美联社新闻一分钟 2006-02-11

1. American journalist Jill Carroll's captors are threatening to kill her on Feb. 26th, if the US military doesn’t release all Iraqi women from prison. Carroll, a freelance reporter for the Christian¹ Science Monitor, was kidnapped in Baghdad Jan. 7th.

2. Former FEMA chief Michael Brown blames the Department of Homeland Security for the government’s slow response to Hurricane Katrina. Brown says officials were warned that New Orleans' levees were breach²ed on the day that Hurricane Katrina roared ashore⁴.

3. In a surprise move, Lewis Libby admits he leaked the name of a CIA operative. But he says he was following orders by his superiors. The former top aide to Vice⁵ President Dick Cheney also told the federal grand jury the classified material was used by the Bush administration to justify⁶ invading Iraq.

4. This California woman who's 3 feet tall and weighed 37 pounds before she got pregnant has given birth to her first child, a healthy boy. The new mom suffers from a rare disorder⁷ that makes her bones soft and brittle⁸

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. freelance : adjective, adverb
doing particular pieces of work for different organizations, rather than working all the time for a single organization:
e.g. Most of the journalists I know are/work freelance.

2. breach : verb
to break a hole in a wall that is intended to protect a place:
e.g. The storm had breached³ the sea wall in two places.

3. superior : noun [C], adjective
(a person or group of people who are) higher in rank or social position than others:
e.g. I will pass your complaint on to my superiors.

4. brittle : adjective
delicate and easily broken:
e.g. As you get older your bones become increasingly brittle.

1 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

2 breach   

n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破

参考例句：

• We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
• He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。

3 breached   

攻破( breach的现在分词 )； 破坏，违反

参考例句：

• These commitments have already been breached. 这些承诺已遭背弃。
• Our tanks have breached the enemy defences. 我方坦克车突破了敌人的防线。

4 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。

5 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

6 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？

7 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

8 brittle   

adj.易碎的；脆弱的；冷淡的；(声音)尖利的

参考例句：

• The pond was covered in a brittle layer of ice.池塘覆盖了一层易碎的冰。
• She gave a brittle laugh.她冷淡地笑了笑。