CNN 2009-06-02

Hi there, good to see you, I'm Virginia Cha at the CNN center in Atlanta, with a look at what's happening NOW IN THE NEWS.

GM filed for bankruptcy¹ early this morning, and now the restructuring plans have begun, but that also means 20, 000 people will likely lose their jobs by the end of 2010. The government is also putting in another 30 billion dollars to help. GM hopes to emerge within 60 to 90 days with the better chance to succeed in a smaller market. "Well, it looks like what's gonna happen is it would be brought down to four different brands, it's gonna be Chevrolet for General Motors, Buick and then of course we're gonna have Chevrolet and GMC. If that's the case, the other brands will disappear or dissolve, which we already kind of knew. It looks like 14 plants are gonna be closed, about 20, 000 more jobs are gonna be lost. That's a really large impact on the economy. "

Air France Flight 447 missing right now with 228 people on board. The plane flew into storms and heavy turbulence² after takeoff from Rio de Janeiro en route to Paris. Air France says the Airbus 330 may have been struck by lightning, meantime families and friends of the 228 people on board waiting anxiously for any news at the crisis center at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris.

The woman believed to be the last survivor³ of the Titanic⁴ has died, Millvina Dean was 97 years old, Dean was just an infant when the Titanic struck an iceberg⁵ during its maiden⁶ voyage on April 14th, 1912. More than 1,500 people died. Dean spoke⁷ last year at the theme of being the oldest survivor.

I am rather an optimist⁸. I don't ever look on the, but I occasionally look on the dark but not very often, I mean if I have to do it and I have to do it. So that's it.

And that'll do it for now. Stay with CNN 24/7 for all your news from all around the world

1 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

2 turbulence   

n.喧嚣，狂暴，骚乱，湍流

参考例句：

• The turbulence caused the plane to turn over.空气的激流导致飞机翻转。
• The world advances amidst turbulence.世界在动荡中前进。

3 survivor   

n.生存者，残存者，幸存者

参考例句：

• The sole survivor of the crash was an infant.这次撞车的惟一幸存者是一个婴儿。
• There was only one survivor of the plane crash.这次飞机失事中只有一名幸存者。

4 titanic   

adj.巨人的，庞大的，强大的

参考例句：

• We have been making titanic effort to achieve our purpose.我们一直在作极大的努力，以达到我们的目的。
• The island was created by titanic powers and they are still at work today.台湾岛是由一个至今仍然在运作的巨大力量塑造出来的。

5 iceberg   

n.冰山，流冰，冷冰冰的人

参考例句：

• The ship hit an iceberg and went under.船撞上一座冰山而沉没了。
• The glacier calved a large iceberg.冰河崩解而形成一个大冰山。

6 maiden   

n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的

参考例句：

• The prince fell in love with a fair young maiden.王子爱上了一位年轻美丽的少女。
• The aircraft makes its maiden flight tomorrow.这架飞机明天首航。

7 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。

8 optimist   

n.乐观的人，乐观主义者

参考例句：

• We are optimist and realist.我们是乐观主义者，又是现实主义者。
• Peter,ever the optimist,said things were bound to improve.一向乐观的皮特说，事情必定是会好转的。