CNN 2010-10-30

After weeks and weeks of discussion, after demonstrations¹ and strikes, more than 150 hours of debate in both the French senates and National Assembly, the pension reform bill passed its last legislate² of hurdle³ today with a vote of 336 to 233 at the National Assembly. The bill will now go to president Sarkozy, but even before that, the Left Opposition⁴ here trying to make it as difficult as possible for the government, is going to challenge the bill in the constitutional court. That will mean another 8 days of limbo⁵ as the constitutional court decide whether the law is constitutional. In the mean time, there are more strikes and demonstrations, including tomorrow. And the strikes on the ground have not stopped either.

This massive earthquake happened on Monday night local time, in the evening. It’s now, at least 48 hours later, with 2 days on, and still, there isn’t a clear view of exactly what the damage is. We know that it will take 14 hours for just out one ship to get to a port that’s not even in the worst-hit-area.Then, have to disembark, and then take the aids out west to go across on a smaller boat to another island, so it’s just incredibly remote. You can’t overstate how difficult it is for the rescuers actually trying to get aid to the people who desperately⁶ need it. Not just the dead and missing there are also a lot of injured that haven’t been dealt with. We have a report said that hospitals are being innovated⁷.And we are hearing from the official that 150 have been severely⁸ injured. And at this point, they say, they have a record of about 200 buildings completely destroyed. But, that thing will definitely go up.

If you want to tyrannize, and think it's your right to ban free woman from wearing the Burka. Isn’t it our right to expel your occupying forces? Your man from our lands by striking them by the neck. Yes, the formula is simple and clear. As you kill us, you will be killed. As you imprison⁹ us, you will be imprisoned¹⁰. And as you threaten our security, we will threaten your security. And the initiator of the injustice¹¹ is the true aggressor. The only way to safeguard your nation and maintain your security is to lift all your injustice and its extensions off our people, and most importantly to withdraw your forces from Bush’s despicable war in Afghanistan.

A Virginia man has been arrested and will be appear in court this afternoon on terrorism charges. His name is Farooque Ahmed, 34, of Ashburn, Virginia. He is described as a U.S. citizen born in Pakistan. According to the indictment¹² which we read, he was involved in doing surveillance and planning for multiple attacks on Washington’s Metro¹³ system. This press release says from the department of justice that at no time was the public in danger during this investigation¹⁴. The FBI was aware of Arcmad’s activities from before the alleged¹⁵ attempt, and closely monitored his activities through his arrest.

1 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

2 legislate   

vt.制定法律；n.法规，律例；立法

参考例句：

• Therefore,it is very urgent to legislate for the right of privacy.因此，为隐私权立法刻不容缓。
• It's impossible to legislate for every contingency.为每一偶发事件都立法是不可能的。

3 hurdle   

n.跳栏，栏架；障碍，困难；vi.进行跨栏赛

参考例句：

• The weather will be the biggest hurdle so I have to be ready.天气将会是最大的障碍，所以我必须要作好准备。
• She clocked 11.6 seconds for the 80 metre hurdle.八十米跳栏赛跑她跑了十一秒六。

4 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

5 limbo   

n.地狱的边缘；监狱

参考例句：

• His life seemed stuck in limbo and he could not go forward and he could not go back.他的生活好像陷入了不知所措的境地，进退两难。
• I didn't know whether my family was alive or dead.I felt as if I was in limbo.我不知道家人是生是死，感觉自己茫然无措。

6 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

7 innovated   

v.改革，创新( innovate的过去式和过去分词 )；引入（新事物、思想或方法），

参考例句：

• He innovated a plan for increased efficiency. 他引进提高效率的（新）方案。 来自辞典例句
• We are using innovated metal detector which is imported from the U.K. 本工厂有先进的生产设备，拥有从英国进口的金属探测机。 来自互联网

8 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

9 imprison   

vt.监禁，关押，限制，束缚

参考例句：

• The effect of this one is going to imprison you for life.而这件事的影响力则会让你被终身监禁。
• Dutch colonial authorities imprisoned him for his part in the independence movement.荷兰殖民当局因他参加独立运动而把他关押了起来。

10 imprisoned   

下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was imprisoned for two concurrent terms of 30 months and 18 months. 他被判处30个月和18个月的监禁，合并执行。
• They were imprisoned for possession of drugs. 他们因拥有毒品而被监禁。

11 injustice   

n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利

参考例句：

• They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
• All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。

12 indictment   

n.起诉；诉状

参考例句：

• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。
• They issued an indictment against them.他们起诉了他们。

13 metro   

n.地铁；adj.大都市的；(METRO)麦德隆(财富500强公司之一总部所在地德国，主要经营零售)

参考例句：

• Can you reach the park by metro?你可以乘地铁到达那个公园吗？
• The metro flood gate system is a disaster prevention equipment.地铁防淹门系统是一种防灾设备。

14 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

15 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为