CNN 2009-04-06

I'm Asieh Namdar at the CNN.com newsroom in Atlanta. Here's a look at what's happening NOW IN THE NEWS.

Despite international pressure, North Korea launched a rocket late last night. It says carried a satellite. But the North American Aerospace¹ Defense² Command says the payload crashed in the Pacific Ocean instead of going into orbit. US and other countries fear the launch could have been a missile carrying a warhead. UN Security Council meets today to discuss the launch. China and Russia have called for restraint and calm.

Ahead of the Security Council meeting, Secretary of State Hilary Clinton is busy working to build an international consensus³ on condemning⁴ the North Korean rocket launch. Clinton spoke⁵ on the phone today with the foreign ministers of China, Japan and Russia this morning. All three countries in talks aimed at getting that North Korea to abandon nuclear weapons.

President Obama is traveling through Europe on an 8-day-trip. He and first lady are now headed to Turkey. In Prague, Mr. Obama called North Korea's launch a provocative⁶ act and called for the elimination⁷ of nuclear weapons.

The US military says an American soldier has been charged with murder in connection with the shooting death of a contractor⁸ in Iraq. Pfc. Carl Stovall was arrested last month the day of the contractor’s death. The military has not released any other details about the incident. It didn't say the contractor was neither Iraqi nor American.

Police in Washington State say a father apparently⁹ shot and killed his five children and then took his own life. The children's bodies were found in the family’s mobile home near Takoma. The youngest, 7 years old. Police say after the father killed them, he drove to a nearby casino and shot himself. It’s not clear where the mother was at the time of the shootings.

And millions of Christians¹⁰ around the world have begun their Holy Week with Palm Sunday celebrations. Pope Benedict XVI held an open air mass at the Vatican. He called for an end to human trafficking which he says could increase during the global economic slowdown.

And those are the headlines this hour. For more on these stories and other news of the day, CNN is your source online, on TV, or when you're on the go.

1 aerospace   

adj.航空的，宇宙航行的

参考例句：

• The world's entire aerospace industry is feeling the chill winds of recession.全世界的航空航天工业都感受到了经济衰退的寒意。
• Edward Murphy was an aerospace engineer for the US Army.爱德华·墨菲是一名美军的航宇工程师。

2 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

3 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

4 condemning   

v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的现在分词 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地

参考例句：

• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。
• I concur with the speaker in condemning what has been done. 我同意发言者对所做的事加以谴责。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 provocative   

adj.挑衅的，煽动的，刺激的，挑逗的

参考例句：

• She wore a very provocative dress.她穿了一件非常性感的裙子。
• His provocative words only fueled the argument further.他的挑衅性讲话只能使争论进一步激化。

7 elimination   

n.排除，消除，消灭

参考例句：

• Their elimination from the competition was a great surprise.他们在比赛中遭到淘汰是个很大的意外。
• I was eliminated from the 400 metres in the semi-finals.我在400米半决赛中被淘汰。

8 contractor   

n.订约人，承包人，收缩肌

参考例句：

• The Tokyo contractor was asked to kick $ 6000 back as commission.那个东京的承包商被要求退还6000美元作为佣金。
• The style of house the contractor builds depends partly on the lay of the land.承包商所建房屋的式样，有几分要看地势而定。

9 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。

10 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。