美国有线新闻 CNN 2014-01-08

 Happy New Year! Welcome to CNN STUDENT NEWS and our first show of 2014. My name is Carl Azuz. We’re starting off this January 6 program with a ‘Bang!’ millions of them. 

 

Cities worldwide lit up their landmarks¹ as the clocks struck midnight, January 1. One of the most remarkable² fireworks displays was in the Middle East. The United Arab Emirates has the world’s tallest building, biggest shopping mall and now the Guinness world record for largest fireworks display. The previous record, 77,000 fireworks in just over an hour. The new one, 500,000 and who cares how long it took.

 

Of course, some folks stayed in on New Year, some were stuck inside or inside an airport due to winter weather. Some were stuck in a ship. A group of scientists, journalists and tourists were trapped by sea ice on a holiday cruise to Antarctica. They have plenty of food and supplies during the ten days they were stranded³, but they had to be rescued by helicopter when another ship that tried to help also got stuck in ice. How does that happen?

 

You’d think that because this is a glacial environment, sea ice would move in a glacial pace. Not the case. Roughs of ice move quickly, rushed over the sea by wind. They can expand and grow thicker, rise and fall with the waves beneath them and blizzard⁴ conditions common to Antarctica even in summer. Don’t help.

 

You might remember this scene from Minnesota, when wind blew ice ashore⁵ from Mille Lacs Lake, climbing and cracking in the doors and window. Think of the same principle and a massive frigid⁶ sea. And you can see how a Russian research vessel⁷ en route to the Antarctic got trapped. How Ernest Shackleton in ‘The Endurance’ were surrounded and how that ship was eventually crushed. Even animals used to these conditions like the trapped whales dramatized in last year’s movie ‘Big Miracle’ are vulnerable.

 

So what does it take to get through the ice and rescue whales, cruise ships or anything else that get stranded? Wait. Sea ice as thick as ten feet can be broken and the sloping holes of some icebreakers are designed to actually wedge up on top of the ice, so the heavy ship can crush down on it. The bows are also designed to then move the cracked ice to the side, plowing⁸ a path that other ships can follow, a crusty road to open water out of frozen maize⁹.

 

As many of you are getting back into the swing of school today, the US Congress is getting back in session this week, getting back into the swing of making laws. The Republican Party controls the House of Representatives. The Democratic Party controls the Senate. And for most lawmakers, this is an election year. So there are a lot of challenges ahead on their to-do list. 

 

The president’s vacation is over. He faces a colder reality now - Congress. ‘If you`re a glass half full kind of person, like I am, they are the number one most unproductive Congress in modern history.’ Get ready for possible deja vu.

 

‘I wish I had a magic want to say, I know things will be better.’

 

This year Congress has a full plate - right off the bat, a potentially easy one for the Senate, confirming Janet Ellen as the first woman to head the Federal Reserve. But next, a real battle over long-term unemployment benefits, both sides arguing Sunday. Even before vacation was over, President Obama pressed this weekend to extend the payments.

 

‘With regard to unemployment insurance, I’ve always said that I’m not opposed to unemployment insurance, I’m opposed to having it without paying for it.’

 

‘We have never offset¹⁰ emergency spending. This foolishness. We have people who are desperate. They’ve been out of work for, some, as much as two years.’

 

On January 15, a major deadline to fund the government: a deal was reached last year, but it needs to be finalized¹¹. 

 

As early as February, a deadline to raise the debt ceiling again, with both sides already dug in.

 

‘I think that it will be harmful not just for the economy, but I think it will be harmful politically, if republican choose 2014 as a year to threaten defaults again on the debt limit.’

 

And an even heavier lift, for a deal on immigration reform, which has escaped Congress for years. ‘It can’t be my way or the highway on such a big issue’;

 

not to mention, continue by Republicans to change Obama care. ‘This has been a failed launch, a flawed law and it needs real change.’

 

Don`t hold your breath for all of this to be crossed off the list. According to a CNN/ORC poll released last year, two thirds of Americans called Congress ‘the Worst Ever’. And the midterm elections will suck up much desire this year to compromise. ‘These are not likely to be times of large fruitful legislative¹² harvest.’

1 landmarks   

n.陆标( landmark的名词复数 )；目标；（标志重要阶段的）里程碑 ~ (in sth)；有历史意义的建筑物（或遗址）

参考例句：

• The book stands out as one of the notable landmarks in the progress of modern science. 这部著作是现代科学发展史上著名的里程碑之一。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The baby was one of the big landmarks in our relationship. 孩子的出世是我们俩关系中的一个重要转折点。 来自辞典例句

2 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

3 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。

4 blizzard   

n.暴风雪

参考例句：

• The blizzard struck while we were still on the mountain.我们还在山上的时候暴风雪就袭来了。
• You'll have to stay here until the blizzard blows itself off.你得等暴风雪停了再走。

5 ashore   

adv.在(向)岸上，上岸

参考例句：

• The children got ashore before the tide came in.涨潮前，孩子们就上岸了。
• He laid hold of the rope and pulled the boat ashore.他抓住绳子拉船靠岸。

6 frigid   

adj.寒冷的，凛冽的；冷淡的；拘禁的

参考例句：

• The water was too frigid to allow him to remain submerged for long.水冰冷彻骨，他在下面呆不了太长时间。
• She returned his smile with a frigid glance.对他的微笑她报以冷冷的一瞥。

7 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

8 plowing   

v.耕( plow的现在分词 )；犁耕；费力穿过

参考例句：

• "There are things more important now than plowing, Sugar. "如今有比耕种更重要的事情要做呀，宝贝儿。 来自飘（部分）
• Since his wife's death, he has been plowing a lonely furrow. 从他妻子死后，他一直过着孤独的生活。 来自辞典例句

9 maize   

n.玉米

参考例句：

• There's a field planted with maize behind the house.房子后面有一块玉米地。
• We can grow sorghum or maize on this plot.这块地可以种高粱或玉米。

10 offset   

n.分支，补偿；v.抵消，补偿

参考例句：

• Their wage increases would be offset by higher prices.他们增加的工资会被物价上涨所抵消。
• He put up his prices to offset the increased cost of materials.他提高了售价以补偿材料成本的增加。

11 finalized   

vt.完成（finalize的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The draft of this article has been finalized [done]. 这篇文章已经定稿。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The draft was revised several times before it was finalized. 稿子几经删改才定下来。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

12 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。