CNN 2012-03-29

 From the highest court in the United States to the lowest point on the planet, we’ve got it covered in today’s edition of CNN Student News. I’m Carl Azuz. Let’s go. 

 

First up, the first arguments about President Obama’s health care reform law. The U.S. Supreme¹ Court started hearing the case yesterday. While the legal discussion was going on inside, protests were happening outside. Supporters and critics gathered right in front of the U.S. Supreme Court expressed their views for and against the health care law. Cameras aren’t allowed inside the Supreme Court. But CNN’s senior legal analyst², Jeffrey Toobin, was inside the courtroom. He talked yesterday about what was specifically argued in front of the justices. 

 

And the issue to be discussed today was actually very discrete³, very limited. It was is this whole case premature⁴ in this point? As many people know, the Affordable⁵ Care Act, Obamacare, if you prefer, doesn’t go fully⁶ into effect until 2014. And a couple of judges who’ve reviewed it and said, look, because the law doesn’t go into effect for a couple years, we don’t think we should deal with the issue. That’s the question that was before the court. And I think through the justices’ questions, we could see clearly that they were not buying that argument. They felt that now is the time to deal with the law, now is the time to weigh the constitutionality. So I think that much about the argument is clear. That just raised the stakes for tomorrow when they will hear arguments on whether the law is, in fact, constitutional. 

 

While the highest part of the judicial⁷ branch of government is hearing that case in Washington, the head of the executive branch is in South Korea. President Obama’s there for the Nuclear Safety Conference we told you about yesterday. But he’s also been talking about North Korea’s plan to test fire a rocket next month. That rocket moved on the launch pad Monday. President Obama has warned North Korea not to launch it. The issue came up during the president’s meeting with other world leaders, like Chinese President Hu Jintao, who’s sitting across from President Obama here. 

 

See if you can ID me. My title has been given to only 265 people. I’m a religious leader who is elected for life. I’m the head of the Roman Catholic Church, and the world’s smallest independent country, Vatican City. I’m the pope, and the current pope, Benedict XVI, was elected to the office in 2005. 

 

This week, Pope Benedict XVI is visiting a country that was officially atheist⁸ for a long time: Cuba. A majority of Cuba’s population is Roman Catholic, but the country’s Communist government restricted religious freedom there for decades. It’s something that Pope Benedict mentioned before his visit. Some analysts⁹ are wondering if it’ll be part of his message when he speaks directly to the Cuban people. Cuba is actually the second stop on the pope’s trip, though. First, he spent time in Mexico, another country with a large Catholic population. Rafael Romo was there for Pope Benedict’s visit and he filed this report. 

 

They came from the north and from the south, waving the Mexican colors along with Vatican flag. It’s not every day that you get to attend a mass celebrated¹⁰ by a pope and they didn’t want to miss the opportunity. 

 

Looking around all the people, it’s amazing how they come to visit the pope and to hear his message. I’m very, very happy. 

 

David Gutirrez came from Mexico City to greet Pope Benedict XVI. He and his girlfriend, Blanca Lopez, were among the thousands who spent the night waving at this park. 

 

And this is the moment millions of Mexican Catholics have been waiting for, Pope Benedict XVI, is finally here at Guanajuato’s Bicentennial Park. And as you can imagine, the level of excitement is very, very high. 

 

The pope, sometimes perceived as distant, wore a broad brimmed sombrero, a tradition in Mexico. In his sermon, he urged Mexicans to rely on their faith in the battle to get rid of poverty and the violence caused by drug trafficking, violence blamed for more than 47,000 deaths in the past five years. 

 

It helps us as well to look inside the human heart, especially at this moment of sorrow and also hope that Mexican people and other Latin American nations are going through. 

 

Church officials estimate as many as half a million people attended the pope’s mass. Rafael Romo, CNN, Silao, Mexico. 

 

Two hours and 36 minutes, that’s how long it took award winning movie director James Cameron to reach the deepest point on Earth. We’re talking about the Challenger Deep. It’s part of the Mariana Trench¹¹ out in the Pacific Ocean. And Cameron is the first person to go there alone. Now there were a couple problems he had with the machinery¹², he was unable to bring back samples from the bottom of the ocean, but what you see here is file footage of Cameron and the one-man sub he traveled in. He described Challenger Deep as quote: “a completely alien world, devoid¹³ of sunlight.” But Cameron also said he’s already making plans to go back.

1 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

2 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。

3 discrete   

adj.个别的，分离的，不连续的

参考例句：

• The picture consists of a lot of discrete spots of colour.这幅画由许多不相连的色点组成。
• Most staple fibers are discrete,individual entities.大多数短纤维是不联系的单独实体。

4 premature   

adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的

参考例句：

• It is yet premature to predict the possible outcome of the dialogue.预言这次对话可能有什么结果为时尚早。
• The premature baby is doing well.那个早产的婴儿很健康。

5 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

6 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

7 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

8 atheist   

n.无神论者

参考例句：

• She was an atheist but now she says she's seen the light.她本来是个无神论者，可是现在她说自己的信仰改变了。
• He is admittedly an atheist.他被公认是位无神论者。

9 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。

10 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

11 trench   

n./v.(挖)沟，(挖)战壕

参考例句：

• The soldiers recaptured their trench.兵士夺回了战壕。
• The troops received orders to trench the outpost.部队接到命令在前哨周围筑壕加强防卫。

12 machinery   

n.(总称)机械，机器；机构

参考例句：

• Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗？
• Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。

13 devoid   

adj.全无的，缺乏的

参考例句：

• He is completely devoid of humour.他十分缺乏幽默。
• The house is totally devoid of furniture.这所房子里什么家具都没有。