CNN 2012-05-24

 "Taps" isn't a complicated song, just 24 notes total. The melody was written by US civil war general who didn't like the old  "Lights Out" bugle¹ call. He wrote "Taps" 150 years ago. And in order to commemorate² that anniversary, nearly 200 buglers and trumpeters  gathered at Arlington National Cemetery³ over the weekend.

 

This is the part of the 150th anniversary of "Taps". And we are one of over 200 buglers that have been invited here today to the playing of bugles⁴ all over Arlington Cemetery -- National Cemetery, I should add.

 

If this doesn't make you proud to be an American, I don't know what's wrong with you.

 

It's just such an honour to play that for them. It's for the family well, but I think of it as playing to that person just a final thank you for they did.

 

Well, CNNStudentNews.com is our home page. You know that address, all the great stuff you can find there. We want you to make us your home page.

 

Our daily show is going on break just for a few weeks. But we are going to be updating our site throughout the summer with new posts from our blogs, From A to Z and Schools of Thought. You can keep up with this, keep up with everything we've got going on by making us your homepage today.

 

Today's Shoutout goes out to Miss. Borman's classes at Washington Middle School in Evansville, Indiana.

What does the prefix⁵ amphi- mean?

You know what to do.

Does it mean loud, both, water or split?

You've got three seconds.

Go.

Amphi- means both. Like an Amphibian⁶ which can move both on land and in water. That's your answer and that's your shoutout.

 

Today's Before We Go report is about something that is amphibious. But we are not talking about a frog. This is a car. And it is fast. It looks fast. On land, this thing goes up to 180m/h and after you take it for a spin, you can take it for a swim, top speed in the water, a little over 60, which is pretty fast for that. 

 

It's called the Sea Lion and it took an engineer 6 years to design and build it. This kind of thrill ride doesn't come cheap. In fact, you might now believe me if I told you how much it costs, it's nearly 260,000 bucks⁷. 

 

No lying, see? 

 

Now, hopefully, there are some interested buyers who'll spend that much. Otherwise, I guess this amphibious car idea might just be washed up. 

 

It's time for us to hit the road after treading over a few puns.

1 bugle   

n.军号，号角，喇叭；v.吹号，吹号召集

参考例句：

• When he heard the bugle call, he caught up his gun and dashed out.他一听到军号声就抓起枪冲了出去。
• As the bugle sounded we ran to the sports ground and fell in.军号一响，我们就跑到运动场集合站队。

2 commemorate   

vt.纪念，庆祝

参考例句：

• This building was built to commemorate the Fire of London.这栋大楼是为纪念“伦敦大火”而兴建的。
• We commemorate the founding of our nation with a public holiday.我们放假一日以庆祝国庆。

3 cemetery   

n.坟墓，墓地，坟场

参考例句：

• He was buried in the cemetery.他被葬在公墓。
• His remains were interred in the cemetery.他的遗体葬在墓地。

4 bugles   

妙脆角，一种类似薯片但做成尖角或喇叭状的零食； 号角( bugle的名词复数 )； 喇叭； 匍匐筋骨草； （装饰女服用的）柱状玻璃（或塑料）小珠

参考例句：

• Blow, bugles, blow, set the wild echoes flying. "响起来，号角，响起来，让激昂的回声在空中震荡"。
• We hear the silver voices of heroic bugles. 我们听到了那清亮的号角。

5 prefix   

n.前缀；vt.加…作为前缀；置于前面

参考例句：

• We prefix "Mr."to a man's name.我们在男士的姓名前加“先生”。
• In the word "unimportant ","un-" is a prefix.在单词“unimportant”中“un”是前缀。

6 amphibian   

n.两栖动物；水陆两用飞机和车辆

参考例句：

• The frog is an amphibian,which means it can live on land and in water.青蛙属于两栖动物，也就是说它既能生活在陆地上也能生活在水里。
• Amphibian is an important specie in ecosystem and has profound meaning in the ecotoxicology evaluation.两栖类是生态系统中的重要物种，并且对环境毒理评价有着深远意义。

7 bucks   

n.雄鹿( buck的名词复数 )；钱；（英国十九世纪初的）花花公子；（用于某些表达方式）责任v.（马等）猛然弓背跃起( buck的第三人称单数 )；抵制；猛然震荡；马等尥起后蹄跳跃

参考例句：

• They cost ten bucks. 这些值十元钱。
• They are hunting for bucks. 他们正在猎雄兔。 来自《简明英汉词典》