美联社新闻一分钟 2006-03-18

1. The government scored a partial victory Friday in the death penalty trial of Al-Qaeda conspirator¹ Zacarias Moussaoui. The judge accepted a compromise which allows prosecutors² to present new witnesses about aviation security.

2. A top commander in Iraq says the US wants to have Iraqi security forces in control of 3/4 of the country by summer. The announcement comes on the heels of Thursday's launch of operation Swarmer targeting insurgents³.

3. The attorney for Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown says the copyright infringement⁴ case against his client is in tatters. In closing arguments in London Friday, he said it was clear Brown’s best-selling thriller⁵ had not copied from work from 1982’s the Holy Blood and the Holy Grail.

4. Demonstrators in New York protested comments by the chairman of the St. Patrick's Day parade Friday, after he compared gay Irish Americans to neo-Nazis and prostitutes. But the party went on, and so did the parade, with 150 thousand marchers and up to 2 million spectators.

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. come on the heels of :
to happen very soon after something:
e.g. For Walter, disaster followed hard on the heels of his initial success.

2. infringement :N-COUNT,jockey;jockeys
the behavior of doing something that is against a law or someone's legal rights
e.g. Even minor⁶ infringements⁷ of the law will be severely⁸ punished.

3. in tatters :
badly damaged or completely spoiled:
e.g. After the newspaper story appeared his reputation was in tatters.

4. thriller :noun [C]
a book, play or film which has an exciting story, often about solving a crime:
e.g. It's described here as a taut⁹, psychological thriller.

5. neo- : prefix
new or recent, or in a modern form:

6. prostitute :noun [C]
a person who has sex with someone for money

1 conspirator   

n.阴谋者，谋叛者

参考例句：

• We started abusing him,one conspirator after another adding his bitter words.我们这几个预谋者一个接一个地咒骂他，恶狠狠地骂个不停。
• A conspirator is not of the stuff to bear surprises.谋反者是经不起惊吓的。

2 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

3 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

4 infringement   

n.违反；侵权

参考例句：

• Infringement of this regulation would automatically rule you out of the championship.违背这一规则会被自动取消参加锦标赛的资格。
• The committee ruled that the US ban constituted an infringement of free trade.委员会裁定美国的禁令对自由贸易构成了侵犯

5 thriller   

n.惊险片，恐怖片

参考例句：

• He began by writing a thriller.That book sold a million copies.他是写惊险小说起家的。那本书卖了一百万册。
• I always take a thriller to read on the train.我乘火车时，总带一本惊险小说看。

6 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

7 infringements   

n.违反( infringement的名词复数 )；侵犯，伤害

参考例句：

• It'seems to me we've got to decide on wider issues than possible patent infringements. 我认为我们不能只考虑侵犯专利可能性这一问题，要对更大的一些问题做出决策。 来自企业管理英语口语（第二版）(2)
• Wikipedia relies on its users to correct errors and spot copyright infringements. 维基百科主要依靠用户来纠正错误，并发现版权侵权行为。 来自互联网

8 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

9 taut   

adj.拉紧的，绷紧的，紧张的

参考例句：

• The bowstring is stretched taut.弓弦绷得很紧。
• Scarlett's taut nerves almost cracked as a sudden noise sounded in the underbrush near them. 思嘉紧张的神经几乎一下绷裂了，因为她听见附近灌木丛中突然冒出的一个声音。