CNN 2009-05-21

Good morning from the CNN Center here in Atlanta, I'm Melissa Long. It's Wednesday. Here's a look at some of the stories happening NOW IN THE NEWS.

The House takes up a credit card reform bill today. It passed 90-5 in the Senate. Now it's designed to protect you from credit card abuses. The president says he wants to sign it before Memorial Day weekend.

Peter, bottom line on this bill, I mean, it cuts out what, the fine print, those long fine print things you get on the bills. You have to use a, basically, microscope in order to read.

Well, they're gonna make the credit card agreements clearer. They won't be able to raise your rates unless you're 60 days late; they'll have to give you 45 days' notice when they do it. Generally speaking, rate increases will require, general rate increases will require a waiting period. What they won't be able to do is bait and switch so easily.

Now a Harvard trained biochemist says he has a swine flu vaccine¹ that's ready for worldwide testing. The owner of a Boston biotech company says his synthetic² vaccine could be available in a matter of weeks. He says it would be at least as effective against H1N1 as a biological vaccine.

Michael Vick released from federal prison this morning just before dawn. Vick will stay under home confinement³ in Virginia until July 20th. The humane⁴ society says Vick has contacted them about partnering to curb⁵ the popularity of dog fighting among urban teens. The NFL Commissioner⁶ Roger Goodell hasn't decided⁷ if he will let Vick return to pro-football.

The people on that flight that crashed in New York Hudson River are finally getting their luggage back. It's been four months and now the passengers from the US Airways⁸ Flight 1549 are starting to get some special deliveries containing their wallets, their coats, cameras and jewelry⁹. The airlines spend months recovering and cleaning 36,000 items. One woman even got her crystal bracelet¹⁰ back.

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

1 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。

2 synthetic   

adj.合成的，人工的；综合的；n.人工制品

参考例句：

• We felt the salesman's synthetic friendliness.我们感觉到那位销售员的虚情假意。
• It's a synthetic diamond.这是人造钻石。

3 confinement   

n.幽禁，拘留，监禁；分娩；限制，局限

参考例句：

• He spent eleven years in solitary confinement.他度过了11年的单独监禁。
• The date for my wife's confinement was approaching closer and closer.妻子分娩的日子越来越近了。

4 humane   

adj.人道的，富有同情心的

参考例句：

• Is it humane to kill animals for food?宰杀牲畜来吃合乎人道吗？
• Their aim is for a more just and humane society.他们的目标是建立一个更加公正、博爱的社会。

5 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

6 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

7 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。

8 AIRWAYS   

航空公司

参考例句：

• The giant jets that increasingly dominate the world's airways. 越来越称雄于世界航线的巨型喷气机。
• At one point the company bought from Nippon Airways a 727 jet. 有一次公司从日本航空公司买了一架727型喷气机。

9 jewelry   

n.（jewllery）（总称）珠宝

参考例句：

• The burglars walked off with all my jewelry.夜盗偷走了我的全部珠宝。
• Jewelry and lace are mostly feminine belongings.珠宝和花边多数是女性用品。

10 bracelet   

n.手镯，臂镯

参考例句：

• The jeweler charges lots of money to set diamonds in a bracelet.珠宝匠要很多钱才肯把钻石镶在手镯上。
• She left her gold bracelet as a pledge.她留下她的金手镯作抵押品。