美联社新闻一分钟 2006-07-24

1. The bombing continues in Beirut. Lebanon's capital city has been rocked by explosion after explosion. The UN envoy¹ is pleading for the safety of civilians² caught in the fight. He says the UN will begin a relief effort soon.

2. Hezbollah rockets found their target in the Israeli port city of Haifa. At least 2 people died. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice heads to the area today hoping to bring a diplomatic end to the fighting.

3. An American tops the Tour de France again. Floyd Landis cruised to victory in winning cycling's most prestigious³ title. Landis made a dramatic comeback in the French Alps. He is the third American to win the race.

4. You are not seeing things. That isn't really Ernest Hemingway, but a Texas man has won the look-alike contest at Florida's Hemingway Days. 55-year-old Chris Storm beat out more than 100 other Hemingway wannabes. Storm is a huge Papa fan. He hunts, fishes, visits Africa and likes to write.

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. cruise : verb
If a team or sports player cruises to victory, they win easily. (JOURNALISM)

2. comeback : n-count
if a thing makes a comeback, it becomes popular and fashionable or successful again.

3. be seeing things : phrase
If you say that someone is seeing or hearing things, you mean that they believe they are seeing or hearing something that is not really there.

4. look-alike : n-count
also lookalike. A look-alike is someone who has a very similar appearance to another person, especially a famous person.

5. beat out : phrasal verb
If you beat out someone in a competition, you defeat them. (mainly AM)

6. wannabe : n-count
also wannabee. If you call someone a wannabe, you are saying in an unkind way that they are trying very hard to be like another person or group of people. (INFORMAL)

7. papa : n-family
Some people refer to or address their father as papa. [French.] (OLD-FASHIONED)

1 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

2 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

3 prestigious   

adj.有威望的，有声望的，受尊敬的

参考例句：

• The young man graduated from a prestigious university.这个年轻人毕业于一所名牌大学。
• You may even join a prestigious magazine as a contributing editor.甚至可能会加入一个知名杂志做编辑。