美联社新闻一分钟 2006-01-26

1. Former President Gerald Ford¹ has been released from a California hospital. Ford was admitted there two weeks ago for treatment of pneumonia². At age 92, Ford is the oldest living former president.

2. A Pennsylvania teen has pleaded innocent to killing³ his girlfriend's parents. 18-year-old David Ludwig stands accused of gunning down the girl's parents at their home last November. Ludwig's trial is scheduled to start September 5th. He faces the death penalty.

3. Early poll results show a win for the Palestinian Fatah party. The ruling party won the majority vote during parliamentary elections Wednesday. The elections mark the first time in a decade that Palestinians elected a new parliament.

4. It seems pop star Michael Jackson has found a new cover. The one-glove superstar was spotted⁴ outside a mall in Bahrain, completely veiled in a black robe worn by conservative Bahraini women. In tow were Jackson's three children, also covered with the traditional Muslim headscarves.

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. stand accused of :
If you stand accused of doing something wrong, people say that you have done it:
e.g. The government stands accused of eroding⁵ freedom of speech.

2. the death penalty :
the legal punishment of death for a crime:
e.g. She would like to see the return of the death penalty in Britain.

3. in tow :
If you go somewhere with a particular person in tow, they are with you:
e.g. She arrived at the party, with a tall, silver-haired man in tow.

1 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

2 pneumonia   

n.肺炎

参考例句：

• Cage was struck with pneumonia in her youth.凯奇年轻时得过肺炎。
• Pneumonia carried him off last week.肺炎上星期夺去了他的生命。

3 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

4 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。

5 eroding   

侵蚀，腐蚀( erode的现在分词 )； 逐渐毁坏，削弱，损害

参考例句：

• The coast is slowly eroding. 海岸正慢慢地被侵蚀。
• Another new development is eroding the age-old stereotype of the male warrior. 另一个新现象是，久已形成的男人皆武士的形象正逐渐消失。