美联社新闻一分钟 2007-08-13

1. Entertainment mogul Merv Griffin has died. The man behind "Jeopardy¹" and "Wheel of Fortune" passed away Sunday from prostate cancer. He was 82 years old.

2. A bizarre shooting on a Dallas freeway leaves a police officer seriously wounded. The officer responded to what he thought was an accident, but was suddenly caught in crossfire². Three others including the gunman were killed.

3. Despite low turnout, Mitt³ Romney says he's happy with his victory in the Iowa Straw Poll. Romney got twice as many votes as closest rival Mike Huckabee. Three other top contenders skipped the event entirely⁴.

4. Endeavour astronauts worked for a close look at the three-inch gash⁵ in the shuttle's underside. The crew used the robotic arm to scan the damage. Engineers at NASA will then determine whether a spacewalk will be needed to fix the tear.

WORDS IN THE NEWS


1. mogul: noun
a businessman or businesswoman who has great power and influence in a particular industry

2. prostate cancer:
前列腺癌

3. bizarre: adj
very unusual or strange

4. crossfire: n [Uncountable]
bullets from two or more opposite directions that pass through the same area

5. turnout: noun [singular]
the number of people who vote in an election

6. straw poll:
an informal test of several people's opinions to see what the general feeling about something is

7. gash: noun
a large deep cut or hole in something, for example in a person's skin

8. underside: noun [singular]
the bottom side or surface of something

9. tear: noun
a hole in a piece of cloth or paper where it has been torn

1 jeopardy   

n.危险；危难

参考例句：

• His foolish behaviour may put his whole future in jeopardy.他愚蠢的行为可能毁了他一生的前程。
• It is precisely at this juncture that the boss finds himself in double jeopardy.恰恰在这个关键时刻，上司发现自己处于进退两难的境地。

2 crossfire   

n.被卷进争端

参考例句：

• They say they are caught in the crossfire between the education establishment and the government.他们称自己被卷进了教育机构与政府之间的争端。
• When two industrial giants clash,small companies can get caught in the crossfire.两大工业企业争斗之下，小公司遭受池鱼之殃。

3 mitt   

n.棒球手套，拳击手套，无指手套；vt.铐住，握手

参考例句：

• I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日，我送给他一只棒球手套。
• Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。

4 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

5 gash   

v.深切，划开；n.(深长的)切(伤)口；裂缝

参考例句：

• The deep gash in his arm would take weeks to heal over.他胳膊上的割伤很深，需要几个星期的时间才能痊愈。
• After the collision,the body of the ship had a big gash.船被撞后，船身裂开了一个大口子。