美联社新闻一分钟 2007-04-18

1. Police say a Virginia Tech student was behind the deadliest shooting rampage in U.S. history. 23-year-old, Cho Seung-Hui was an English major and a native of South Korea. Tests put one gun at both shooting scenes. The gunman took his life at the end of the shooting rampage with a death toll¹ of 33.

2. Classes are cancelled the rest of the week at Virginia Tech. The university's president says this gives students time to grieve. Norris Hall, a classroom building where most of the shootings took place will remain closed for the semester.

3. Parts of the Eastern Seaboard remain without power and some communities underwater after a strong spring storm. Parts of New Jersey² got nine inches of rain. At least 16 deaths are blamed on the storm.

4. Today is the day the taxman coming. Taxpayers³ have until midnight to file. But residents of the Northeast [b]battered⁵ by strong storms get a two-day extension, just mark the return with April 16th storm or if filing electronically use the disaster feature.

 

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. batter⁴: verb
If a place is battered by wind, rain or storms, it is seriously damaged or affected⁶ by very bad weather.

1 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

2 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

3 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

4 batter   

v.接连重击；磨损；n.牛奶面糊；击球员

参考例句：

• The batter skied to the center fielder.击球手打出一个高飞球到中外野手。
• Put a small quantity of sugar into the batter.在面糊里放少量的糖。

5 battered   

adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损

参考例句：

• He drove up in a battered old car.他开着一辆又老又破的旧车。
• The world was brutally battered but it survived.这个世界遭受了惨重的创伤,但它还是生存下来了。

6 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。