美联社新闻一分钟 2006-04-17

1. Pope Benedict used his first Easter message as pontiff to touch on 2 sensitive subjects facing world leaders. Speaking from the Vatican, he called on countries to use diplomacy¹ to defuse nuclear crises, and also prayed that Palestinians would one day have their own state.

2. Iraqi leaders have again stalled in their efforts to form a unity² government. Today, they postponed³ a parliament session after they failed to agree on a prime minister.

3. Aruban authorities say they've made an arrest in the disappearance⁴ of Natalee Holloway. The Alabama teen was last seen May 30th. Authorities would not give the name of the person arrested, but do say the individual is 19 years old and has the initials G.V.C.

4. Those waiting until the last moment to do their taxes are running out of time. For most of the country, tomorrow was the deadline to have returns in the mail. However, because Monday is a holiday in Massachusetts, some in the Northeast can wait until Tuesday to fill out their forms.

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. touch on :phrasal verb
to mention a subject briefly⁵ when speaking or writing about another subject:
e.g. The talk was about educational opportunities for adults, and the speaker also touched upon sources of finance.

2. defuse :verb [T]
to make a difficult or dangerous situation calmer by reducing or removing its cause, or to prevent a bomb from exploding:
e.g. The two groups will meet next week to try to defuse the tension.

3. stall :verb
to delay taking action or avoid giving an answer in order to have more time to make a decision or obtain an advantage:
e.g. She says she'll give me the money next week but I think she's just stalling (for time).

4. initial : noun [C usually plural]
the first letter of a name, especially when used to represent a name:
e.g. He wrote his initials, P.M.R., at the bottom of the page.

1 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

2 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

3 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。

4 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。

5 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。