美联社新闻一分钟 2007-01-20

1. Residents in the Midwest are getting ready for another blast of winter. A storm is moving across the region. It's expected to dump at least another 6 inches on top of the snow and ice that's already on the ground.

2. Defense¹ Secretary Robert Gates says it's too soon to tell if President Bush's plan to increase troop levels will work in Iraq. Gates made an unannounced visit to Baghdad today, where he met with US troops and military leaders.

3. Former congressman² Bob Ney has been sentenced to more than 2 years in prison for his role in the Jack³ Abramoff scandal. The Republican from Ohio accepted golf and gambling⁴ trips, tickets to sporting events, free meals and campaign donations arranged by Abramoff and his associates.

4. It turns out the politics, at least in Taiwan, is a full contact sport. Members got into a brawl⁵ Friday over a proposal to change the country's Central Election Commission.

 

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. unannounced: adj.
If someone arrives or does something unannounced, they do it unexpectedly and without anyone having being told about it beforehand.

2. contact sport: n-count
A contact sport is a sport, such as football, hockey, or boxing that involves physical contact between players as part of normal play.

3. brawl: n-count
A brawl is a rough or violent fight.

1 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

2 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

3 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

4 gambling   

n.赌博；投机

参考例句：

• They have won a lot of money through gambling.他们赌博赢了很多钱。
• The men have been gambling away all night.那些人赌了整整一夜。

5 brawl   

n.大声争吵，喧嚷；v.吵架，对骂

参考例句：

• They had nothing better to do than brawl in the street.他们除了在街上斗殴做不出什么好事。
• I don't want to see our two neighbours engaged in a brawl.我不希望我们两家吵架吵得不可开交。