CNN 2009-10-17

Good morning, I'm Melissa Long here at the CNN Center in Atlanta. It's a Friday, October 16th. And here are some of the stories that are making news right now.

Speculation¹ is growing about whether Thursday's runaway² balloon story in Colorado was a hoax³. Initially⁴, Falcon⁵ Heene's family said they feared the six-year-old climbed inside this homemade balloon which then took off and floated some 50 miles. Police launched a huge search and rescue operation only to find the six-year-old was actually hiding in the attic⁶ of his home. Authorities say the ordeal⁷ was not fake. But last night on CNN's Larry King Live, Falcon said he didn't come out because it was for the show. Some wondered if that was a reference to a reality television program the family has appeared on or the media coverage⁸ of the runaway balloon.

Three missing hikers were found Wednesday stranded⁹ on a ledge¹⁰ above a waterfall at California's Kings Canyon¹¹ National Park. A rescue helicopter spotted¹² them. They've been missing since Monday and had an emotional reunion with family yesterday.

Pakistan was hit with another round of deadly and brazen¹³ violence. Today its target, police officers in Peshawar. 13 people were killed when a car bomb exploded outside the gates of a police station. In the past couple of weeks, terrorist attacks have killed more than 150 people across Pakistan.

Indonesia has been rocked again by an earthquake. The trembler hit around 7.30 Eastern Time, shaking the buildings in the capital Jakarta. No sign of visible damage. The US Geological Survey says the quake had a magnitude of 6.3. The epicenter was out at sea about 115 miles from Jakarta. So far no tsunami¹⁴ warning has been issued. It is the latest in a series of quakes that has rattled¹⁵ Indonesia recently. More than 1,000 people are believed to have died after twin earthquakes destroyed buildings in Padang just over two weeks ago.

The boss of Bank of America. He's not gonna get paid this year. Chief executive Kenneth Lewis won't get a bonus and must pay back a million dollars. He's already earned four 2009. This move was suggested by the US Treasury's pay tsar Kenneth Feinberg. Lewis is still gonna be more than capable of making ends meet. He has a 53-million-dollar pension waiting for him when he retires at the end of the year.

You're up to date. Those are the headlines. Do stay with us here at CNN and CNN.com for more on these stories or other news that develops today.

1 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

2 runaway   

n.逃走的人，逃亡，亡命者；adj.逃亡的，逃走的

参考例句：

• The police have not found the runaway to date.警察迄今没抓到逃犯。
• He was praised for bringing up the runaway horse.他勒住了脱缰之马受到了表扬。

3 hoax   

v.欺骗，哄骗，愚弄；n.愚弄人，恶作剧

参考例句：

• They were the victims of a cruel hoax.他们是一个残忍恶作剧的受害者。
• They hoax him out of his money.他们骗去他的钱。

4 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

5 falcon   

n.隼，猎鹰

参考例句：

• The falcon was twice his size with pouted feathers.鹰张开羽毛比两只鹰还大。
• The boys went hunting with their falcon.男孩子们带着猎鹰出去打猎了。

6 attic   

n.顶楼，屋顶室

参考例句：

• Leakiness in the roof caused a damp attic.屋漏使顶楼潮湿。
• What's to be done with all this stuff in the attic?顶楼上的材料怎么处理？

7 ordeal   

n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验

参考例句：

• She managed to keep her sanity throughout the ordeal.在那场磨难中她始终保持神志正常。
• Being lost in the wilderness for a week was an ordeal for me.在荒野里迷路一星期对我来说真是一场磨难。

8 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

9 stranded   

a.搁浅的，进退两难的

参考例句：

• He was stranded in a strange city without money. 他流落在一个陌生的城市里， 身无分文，一筹莫展。
• I was stranded in the strange town without money or friends. 我困在那陌生的城市，既没有钱，又没有朋友。

10 ledge   

n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁

参考例句：

• They paid out the line to lower him to the ledge.他们放出绳子使他降到那块岩石的突出部分。
• Suddenly he struck his toe on a rocky ledge and fell.突然他的脚趾绊在一块突出的岩石上，摔倒了。

11 canyon   

n.峡谷，溪谷

参考例句：

• The Grand Canyon in the USA is 1900 metres deep.美国的大峡谷1900米深。
• The canyon is famous for producing echoes.这个峡谷以回声而闻名。

12 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

13 brazen   

adj.厚脸皮的，无耻的，坚硬的

参考例句：

• The brazen woman laughed loudly at the judge who sentenced her.那无耻的女子冲着给她判刑的法官高声大笑。
• Some people prefer to brazen a thing out rather than admit defeat.有的人不愿承认失败，而是宁肯厚着脸皮干下去。

14 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

15 rattled   

慌乱的，恼火的

参考例句：

• The truck jolted and rattled over the rough ground. 卡车嘎吱嘎吱地在凹凸不平的地面上颠簸而行。
• Every time a bus went past, the windows rattled. 每逢公共汽车经过这里，窗户都格格作响。