CNN 2010-01-14

Back from the weekend and ready to bring you the headlines, this is CNN Student News and I'm Carl Azuz. Let's get started.

 

First up, parts of northern California shake off the effects of an earthquake that struck over the weekend. The tremor¹ had a magnitude² of 6.5; that is significant. It hit Saturday afternoon about 30 miles away from the town of Eureka, but it caused about a dozen aftershocks which lasted through early Sunday morning. You can see how folks reacted to the quake in this video. Luckily, no reports of any serious injuries or damage, though it was scary, and though about 28,000 people were left without power for a while.

Meantime, severe winter weather is sending shivers through other spots around the country. Just to give you an idea of how cold it's been here in Atlanta: On Saturday, it was 14 degrees. At the same time, the temperature in part of Antarctica was 28 degrees! So Atlanta: colder than Antarctica. The deep freeze is causing some problems for firefighters. You can see in this video some Nebraska firemen trying to put out a blaze³. But they say it's harder to do because the ice and snow add weight to their equipment, and the cold makes their hands curl up and freeze into one position.

 

Some people are refusing to let the winter weather drive them off course. Despite temperatures in the 20s, thousands of runners showed up for a marathon at Disney World, trying to find any way they could to stay warm before the race.

 

A Word to the Wise.

 

profiling (noun) the act of predicting information about a person based on specific traits⁴, such as age or race.

 

It's a practice that sometimes comes up when you're talking about airline safety, something that, as you know, has been getting a lot of attention recently in the light of a recent terror plot. Some people argue that profiling unfairly singles out certain individuals. But there are other folks who believe it's a useful tool in helping⁵ make flights safer. When it comes to increasing airline security, Randi Kaye examines what does and doesn't work.

 

1 tremor   

n.震动，颤动，战栗，兴奋，地震

参考例句：

• There was a slight tremor in his voice.他的声音有点颤抖。
• A slight earth tremor was felt in California.加利福尼亚发生了轻微的地震。

2 magnitude   

n.大小；重大；星等

参考例句：

• I want to know the magnitude of this equipment.我想知道这个设备的大小。
• I hadn't realized the magnitude of the problem.我没有认识到这个问题的重要性。

3 blaze   

n.火焰，火堆，火光，火灾；vi.燃烧，着火

参考例句：

• In a blaze of anger he shouted at them.他怒火中烧，对着他们大吼起来。
• Dry wood makes a good blaze.干木燃起夺目的光焰。

4 traits   

n.人的个性，显著的特点，特征( trait的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We do not know which behavioural traits are inherited and which acquired. 我们不知道哪些行为特征是遗传的，哪些是后天养成的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His generosity is one of his good traits. 慷慨大方是他的好品质之一。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。