美联社新闻一分钟 2005-11-30

1．Consumer confidence soars in November as declining gas prices and an improving job market contribute to a stronger-than-expected reading.

2．Former US attorney Ramsey Clark says he’s met with deposed¹ Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and found him in "extremely good spirits".

3．Newly released photos show a blindfolded² German woman being led away by armed captors in the latest kidnapping of a westerner in Iraq.

4．Canadian opposition³ party seizes upon a corruption⁴ scandal to bring down the minority government of Prime Minister Paul Martin in a no-confidence vote.

5．And the Rolling Stones will take a brief break from their North American tour to perform at the Super Bowl halftime show.

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. soar
confidence soars = 信心回升. soar -> 常用于 soring + price / number of death toll⁵

2. blindfolded
To cover the eyes of with or as if with a bandage.
To prevent from seeing and especially from comprehending.

3.seize upon抓住, 利用

4. no-confidence
n [U] vote of no-confidence/no-confidence vote/motion of no-confidence etc// an official vote where people can say if they no longer think someone or something is good enough// --fears that he may lose a vote of no-confidence in parliament// --The chairman has survived four no-confidence motions.//

5. halftime show
A halftime show is a performance given between the first and second halves or the 2nd and 3rd quarters of a sporting event. Halftime shows are not given for sports with an irregular or indeterminate number of divisions (such as baseball or boxing), or for sports that don't stop, like soccer.
A halftime show can consist of cheerleader performances, marching bands playing music or other spectacle performances.


补充一些背景知识:
The Superbowl:

In the United States, the halftime show for the Superbowl is a highlight of the event and can cost millions to stage.

On February 1 2004, the live halftime show for Super Bowl XXXVIII, produced by music video giant MTV, sparked outrage⁶ among many viewers when Justin Timberlake, one of the performers, accidentally exposed Janet Jackson's right breast. Since it was broadcast live, the exposure was seen by millions when it happened. While this wouldn't cause a stir in most European nations, where partial nudity is more or less ignored, it caused an uproar⁷ in the U.S. where most cases of even partial nudity aren't tolerated in the least.

1 deposed   

v.罢免( depose的过去式和过去分词 )；（在法庭上）宣誓作证

参考例句：

• The president was deposed in a military coup. 总统在军事政变中被废黜。
• The head of state was deposed by the army. 国家元首被军队罢免了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 blindfolded   

v.（尤指用布）挡住（某人）的视线( blindfold的过去式 )；蒙住（某人）的眼睛；使不理解；蒙骗

参考例句：

• The hostages were tied up and blindfolded. 人质被捆绑起来并蒙上了眼睛。
• They were each blindfolded with big red handkerchiefs. 他们每个人的眼睛都被一块红色大手巾蒙住了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

4 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

5 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。

6 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

7 uproar   

n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸

参考例句：

• She could hear the uproar in the room.她能听见房间里的吵闹声。
• His remarks threw the audience into an uproar.他的讲话使听众沸腾起来。