美国有线新闻 CNN 2013-11-05

 I will. A big thanks for an awesome¹ introduction to our Halloween edition of CNN Student News. We'll have more of your impressive pumpkin² powers later on but we start today with affordable³ care act which is usually known as Obamacare. The site where people can sigh up went live at the beginning of Oct but the launch didn't go smoothly⁴. One person described the experience of using the site as miserably⁵ frustrating⁶ and that was the person who's in charge of it. Catholine Sebilious is the US health and human services secretary. Her department is responsible for different parts of Obamacare that includes the enrollment⁷ website and the problems that have come with it. 

 

"I am as frustrated⁸ and angry as anyone with the flawed launch of healthcare. gov. So, let me say directly to these Americans. You deserve better. I apologize." 

 

Secretary Sebilious faced hours of questions during that congressional hearing yesterday. Democrats⁹ and Republicans in Congress talked about the problems with the Obamacare website but that isn't the only controversy¹⁰ surrounding the new law. There's a big debate about the health insurance plans that Americans already have. Most Americans who have health insurance get it through their employers or government programs like Medicare but more than 15 million Americans have individual health coverage¹¹. When this law was proposed, President Obama and his administration said many times that Americans could keep their health care plans but people who work in the insurance industry say most of those Americans with individual plans will see changes or even cancellations.

 

Just the facts. The cold war has the story period that started after World War II. The main opponents were the United States and the former Soviet¹² Union. Although other countries were involved as well, the cold war including spying between countries but it never developed into a direct military conflict. But it was over by 1991 when the Soviet Union collapsed¹³.

 

One of the biggest symbols of the cold war was in Germany, the Berlin Wall. It split the city and the country in half, separating communist East Germany from democratic west Germany. The wall came down in 1989 and Germany reunited next year. Now, Germany says it's the victim of cold war tactics, spying and German officials want answers.  

 

NSA field station, Berlin T., a relic¹⁴ of US e. in the forests around Berlin. Now, a converse¹⁵ for a f. artists and backdrop for some of the best kite flying in the German capital. From this vantage point, right on top of the tiny island that was west Berlin. Every which direction you looked was east, the eastern block. This was one of the most important surveillance posts of the cold war. Now, if the allegations made in Germany's D. magazine are true, the United States has used an even more conspicuous¹⁶ location from which to gather intelligence. Though this time on its friends, that's its own embassy roof, a stone from government co. Germany's interior minister has promised to expel any US diplomat¹⁷ proven complicit in spying operations, including alleged¹⁸ eavesdropping¹⁹ on the chancellor's personal mobile phone. German are especially sensitive to the dangerous of state surveillance and the destructive nature of the society which spied on itself. The federal commission for the S. records, the secret police force of the former east Germany understands, perhaps, better than most why intelligence gathering²⁰ needs controls.

 

"We have very direct historical link to what it means if the state did not respect the boundaries of privacy and the rights of its own citizens. So, the shadow of the past kind of lingers always when something as seemly not so dramatic to American like a wiretapping  of a cell phone happens."  

 

Delegates from the European parliament are already in DC demanding an explanation. Germany's top intelligence officers are set to follow. Trying to establish a mechanism²¹ whereby intelligence agencies operate within acceptable international frameworks while it`s holding to account counterparts who`ve reportedly failed to keep faith with the allies. Di., CNN, Berlin.

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 pumpkin   

n.南瓜

参考例句：

• They ate turkey and pumpkin pie.他们吃了火鸡和南瓜馅饼。
• It looks like there is a person looking out of the pumpkin!看起来就像南瓜里有人在看着你！

3 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。

4 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

5 miserably   

adv.痛苦地；悲惨地；糟糕地；极度地

参考例句：

• The little girl was wailing miserably. 那小女孩难过得号啕大哭。
• It was drizzling, and miserably cold and damp. 外面下着毛毛细雨，天气又冷又湿，令人难受。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 frustrating   

adj.产生挫折的，使人沮丧的，令人泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的现在分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's frustrating to have to wait so long. 要等这么长时间，真令人懊恼。
• It was a demeaning and ultimately frustrating experience. 那是一次有失颜面并且令人沮丧至极的经历。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 enrollment   

n.注册或登记的人数；登记

参考例句：

• You will be given a reading list at enrollment.注册时你会收到一份阅读书目。
• I just got the enrollment notice from Fudan University.我刚刚接到复旦大学的入学通知书。

8 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

11 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。

12 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

13 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

14 relic   

n.神圣的遗物，遗迹，纪念物

参考例句：

• This stone axe is a relic of ancient times.这石斧是古代的遗物。
• He found himself thinking of the man as a relic from the past.他把这个男人看成是过去时代的人物。

15 converse   

vi.谈话，谈天，闲聊；adv.相反的，相反

参考例句：

• He can converse in three languages.他可以用3种语言谈话。
• I wanted to appear friendly and approachable but I think I gave the converse impression.我想显得友好、平易近人些,却发觉给人的印象恰恰相反。

16 conspicuous   

adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的

参考例句：

• It is conspicuous that smoking is harmful to health.很明显，抽烟对健康有害。
• Its colouring makes it highly conspicuous.它的色彩使它非常惹人注目。

17 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

18 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

19 eavesdropping   

n. 偷听

参考例句：

• We caught him eavesdropping outside the window. 我们撞见他正在窗外偷听。
• Suddenly the kids,who had been eavesdropping,flew into the room. 突然间，一直在偷听的孩子们飞进屋来。

20 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

21 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。