CNN 2012-03-30

 First up today, we’re updating you on the crisis in Syria. You’ve heard us talk about this this year. It’s been going on for more than a year now. The United Nations estimates that more 9,000 people have been killed in the violence. Now, we might be seeing the first step towards peace in Syria. Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan whom you see right here, says Syria’s government has agreed to his plan to stop the violence. That would include an end to fighting and allowing humanitarian¹ aid in for the victims. The U.N. Security Council endorsed² Annan’s plan last week. He is urging Syria to put it into effect immediately. But as of yesterday, the fighting had not stopped. Some areas, like you see in this YouTube video, were being hit by artillery³ fire. Reports said at least 57 people were killed in Syria on Tuesday. 

 

Well, if you’ve been watching our show this week, you already know that the U.S. Supreme⁴ Court is hearing a case about President Obama’s 2010 health care reform law. One of the main reasons this is end up in front of the Supreme Court is a controversial part of the law called the individual mandate⁵. It says that by 2014 most Americans either have to buy health insurance or to face a financial penalty. Renee Marsh⁶ looks at the controversy⁷ surrounding this mandate. 

 

Protesters who’re for and against the Affordable⁸ Care Act gathered outside the Supreme Court building as a historic hearing is underway. President Obama signed the massive 2,700-page of Affordable Care Act to law in March, 2010. Parts of it are already in effect, like people with preexisting conditions are guaranteed coverage⁹ and most under the age of 26 can remain under their parents’ medical plan. But the main focus of the lawsuit¹⁰ is the requirement that almost every American purchases medical coverage by 2014 or faces a financial penalty. 

 

“If the court upholds that, could the federal government then order you to eat carrots?”

 

Opponents argued that forcing Americans to buy a commercial product is unconstitutional and what they call Obamacare gives too much power to the government. But the federal government argues everyone will need health care at some point, and currently tens of millions of the uninsured are costing taxpayers¹¹ and hospitals more, to the tune¹² of $43 billion in uncompensated costs just in 2008. 

 

“We’re going to be very glad they called it Obamacare. You’re going to see more people covered. You’re going to see savings¹³ in the health care system.”

 

It’s perhaps the most important Supreme Court challenge in more than a decade, with health care likely a big issue during this fall’s presidential election, all eyes are locked on the nation’s high court. 

 

It’s March 28, and on this day back in 1854, Britain and France declared war on Russia as part of the Crimean War. The conflict lasted nearly two and a half years. In 1881, P.T. Barnum and James Bailey merged¹⁴ their circuses to form the Greatest Show on Earth. And in 1979, a pressure valve failed to close at the Tree Mile Island nuclear power plant. That caused the worst accident in the history of the U.S. nuclear power industry. 

 

Checking out some other headlines happening today, starting with a wildfire that authorities say has killed at least two people. This thing is burning in Colorado in an area of mountains near the capital city of Denver. Imagine an area that covers around 4,500 football fields, if you can wrap your mind around that. That’s about how much this fire had already burned by yesterday afternoon. It already destroyed more than a dozen buildings. Hundreds of firefighters were trying to get the thing under control. And it actually started out as a controlled burn. That’s a fire that’s started on purpose to clear dead wood and brush. This one jumped outside of the controlled area. Then high winds and dry conditions helped it spread quickly. 

 

From Colorado, we’re heading down to the Gulf¹⁵ of Mexico. Researchers are exploring the impact of the massive oil spill that happened in the Gulf in 2010. A new report this week focused on a colony of coral that’s about 4,300 feet below the ocean’s surface. Scientists say this coral was covered in oil that had the same chemical makeup¹⁶ as oil from the well where the spill happened. This coral wasn’t near the well, though, it was about seven miles away. One of the researchers said it’ll probably be a while before the long-term impact of this oil spill is understood. But discoveries like this will help that process. 

 

This was the scene along the Japanese coastline when a massive earthquake and tsunami¹⁷ hit the country last year. Cars, houses, all sorts of debris¹⁸ washed out into the ocean. It didn’t stay near Japan, though. That debris traveled out into the Pacific and a year after the quake and tsunami, part of it showed up all the way over in Canada. For example, this fishing ship, it was spotted¹⁹ near British Columbia recently. Officials say other than some rust²⁰, it looks to be in pretty good condition. No one was steering²¹ or even on board. The tsunami had knocked it loose from its mooring²² and sent it drifting all the way across the Pacific.

1 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

2 endorsed   

vt.& vi.endorse的过去式或过去分词形式v.赞同( endorse的过去式和过去分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• The committee endorsed an initiative by the chairman to enter discussion about a possible merger. 委员会通过了主席提出的新方案，开始就可能进行的并购进行讨论。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The government has broadly endorsed a research paper proposing new educational targets for 14-year-olds. 政府基本上支持建议对14 岁少年实行新教育目标的研究报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

4 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

5 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

6 marsh   

n.沼泽，湿地

参考例句：

• There are a lot of frogs in the marsh.沼泽里有许多青蛙。
• I made my way slowly out of the marsh.我缓慢地走出这片沼泽地。

7 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

8 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

9 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

10 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

11 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

12 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

13 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

14 merged   

（使）混合( merge的过去式和过去分词 )； 相融； 融入； 渐渐消失在某物中

参考例句：

• Turf wars are inevitable when two departments are merged. 两个部门合并时总免不了争争权限。
• The small shops were merged into a large market. 那些小商店合并成为一个大商场。

15 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

16 makeup   

n.组织；性格；化装品

参考例句：

• Those who failed the exam take a makeup exam.这次考试不及格的人必须参加补考。
• Do you think her beauty could makeup for her stupidity?你认为她的美丽能弥补她的愚蠢吗？

17 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

18 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

19 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

20 rust   

n.锈；v.生锈；(脑子)衰退

参考例句：

• She scraped the rust off the kitchen knife.她擦掉了菜刀上的锈。
• The rain will rust the iron roof.雨水会使铁皮屋顶生锈。

21 steering   

n.操舵装置

参考例句：

• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration. 他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。
• Steering according to the wind, he also framed his words more amicably. 他真会看风使舵，口吻也马上变得温和了。

22 mooring   

n.停泊处；系泊用具，系船具；下锚v.停泊，系泊（船只）(moor的现在分词)

参考例句：

• However, all the best mooring were occupied by local fishing boats. 凡是可以泊船的地方早已被当地渔船占去了。 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译
• Her mind was shaken loose from the little mooring of logic that it had. 就像小船失去了锚，她的思绪毫无逻辑地四处漂浮，一会为这个想法难受，一会为那个念头生气。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹