美国有线新闻 CNN 2012-11-27

 There has been a break in the fighting between Israelis and Palestinians. A ceasefire started to take hold last week. And the two sides are scheduled to meet today in Egypt where they'll discuss what they want as part of a longer term peace deal. The most recent conflict last 8 days in mid¹ November and led dozens Palestinians and 6 Israelis dead. Palestinians fired rockets from the region of Gaza that exploded in Israeli communities. And Israel launched airstrikes targeting Palestinian militants² that also cause civilian³ casualties. Israeli forces had been preparing for a possible invasion of Gaza last week that's when the U.S., the U.N. and Egypt got involved helping⁴ get the two sides to agree to a ceasefire. That happened last Wednesday and though there has been some limited fighting since then. The ceasefire appears to be holding.

 

Egypt meanwhile is having some trouble of its own in the capital city of Cairo where massive protests led to the ouster of its former leader in 2011. There were clashes yesterday. They were between protesters and government forces. Many Egyptians are angry with their new President Mohamed Morsi. Last Thursday, Morsi issued this edict that basically says any decree or law that he has made since he took office can not be overturned by the Egyptian courts until the new constitution is finished. That can happen in six month and that along with some of other actions has some Egyptians calling him a dictator. Morsi is promising⁵ his new powers are only temporary.

 

China is the third stop in our international coverage⁶ today. Something you don't see very often, a house on a highway. Look at this, a neighborhood was torn down to make way for the road, you see right here. But the farmer who lived in this house says the government offered him 35,000 dollars to leave his property when he paid 95,000 dollars to build it. The government raised the offer to 41,000 but that was still not enough for the farmer. So officials literally⁷ build the road around the house. It's not yet open the traffic and the local official expects the homeowner to work out a deal with the government soon. But this is become symbolic⁸ of the struggle between Chinese homeowners and the government that they say doesn't offer them enough money to relocate.

1 mid   

adj.中央的，中间的

参考例句：

• Our mid-term exam is pending.我们就要期中考试了。
• He switched over to teaching in mid-career.他在而立之年转入教学工作。

2 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

3 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

4 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。

5 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

6 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

7 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

8 symbolic   

adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的

参考例句：

• It is symbolic of the fighting spirit of modern womanhood.它象征着现代妇女的战斗精神。
• The Christian ceremony of baptism is a symbolic act.基督教的洗礼仪式是一种象征性的做法。