CNN 2009-03-22

Hello to you, I’m Creshon Saunders at the CNN.com newsroom in Atlanta. Here is a look what’s happening NOW IN THE NEWS.

Three more banks just went under. That’s a total of 20, so far this year alone. The first Citibank in Georgia couldn’t find a buyer. So the FDIC will start sending checks to bank customers for insured funds on Monday. The other two banks are Teambank National Association in Kansas and Colorado National Bank in Colorado Springs. Now they will be taken over by other banks. The government estimates this will cost taxpayers¹ about 207 million dollars.

Meanwhile the federal government has taken over two corporate² credit unions as part of the effort to stabilize³ the corporate credit union system. US Central Federal Credit Union in Kansas and Western Corporate Credit Union in California have combined assets of about 57 billion dollars but the national credit union administration says they had an unacceptably high concentration of risk. Unlike traditional credit unions which serve individual consumers, corporate credit unions service the credit union system.

President Obama says his budget is fundamentally sound and he vows⁴ to stick to it even as the political battle lines are being drawn⁵. Meantime the White House continues to push the Obama budget to ensure it passes through Congress. Mr. Obama will hold a prime time news conference on Tuesday. No doubt his 3.6 trillion dollar plan will be issue No.1.

All right, brace⁶ yourself for this one. A home in Porterville, California has gone from a fixer-upper to a possible crime scene. It was only after the family who bought this house began working on it that they found something unexpected in the backyard. Two eight by ten underground grow rooms for marijuana. Police say those kinds of labs are not in common and say felony drug charges could be filed against those responsible.

Brace yourself for this one too. There is probably only one thing worse for a would-be burglar than getting caught, and that’s getting caught with no clothes on. Yeah, Denver police had to pull a naked burglary suspect out of a pizza restaurant overhead vent⁷ after he got stuck. Authority say they found the suspect yesterday morning after they heard him screaming for help.

Those are the headlines this hour. For more on these stories and other news of today, CNN is your source online, on TV, even when you on the go.

1 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。

2 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

3 stabilize   

vt.（使）稳定，使稳固，使稳定平衡；vi.稳定

参考例句：

• They are eager to stabilize currencies.他们急于稳定货币。
• His blood pressure tended to stabilize.他的血压趋向稳定。

4 vows   

誓言( vow的名词复数 )； 郑重宣布，许愿

参考例句：

• Matrimonial vows are to show the faithfulness of the new couple. 婚誓体现了新婚夫妇对婚姻的忠诚。
• The nun took strait vows. 那位修女立下严格的誓愿。

5 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

6 brace   

n. 支柱,曲柄,大括号; v. 绷紧,顶住,(为困难或坏事)做准备

参考例句：

• My daughter has to wear a brace on her teeth. 我的女儿得戴牙套以矫正牙齿。
• You had better brace yourself for some bad news. 有些坏消息,你最好做好准备。

7 vent   

n.通风口，排放口；开衩；vt.表达，发泄

参考例句：

• He gave vent to his anger by swearing loudly.他高声咒骂以发泄他的愤怒。
• When the vent became plugged,the engine would stop.当通风口被堵塞时，发动机就会停转。