美联社新闻一分钟 2005-07-26

1. British police release the names of two of the four men suspected of taking part in last week's failed bombings on London's transit¹ system.

2. In Egypt, police are searching for five Pakistani men in their widening probe into that country's deadliest terror attack on the Red Sea resort.

3. Sunni Arabs end a boycott² and rejoin the committee drafting Iraq's new constitution and a minibus blast kills at least twelve outside a Baghdad hotel.

4. American and North Korean negotiators hold a rare meeting ahead of six-nation disarmament talks on Pyongyang's nuclear program.

5. And with the countdown in its final hours, NASA says it's ready to bend long-standing safety rules to launch shuttle Discovery on Tuesday.

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. boycott :VB;boycott,boycotts³,boycotting,boycotted
If a country, group, or person boycotts a country, organization, or activity, they refuse to be involved with it in any way because they disapprove⁴ of it.
N-COUNT:oft N of/against/on n;boycott,boycotts
eg. Opposition⁵ leaders had called for a boycott of the vote.
eg. ...the lifting of the economic boycott against Israel.

2. disarmament :N-UNCOUNT;disarmament
Disarmament is the act of reducing the number of weapons, especially nuclear weapons, that a country has.
eg. The goal would be to increase political stability in the region and accelerate the pace of nuclear disarmament.

3. bend :VB;bend,bends,bending,bent
If you bend rules or laws, you interpret them in a way that allows you to do something they would not normally allow you to do.
eg. A minority of officers were prepared to bend the rules.

4. long-standing :ADJ-GRADED;long-standing
A long-standing situation has existed for a long time.
eg. They are on the brink⁶ of resolving their long-standing dispute over money.

1 transit   

n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过

参考例句：

• His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
• The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。

2 boycott   

n./v.(联合)抵制，拒绝参与

参考例句：

• We put the production under a boycott.我们联合抵制该商品。
• The boycott lasts a year until the Victoria board permitsreturn.这个抗争持续了一年直到维多利亚教育局妥协为止。

3 boycotts   

（对某事物的）抵制( boycott的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Their methods included boycotts and court action, supplemented by'sit-ins". 他们的主要方法包括联合抵制、法庭起诉，还附带进行静坐抗议。
• Are boycotts for other purposes illegal? 至于用于其它目的的联合抵制行动是否也是非法的呢？

4 disapprove   

v.不赞成，不同意，不批准

参考例句：

• I quite disapprove of his behaviour.我很不赞同他的行为。
• She wants to train for the theatre but her parents disapprove.她想训练自己做戏剧演员，但她的父母不赞成。

5 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

6 brink   

n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿

参考例句：

• The tree grew on the brink of the cliff.那棵树生长在峭壁的边缘。
• The two countries were poised on the brink of war.这两个国家处于交战的边缘。