CNN 2012-01-08

 Straits are narrow passageways that connect two bodies of water.Strait of Hormuz connects the Persian Gulf¹ with the gulf of Oman.That land,to the north?that's Iran.About 20 percent of the world's oil goes through the Strait of Hormuz.US Navy also uses it to move ships through the region.American officials have dismissed a threat from Iran to close the Strait.It's part of the recent tension between the countries that Chris Lawrance covers in this report.Iran test-fired a new radar-evading missile Monday and announced a step forward in its nuclear program.Some say it's Iran's way of firing back at President Obama's new sanctions which could make it virtually impossible for Iran to sell its crude oil.Iran is trying to say that outside pressure isn't going to soften² its behavior.Analyst³ has interviewed dozens of senior Iranian officials and clerics.The missile test followed Iran's threat to close the Strait of Hormuz where 20 percent of the world's oil passes.It also announced that it had produced its own uranium fuel rods.All as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad prepares to visit Venezuela,Ecuador,Nicaragua and Cuba.Some republican contenders see a direct threat in Iran and its surrogates forging ties in the United States' backyard.I'm very concerned about the militan socialists⁴ and radical⁵ Islamists,joining together,bonding together.Right now_which is working throughout land of latin America,in Venezuela,in Mexico,throughout Latin America which poses a very significant and imminent⁶ threat to the United States of America.Thank you governor.Some analysts⁷ say there's little_for Iranian ideaology in South America.We unnecessarily exaggerate the extent of Iran's global influence.He says Iran doesn't have the naval⁸ ships needed to blockade the strait of Hormuz and it needs those shipping⁹ lanes as much as anyone.He sees Iran as more bluster¹⁰ than battle-ready.But there is a concern that the hardliner in Tehran will try to provoke some kind of military attack on themselves for domestic political expediency,and that's a trap which the United States and Israel should be careful about walking into.

Today's shout-out goes out to Mrs students at Regional School in Summers Point New Jersey¹¹.Where would you find the international date line? You know what to do.Does it run through the Atlantic Ocean,china's Gobi desert,the Pacific Ocean or the Sea of Tranquility.You've got three seconds,go! The international date line runs through the Pacific Ocean.That's your answer and that's your shoutout.

Some interesting facts about the international date line:One,it separates days on the calendar,cross the line,it's a different day.Two,it's made up,officials decide where it should go in order to sync up time with the movement of the sun.And three,it moves,like it did this weekend.You know how we feel about Fridays here on CNN Student News.One Pacific island nation was willing to sacrifice a Friday and hop¹² over the international dateline.All it took was a little time,about 24 hours.Samoa,a Pacific island nation about half way between Hawaii and New zealand just skipped an entire day.The tiny nation jumped right from Thursday to Saturday.Here's why.It switched sides of the international date line at midnight last Thursday,so at 11:59 pm on Thursday,Samoa was east of the date line and at midnight it switched sides,so at 12:01 am it was west of the date line and it was Saturday morning.The Samoan Prime minister says the move puts the nation on the same side of the line as its key trading partners in New Zealand and Australia.We can now have five working days to continue and sustain our economic and commercial contact with our business partners in New Zealand and Australia,China and Japan,and vice¹³ versa.Very simply before the change we'd only have 4 working days out of 7 days a week.In 2009,Samoa switched from driving on the right side of the road to the left to further align¹⁴ itself with Australia.So as of Saturday,Samoa was just 3 hours ahead of Sydney,instead of 21 hours behind.

Before we go,surfing on waves is cool,surfing above waves is awesome¹⁵.This guy calls this devicefly board.The water comes from a jet ski and then goes through a hose to a platform he controls with his feet.He added the hand jets for better stability,kinda like ironman.He's hoping to start selling these things later this year.But this was just a one-man demonstration¹⁶.So,if anyone lined up to give it a try,well,they got hosed.We're sure once the fly board does go into production,it'll make a big flash.At least it'll cause some waves in the extreme sports industry.It's time for us to jet,we'll see you tomorrow on CNN Student News.

1 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

2 soften   

v.(使)变柔软；(使)变柔和

参考例句：

• Plastics will soften when exposed to heat.塑料适当加热就可以软化。
• This special cream will help to soften up our skin.这种特殊的护肤霜有助于使皮肤变得柔软。

3 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

4 socialists   

社会主义者( socialist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The socialists saw themselves as true heirs of the Enlightenment. 社会主义者认为自己是启蒙运动的真正继承者。
• The Socialists junked dogma when they came to office in 1982. 社会党人1982年上台执政后，就把其政治信条弃之不顾。

5 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

6 imminent   

adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的

参考例句：

• The black clounds show that a storm is imminent.乌云预示暴风雨即将来临。
• The country is in imminent danger.国难当头。

7 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

8 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

9 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

10 bluster   

v.猛刮；怒冲冲的说；n.吓唬，怒号；狂风声

参考例句：

• We could hear the bluster of the wind and rain.我们能听到狂风暴雨的吹打声。
• He was inclined to bluster at first,but he soon dropped.起初他老爱吵闹一阵，可是不久就不做声了。

11 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

12 hop   

n.单脚跳，跳跃；vi.单脚跳，跳跃；着手做某事；vt.跳跃，跃过

参考例句：

• The children had a competition to see who could hop the fastest.孩子们举行比赛，看谁单足跳跃最快。
• How long can you hop on your right foot?你用右脚能跳多远？

13 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

14 align   

vt.使成一线，结盟，调节；vi.成一线，结盟

参考例句：

• Align the ruler and the middle of the paper.使尺子与纸张的中部成一条直线。
• There are signs that the prime minister is aligning himself with the liberals.有迹象表明首相正在与自由党人结盟。

15 awesome   

adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的

参考例句：

• The church in Ireland has always exercised an awesome power.爱尔兰的教堂一直掌握着令人敬畏的权力。
• That new white convertible is totally awesome.那辆新的白色折篷汽车简直棒极了.

16 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。