美联社新闻一分钟 2005-09-27

1.As residents begin returning to areas hit by Hurricane Rita on the Texas-Louisiana Coast, the death toll¹ from the storm rises to 7.

2.The mayor of New Orleans reopens the Algiers section of the city which largely escaped flooding from Hurricanes Rita and Katrina.

3.President Bush says he's prepared to tap the Strategic Petroleum² Reserve again to offset³ more big gasoline price hikes due to Hurricane Rita.

4.A suspected Al-Qaeda cell leader is convicted in Spain of conspiring⁴ to commit murder in connection with the September 11th attacks.

5.And Hollywood sweethearts Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore reportedly tie the knot during a ceremony in front of 100 guests.

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. tap
4 tap taps tapping tapped
If you tap a resource or situation, you make use of it by getting from it something that you need or want.
He owes his election to having tapped deep public disillusion⁵ with professional politicians.
The company is tapping shareholders⁶ for s15.8 million.
The Campbell Soup Company says it will try to tap into Japan's rice market.
VB

2. offset
offset offsets⁷ offsetting⁸
If one thing is offset by another, the effect of the first thing is reduced by the second, so that any advantage or disadvantage is cancelled out.
The increase in pay costs was more than offset by higher productivity.
The move is designed to help offset the shortfall in world oil supplies caused by the UN embargo⁹.
VB The form offset is used in the present tense and is the past tense and past participle of the verb

3. hike
3 hike hikes
A hike is a sudden or large increase in prices, rates, taxes, or quantities. (INFORMAL)
...a sudden 1.75 per cent hike in Italian interest rates...
His economic plan, with its tax hikes and spending cuts, will slow the economy.
N-COUNT: usu supp N
= rise

4. cell
3 cell cells
You can refer to a small group of people within a larger organization as a cell.
...Communist Party cells.
N-COUNT: usu n N

5. sweetheart
2 sweetheart sweethearts
Your sweetheart is your boyfriend or your girlfriend. (OLD-FASHIONED or JOURNALISM)
I married Shurla, my childhood sweetheart, in Liverpool.
N-COUNT: usu supp N

6. knot
10 knot
If you say that two people tie the knot, you mean that they get married. (INFORMAL)
Len tied the knot with Kate five years ago.
PHR: V inflects
= get spliced

1 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

2 petroleum   

n.原油，石油

参考例句：

• The Government of Iran advanced the price of petroleum last week.上星期伊朗政府提高了石油价格。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

3 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。

4 conspiring   

密谋( conspire的现在分词 )； 搞阴谋； （事件等）巧合； 共同导致

参考例句：

• They were accused of conspiring against the king. 他们被指控阴谋反对国王。
• John Brown and his associates were tried for conspiring to overthrow the slave states. 约翰·布朗和他的合伙者们由于密谋推翻实行奴隶制度的美国各州而被审讯。

5 disillusion   

vt.使不再抱幻想，使理想破灭

参考例句：

• Do not say anything to disillusion them.别说什么叫他们泄气的话。
• I'd hate to be the one to disillusion him.我不愿意成为那个让他幻想破灭的人。

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 offsets   

n.开端( offset的名词复数 )；出发v.抵消( offset的第三人称单数 )；补偿；（为了比较的目的而）把…并列（或并置）；为（管道等）装支管

参考例句：

• The following paragraphs deal with intra-source offsets and the so-called \"bubble\" concept. 下面讨论污染源内部的补偿和所谓的“泡泡”概念。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• The preceding paragraphs were concerned with inter-source offsets. 前文牵涉到污染源之间的补偿。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

8 offsetting   

n.偏置法v.抵消( offset的现在分词 )；补偿；（为了比较的目的而）把…并列（或并置）；为（管道等）装支管

参考例句：

• Dealers, having concluded a forward contract, should always hedge with an offsetting contract. 外汇经营商在签订了一项远期合同之后总是应进行套头交易签订一项相抵合同。 来自辞典例句
• Where does Germany think offsetting shifts into greater external deficits might occur? 在德国看来，这么大的外部赤字应该转移到哪里？ 来自互联网

9 embargo   

n.禁运（令）；vt.对...实行禁运，禁止（通商）

参考例句：

• This country put an oil embargo on an enemy country.该国对敌国实行石油禁运。
• During the war,they laid an embargo on commerce with enemy countries.在战争期间，他们禁止与敌国通商。