CNN 2010-11-30

　　CNN Student News welcomes you back from Thanksgiving break! Hope you had a great turkey day. Here is your commercial-free news on this last Monday in November.
First up -- things are tense with North Korea. Again. U.S. Senator John McCain says he doesn't think the Asian country really wants war, but that's what it's talking about as the U.S. and South Korea start military exercises off the coast of the Korean peninsula. Here's CNN's Chris Lawrence.
You're talking in the neighborhood of about 7,000 American sailors, 75 fighter jets on board. This is going to be a combination of air and sea, last for about four days. And, so, that's when we will have to start really keeping an eye on what North Korea's response will be when those training exercises start.
These military exercises have been planned for awhile. North Korea characterizes them as a "pretext¹ for aggression²" that could ignite a war and says they're creating a state of "ultra emergency" in the Korean peninsula. Why do some American lawmakers doubt there'll be a war? Because North Korea's done this sort of thing before -- they've made these threatening statements -- in hopes of getting other countries to pacify³ North Korea with aid or money. Senator McCain says the U.S. has given North Korea more than a billion dollars in the past 15 years to try to get North Korea to negotiate. So why is that country's threat still serious? Because last week, North Korea attacked a South Korean island, killing⁴ two South Korean marines and two civilians⁵. It said that was in response to military exercises being done by South Korea alone. And North Korea has moved surface-to-air missiles to its border with South Korea. Why does all this matter so much to the U.S.? Well, you know that the U.S. was involved in the 1950s Korean War. Today, America has a defense⁶ treaty with South Korea. If war breaks out again between North and South, the U.S. is committed to help defend South Korea.
The place: Portland, Oregon. The event: The lighting⁷ of the city's Christmas tree. The problem: Officials say someone wanted to bomb the celebration, which attracts thousands of people. He failed, as you can see here, the tree shining with lights and the flashes of cameras from the crowd. Those who were here are thankful to the Portland police and the FBI who say this man -- 19-year-old Mohamed Osman Mohamud -- tried to blow up what he thought was a car bomb at the ceremony on Friday night. Police say the Muslim teen was interested in violent religious attacks, but that the people at the event were never in any real danger, because officials had had their eye on Mohamud for a long time. The FBI says it had worked undercover to trap the suspect. This included getting in touch with Mohamud, finding out what he allegedly wanted to attack, and then providing a fake car bomb that Mohamud is accused of trying to detonate several times during the ceremony. Muslim leaders in the Portland area spoke⁸ out against the plot and any violence that targets innocent people.

1 pretext   

n.借口，托词

参考例句：

• He used his headache as a pretext for not going to school.他借口头疼而不去上学。
• He didn't attend that meeting under the pretext of sickness.他以生病为借口，没参加那个会议。

2 aggression   

n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害

参考例句：

• So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结，就不必惧怕外来侵略。
• Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。

3 pacify   

vt.使(某人)平静(或息怒)；抚慰

参考例句：

• He tried to pacify the protesters with promises of reform.他试图以改革的承诺安抚抗议者。
• He tried to pacify his creditors by repaying part of the money.他为安抚债权人偿还了部分借款。

4 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。

5 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

6 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

7 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

8 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。