CNN 2009-08-09

A major victory against terrorism this morning. Police in Indonesia say they've killed a top terror suspect. It happened during an 18-hour firefight. Noordin Top is accused of killing¹ hundreds in bombings on Western targets in Bali and Jakarta. Police say his group was also planning an assassination² attempt on Indonesia's president.

And a top Taliban chief in Pakistan is also believed to be dead, killed in a US drone attack this weekend, but officials aren't ready to say they are 100% sure he is dead.

How confident are you, is your government that Baitullah Mehsud is dead.

100% certainty, Margaret, can only be achieved after DNA³ testing and a lot of physical evidence has been processed. But other than that, there are a lot of pointers, as a result of which, most people believe that Baitullah Mehsud is indeed dead, and his own group has announced that.

Unemployment fell last month for the first time in more than a year. But in the president's words (quote可以不写出来) "we have a lot further to go. " Elaine Quijano joins us now live from the White House. So Elaine, what is the president saying about this morning?

Well, Betty, you know the president is cautiously optimistic about these latest jobs numbers. They showed a drop in the unemployment rate from 9. 5% to 9. 4%. Now that is the first time it's dropped since April of last year. Nevertheless, White House officials certainly aren't doing any victory laps just yet. The president did talk about these numbers in his radio address, his weekly radio and internet address, take a listen.

This month's job numbers are a sign that we've begun to put the brakes on this recession, and that the worst may be behind us. But we must do more than rescue our economy from this immediate⁴ crisis. We must rebuild it stronger than before.
We must lay a new foundation for future growth and prosperity and a key pillar of a new foundation is health insurance reform. Reform that we are now closer to achieving than ever before.

Florida Republican Senator Mel Martinez announced yesterday that he is stepping down with nearly a year and a half left in his term. He says there is no specific reason, just his desire to move on. Florida Governor Charlie Crist plans to run for Martinez's seat in 2010. Now Crist has to pick a replacement⁵ to finish Martinez's term, but he promises that he will not appoint himself.

1 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

2 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

3 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

4 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

5 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。