CNN 2012-05-27

 From Ms. Macarthur`s class in Illinois to the CNN Newsroom here in Atlanta, welcome to all of our viewers from around the world to CNN Student News.

 

First up, we`re looking at a historic election for one of the world`s oldest civilizations. In Egypt, voters began casting their ballots² for president yesterday, and for the first time, no one knew ahead of time what the results would be.

You might remember that former leader Hosni Mubarak, who ruled the country for 30 years, was forced out of power during a political revolution last year.

 

Now Egyptians are voting for a new president, some of them waited in line for hours yesterday to do that, around a dozen candidates are on the ballot¹. There are some concerns about what might happen when a new president is named.

Some Egyptians have questioned whether the military, which has run Egypt since Mubarak resigned, will hand over power. Military leaders insist they will. Also, Egypt doesn`t have a new constitution yet. So the powers of the president and parliament haven`t been clearly defined.

 

Still, some observers say the election is an achievement and one expert said that since Egypt is kind of a trendsetter in the Arab world, what happens in that country could influence other nations as well.

 

The U.S. presidential election is less than six months away. According to several new polls, the race is just about even. We know the Democratic nominee³ is President Obama.

The presumptive Republican nominee is former Massachusetts Governor Mitt⁴ Romney. He got closer to being the official nominee when he won this week`s primary elections in Kentucky and Arkansas.

CNN took the averages from three polls that asked registered voters which candidate they support right now. Forty-seven percent backed President Obama, 45 percent support Governor Romney.

 

 

 

Is this legit? Someone who owns stock in a company is called a shareholder⁵.

This is true. That`s because ownership is based on holding shares of stock.

 

Some shareholders⁶ are suing Facebook and the banks involved in its initial stock offering. They claim that important financial information wasn`t made public.

Last Friday Facebook started selling stock in the company. When that happens, you expect the stock price to go up. But by the end of the day on Friday, it was back around its initial price and this week it dropped below that. That means some investors⁷ have lost money on Facebook.

Some private investors were given the chance to order shares through banks before the public was able to buy any shares. Now this is where we get to that lawsuit⁸. The people suing say the banks knew that Facebook`s financial outlook was worse than expected. The lawsuit alleges<sup>9</sup> that the banks shared that information with some clients but that they didn`t make that public.

 

 

Now it`s not clear if that happened, and if it did happen, it`s not clear whether that`s illegal. Facebook says the lawsuit has no merit, and one of the banks said it followed the same procedures that it does for any initial stock offering.

 

Our next report today is about a different kind of lawsuit that could set a legal standard. It has to do with a car accident and texting while driving. But one of the people who`s involved in this wasn`t on the road when the crash happened. Deb Feyerick explains the situation.

 

 

The accident happened in New Jersey¹⁰ along this winding¹¹ country road. Motorcycle buffs David and Linda Kubert were out for a Sunday drive.

 

Went around a curve and I saw a pickup¹² truck coming right for us with -- I saw the young man with his elbows steering¹³, his head down and he was texting. Next thing I know, he hit us.

 

 

Both David and his wife lost a leg in the head-on collision. Cell phone records show the driver, 19-year-old Kyle Best , was texting a girlfriend, Shannon Colonna virtually at the moment of impact. In a potentially precedent-setting case, the Kuberts are suing them both, saying the girl knew her friend was likely driving home, especially since the two texted each other almost every day.

 

 

If Shannon Colonna knew that Kyle Best was leaving work -- and I believe she did -- and she was texting him, then I believe she`s just as responsible.

 

Although not physically¹⁴ in the car, the Kuberts` lawyer argues Colonna`s texting put her in the car electronically, saying she helped trigger the disastrous¹⁵ crash.

 

It is as if you are putting your hands over the eyes of the driver, preventing that driver from seeing ahead of him.

 

Kyle Best pleaded guilty to careless driving, failure to stay in the lane and improper¹⁶ use of a cell phone. The couple is suing for an unspecified amount in damages.

During a deposition¹⁷, Colonna testified, in her words, she may have known her friend was driving, but her lawyer argues the suit should be dismissed, because, quote, a `message sender` has no way to control when, where or how a `message receiver` acts after the message is transmitted.

David Kubert lost not only his leg, but his job and insurance after the crash.

 

It could have been prevented. It was not an accident.

 

A judge is set to rule Friday whether the Kuberts can move forward and sue both texters -- Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.

1 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

2 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

4 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。

5 shareholder   

n.股东，股票持有人

参考例句：

• The account department have prepare a financial statement for the shareholder.财务部为股东准备了一份财务报表。
• A shareholder may transfer his shares in accordance with the law.股东持有的股份可以依法转让。

6 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

7 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

8 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

9 alleges   

断言，宣称，辩解( allege的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The newspaper article alleges that the mayor is corrupt. 报纸上断言该市长腐败。
• Steven was tardy this morning and alleges that his bus was late. 史提芬今天早上迟到的说词是公车误点了。

10 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。

11 winding   

n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈

参考例句：

• A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
• The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。

12 pickup   

n.拾起，获得

参考例句：

• I would love to trade this car for a pickup truck.我愿意用这辆汽车换一辆小型轻便卡车。||The luck guy is a choice pickup for the girls.那位幸运的男孩是女孩子们想勾搭上的人。

13 steering   

n.操舵装置

参考例句：

• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration. 他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。
• Steering according to the wind, he also framed his words more amicably. 他真会看风使舵，口吻也马上变得温和了。

14 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

15 disastrous   

adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的

参考例句：

• The heavy rainstorm caused a disastrous flood.暴雨成灾。
• Her investment had disastrous consequences.She lost everything she owned.她的投资结果很惨，血本无归。

16 improper   

adj.不适当的，不合适的，不正确的，不合礼仪的

参考例句：

• Short trousers are improper at a dance.舞会上穿短裤不成体统。
• Laughing and joking are improper at a funeral.葬礼时大笑和开玩笑是不合适的。

17 deposition   

n.免职，罢官；作证；沉淀；沉淀物

参考例句：

• It was this issue which led to the deposition of the king.正是这件事导致了国王被废黜。
• This leads to calcium deposition in the blood-vessels.这导致钙在血管中沉积。