CNN 2009-02-07

Good morning, I'm Reggie Aqui at the CNN Center in Atlanta, here's what's happening right NOW IN THE NEWS.

New unemployment numbers out this morning and as you might expect they are not good. The Labor¹ Department says 598,000 people lost their jobs just in January, and that pushes the nation's unemployment rate to 7.6%. It is the worst job loss in 34 years.

Meantime work continues in the Senate on President Obama's economic stimulus² plan. The President is pushing to pass the more than 900-billion-dollar bill and he says the scale and scope of the plan is right on but some critics are trying to slash³ the bill's price tag. A bipartisan group of senators is working to come up with a compromise.

Another splashdown landing, this time an Australian plane; It was in the country's northern coast. The small twin-propeller plane was carrying six people when it went down shortly after takeoff. The pilot was near the beach but decided⁴ a water landing would be safer. Everyone on board made it out all right.

It's snowing in Britain again and causing a lot of trouble for residents and rescuers. They had to respond overnight to reports of hundreds of motorists trapped in their cars. Police and rescue teams had to use four-by-four vehicles to reach some of these snowed-in travelers. Now despite the delays and the trouble on the roads, London's major airports are all open and it's apparently⁵ business as usual.

Snow recovery is also underway in Kentucky and that means more federal aid for the frozen-over Bluegrass state. President Obama has issued a major disaster declaration after last week's devastating⁶ ice storm.

That's a quick look at what's happening in the news this morning, please stick with us here at CNN.com Live for more on these stories and the other news of the day.

1 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

2 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

3 slash   

vi.大幅度削减；vt.猛砍，尖锐抨击，大幅减少；n.猛砍，斜线，长切口，衣衩

参考例句：

• The shop plans to slash fur prices after Spring Festival.该店计划在春节之后把皮货降价。
• Don't slash your horse in that cruel way.不要那样残忍地鞭打你的马。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

6 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。