美联社新闻一分钟 2005-12-09

1. Iraqi insurgents¹ claim online they've killed a kidnapped US security consultant². The White House says it can't confirm the death.

2. Defense³ Secretary Rumsfeld says US troop levels in Iraq could be reduced to under 137,000 if next week's elections there go well.

3. NATO's chief says Secretary of State Rice cleared the air by explaining US abuse on treatment of terror suspects in secret prisons.

4. An Israeli airstrike kills two Palestinian militants⁴ in Gaza, while a Palestinian man fatally stabs an Israeli soldier in the West Bank.

5. And fans of John Lennon gather in New York, and in the former Beatles' hometown of Liverpool, marking 25 years since his murder.

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. NATO北大西洋公约组织
n North Atlantic Treaty Organization a group of countries including the US and several European countries, which give military help to each other --our allies in NATO --a NATO country

2. fatally
1 in a way that causes death: fatally injured/wounded --Two officers were fatally injured in the explosion.
2 in a way that will make something fail or be unable to continue: fatally flawed/weakened/damaged etc --Bolton's idea was fatally flawed. --He has been fatally undermined by his own finance minister.

3. John Lennon
(1940-80) a British singer and songwriter, who was a member of The Beatles, and wrote most of their songs with Paul McCartney. After The Beatles separated, he continued to write and sing songs, especially about peace and love, including Give Peace a Chance and Imagine. He was married to the artist Yoko Ono. He was shot and killed outside his home in New York City.

1 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

2 consultant   

n.顾问；会诊医师，专科医生

参考例句：

• He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
• Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来，加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。

3 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

4 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。