CNN 2009-10-18

Three US service members, they've been killed in militant¹ attacks in Afghanistan. And a statement from the International Security Force says two were killed in a roadside bomb attack in eastern Afghanistan, the other was hit by an explosion in southern Afghanistan.

Well, to Pakistan now, well,  they've had two bloody² weeks of militant attacks. Well,  the country now has launched an assault on the Taliban and Al Qaeda. Civilians³ have been fleeing the area ahead of today's offensive. Army and intelligence sources say 28,000 troops are involved. This offensive is aimed at militant in South Waziristan, that's along the Afghan border. This comes after terrorist attacks over the past two weeks that killed over 175 people.

Hurricane Rick picking up some steam in the Pacific Ocean. The hurricane was just upgraded to a category four storm that happened about an hour ago. Look at this monster storm right here! It is carrying maximum sustained winds of 135 miles per hour. And it's about 250 miles southwest of Acapulco Mexico. We'll be following that for you closely.

A quick check, of some of the stories we are keeping an eye on here. Uh..Taking a bit longer to make that H1N1 vaccine⁴ than expected. About 30 million doses will be available this month. Now that's something. But that's about ten million fewer than expected because they are seeing some manufacturing delays.

The White House says we now have a 1.42-trillion-dollar deficit⁵. We are in the trillions！That makes this fiscal⁶ year the worst since World War II.

Well！ add more happy news to that！ Around Christmas time, a lot of you want to travel. Thanksgiving and Christmas. Last minute deal is not coming to you from the airlines. At least according to travel experts, they say that unlike last year when airlines slashed⁷ fares after sharp drop in travellers. This year, ticket price is already on the rise. And not only will you pay more for a ticket, many airlines are also hitting you with this thing they made up called “a 10 dollar peak travel (sur)charge”.

A delay in holding elections in Iraq will not affect the scheduled withdrawal⁸ of US troops. The Pentagon plans to pull all combat troops out by August. Now that will leave 50,000 in advisory⁹ roles. And those troops will leave by the end of 2011. Washington's ambassador to Iraq says the Iraqi Parliament must come up with a new election law in order to hold elections in mid-January.

1 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

2 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

3 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

4 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

5 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

6 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

7 slashed   

v.挥砍( slash的过去式和过去分词 )；鞭打；割破；削减

参考例句：

• Someone had slashed the tyres on my car. 有人把我的汽车轮胎割破了。
• He slashed the bark off the tree with his knife. 他用刀把树皮从树上砍下。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

9 advisory   

adj.劝告的，忠告的，顾问的，提供咨询

参考例句：

• I have worked in an advisory capacity with many hospitals.我曾在多家医院做过顾问工作。
• He was appointed to the advisory committee last month.他上个月获任命为顾问委员会委员。