美联社新闻一分钟 2006-06-08

1. Senators rejected a bid to ban gay marriage. Moderate Republicans joined Democrats¹ to oppose the measure. But supporters say they are building a base for a constitutional amendment² to bar same-sex marriages.

2. Jerry Inman already faces charges of killing³ a college student in South Carolina, but police say there may be more charges coming. Inman was arrested in Tennessee for killing Tiffany Souers. The sheriff says Inman may also be charged with sex assaults in Tennessee and Alabama.

3. Democratic members of Congress want millions of veterans and active-duty personnel to get free credit monitoring. This comes after the Department of Veterans Affairs admitted that personal information for millions of veterans, active-duty and Guard personnel was on a laptop that was stolen. The lawmakers are asking the Bush administration to pay for the monitoring.

4. School is almost out so let the prank⁴s begin. Thousands of students at a San Jose California high school were stuck outside for hours after somebody glued all the doors shut, all 180 of them, on the first day of finals. It took hours to get the doors open again. Officials believe they will find all the pranksters.

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. sheriff : n-count, n-title
In the United States, a sheriff is a person who is elected to make sure that the law is obeyed in a particular county.
e.g. the local sheriff

2. active duty : n-uncount
Active duty means the same as active service. (mainly AM)
active service : n-uncount
Someone who is on active service is taking part in a war as a member of the armed forces. (mainly BRIT)
e.g. In April 1944 he was killed on active service.

3. laptop : n-count
A laptop or a laptop computer is a small portable computer.
e.g. She used to work at her laptop until four in the morning.

4. prank : n-count
A prank is a childish trick. (OLD-FASHIONED)

5. stuck : adj
Stuck is the past tense and past participle of stick. If you are stuck in a place, you want to get away from it, but are unable to.
e.g. I was stuck at home with flu.

6. glue : n-mass
Glue is a sticky substance used for joining things together, often for repairing broken things.
e.g. a tube of glue.
glue : verb
If you glue one object to another, you stick them together using glue.
e.g. They are glued together.

7. finals : n-plural
When a student takes his or her finals, he or she takes the last and most important examinations in a university or college course.
e.g. Anna sat her finals in the summer.

8. prankster : n-count
A prankster is someone who plays tricks and practical jokes on people. (OLD-FASHIONED)

1 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

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 prank   

n.开玩笑，恶作剧；v.装饰；打扮；炫耀自己

参考例句：

• It was thought that the fire alarm had been set off as a prank.人们认为火警报警器响是个恶作剧。
• The dean was ranking the boys for pulling the prank.系主任正在惩罚那些恶作剧的男学生。

5 pranks   

n.玩笑，恶作剧( prank的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Frank's errancy consisted mostly of pranks. 法兰克错在老喜欢恶作剧。 来自辞典例句
• He always leads in pranks and capers. 他老是带头胡闹和开玩笑。 来自辞典例句