更换执照有10天的宽限期。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Jewish firms couldn't get import or export licenses or raw materials. 犹太人的企业得不到进出口许可证或原料。 来自辞典例句

5 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

6 depreciation   

n.价值低落，贬值，蔑视，贬低

参考例句：

• She can't bear the depreciation of the enemy.她受不了敌人的蹂躏。
• They wrote off 500 for depreciation of machinery.他们注销了500镑作为机器折旧费。

7 considerably   

adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上

参考例句：

• The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
• The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。