CNN 2012-02-07

 Yes I am.You guys are awesome¹ just like Fridays.Thank you for the introduction.I am CA,the real one.Here with your commercial-free headline.

 

First up.A military mission started more than a decade ago could be ended earlier than expected.Yesterday,the defense² secretary Leon P said the United States and NATO,the North Atlantic Treaty Organization want end their combat mission in Afghanistan next year,that's earlier than the current deadline for the troops to outlined by 2014.US official says the plan is what they are hoping to do,nothing is final yet.But some US politicians say there is no reason to change the time frame.VS has more of the reaction on this new plan and how it will work.

 

 

The US military and NATO want to end their combat mission in Afghanistan a year earlier than schedule.The Obama Administration has set a deadline of 2014 to end the fighting but Defense Secretary Leon P said he hopes the mission will shift to a training and advice role in 2013.President Obama painted an optimistic picture of US progress in Afghanistan during his State of Union address last month.

 

 

The Taliban's momentum³ has been broken and some troops in Afghanistan have been gone to come home.But a latest NATO report has raised concerns about what will happen in Afghanistan once coalition⁴ troops pulled out.The report suggested that the Taliban are confident they will be ready to take over.NATO is down playing the significance of the report but Republican presidential hopeful Mitt⁵ Romney slammed Defense Secretary P for publicly revealing US plans to end the combat mission earlier.

 

 

He announced that so the Taliban hears it,the Pakistan hear it,the Afghan leaders hear it.Why in the world you go to the people that your fighting with and tell them the date you are pulling out your troops?It makes absolutely no sense.

 

 

US officials say no plans for the mission  in the Afghanistan will be final until a NATO meeting in May.I am VS reporting.

 

Next up,we are heading down to a Pacific Ocean,and talk about the rescue efforts of the coast of Papua New Guinea.A ferry sinking on its way from an island there to a main land.The ship was about 10 miles off shore when it sank earlier on Thursday.There were around 350 people on board when this happened.Boats and helicopters rushed to the scene after an alert was sent out.As Thursday afternoon,more than 230 people have been rescued.Australia officials are coordinating⁶ the search efforts for people who are still missing.One witness who was helping⁷ with the rescue said the weather probably played a role in the ship's sinking.He said the area is notorious for having strong winds.

 

 

Time for the shout out.Which of these location is farthest north?You know what to do.Is it Cape⁸ Hatteras, Coney Island, Cape Cod⁹ or Southernmost Point?You've got three seconds,go!

 

 

Cape Cod, Massachusetts is the farthest point north on that list.That's your answer and that's your shout out.

 

 

Some scientists are trying to solve the mystery on Cape Cod.Dolphins have been getting stranded¹¹ there.It's not completely unusual.There are typical around 120 strandings per year,but more than a hundred dolphins have got the strand¹⁰ since the start of January.Sometimes they are washing up 10 at a time.At least 81 of these dolphins were either found dead or they are dead shortly after being discovered.One animal welfare group director called the number disturbing.And no one certain whats causing the dolphins' deaths.A local harbor master says changers in water temperature could be a contributing factor.Usually,Cape Cod ices over in winter so dolphins don't get close to the shore.But the harbor master says now the water warmer more of showing up than ever before.

 

 

Here are some lunar trivia for you.The time it takes for the moon to make its one rotation¹² on its axis¹³ is the same amount the time it takes for the moon to orbit the earth.So you have one side of the moon that's always facing the earth and the other side is always facing away.Well this is that other side.And these are the first video images NASA has released of the far side of the moon from one of the pair of the probes that studying moon's gravitational field.One of the interesting features here on the far side is this massive crater¹⁴ that scientists think might have been  caused by ancient comet or asteroid¹⁵ compact.

1 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.

2 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。

3 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

4 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

5 mitt   

n.棒球手套，拳击手套，无指手套；vt.铐住，握手

参考例句：

• I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日，我送给他一只棒球手套。
• Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。

6 coordinating   

v.使协调，使调和( coordinate的现在分词 )；协调；协同；成为同等

参考例句：

• He abolished the Operations Coordinating Board and the Planning Board. 他废除了行动协调委员会和计划委员会。 来自辞典例句
• He's coordinating the wedding, and then we're not going to invite him? 他是来协调婚礼的，难道我们不去请他？ 来自电影对白

7 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。

8 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

9 cod   

n.鳕鱼；v.愚弄；哄骗

参考例句：

• They salt down cod for winter use.他们腌鳕鱼留着冬天吃。
• Cod are found in the North Atlantic and the North Sea.北大西洋和北海有鳕鱼。

10 strand   

vt.使（船）搁浅，使（某人）困于（某地）

参考例句：

• She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ears.她把一缕散发夹到了耳后。
• The climbers had been stranded by a storm.登山者被暴风雨困住了。

11 stranded   

a.搁浅的，进退两难的

参考例句：

• He was stranded in a strange city without money. 他流落在一个陌生的城市里， 身无分文，一筹莫展。
• I was stranded in the strange town without money or friends. 我困在那陌生的城市，既没有钱，又没有朋友。

12 rotation   

n.旋转；循环，轮流

参考例句：

• Crop rotation helps prevent soil erosion.农作物轮作有助于防止水土流失。
• The workers in this workshop do day and night shifts in weekly rotation.这个车间的工人上白班和上夜班每周轮换一次。

13 axis   

n.轴，轴线，中心线；坐标轴，基准线

参考例句：

• The earth's axis is the line between the North and South Poles.地轴是南北极之间的线。
• The axis of a circle is its diameter.圆的轴线是其直径。

14 crater   

n.火山口，弹坑

参考例句：

• With a telescope you can see the huge crater of Ve-suvius.用望远镜你能看到巨大的维苏威火山口。
• They came to the lip of a dead crater.他们来到了一个死火山口。

15 asteroid   

n.小行星；海盘车(动物)

参考例句：

• Astronomers have yet to witness an asteroid impact with another planet.天文学家还没有目击过小行星撞击其它行星。
• It's very unlikely that an asteroid will crash into Earth but the danger exists.小行星撞地球的可能性很小，但这样的危险还是存在的。