美联社新闻一分钟 2007-03-02

1. The day started on Wall Street with the Dow Jones industrials sliding two days after a huge stock drop that was spurred by declines in overseas markets like Asia.

2. A hard landing for a U.S. army helicopter in Iraq, injuring both crew members. The military says it appears the chopper had a mechanical problem.

3. Arizona Senator John McCain says he is running for president, making the announcement on the Late Show with David Letterman. He'll make an official announcement later after visiting troops in Iraq.

4. Own a midsize car? Don't count on the bumper¹ to hold up during a low-speed collision. And that fender-bender could be costly². In new tests, most models had expensive damage totaling in the thousands of dollars.

 

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. slide: verb
If currencies or prices slide, they gradually become worse or lower n value. (JOURNALISM)

2. midsize: adj.
You can use midsized or midsize to describe products, cities, companies and other things that are neither large nor small.

3. fender-bender: n-count
A fender-bender is a collision involving motor vehicles that results in minor³ damage. (INFORMAL)

4. total: verb
If several numbers or things total a certain figure, that figure is the total of al the numbers or all the things.

1 bumper   

n.(汽车上的)保险杠；adj.特大的，丰盛的

参考例句：

• The painting represents the scene of a bumper harvest.这幅画描绘了丰收的景象。
• This year we have a bumper harvest in grain.今年我们谷物丰收。

2 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

3 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。