美联社新闻一分钟 2006-03-29

1. President Bush has announced changes at the White House. Chief of staff Andrew Card has resigned. He'll be replaced by budget chief Joshua Bolten.

2. Former Reagan Defense¹ Secretary Casper Weinberger has died. He was 88 years old.

3. The debate over immigration has sparked rallies around the country, drawing thousands to the streets. The Senate Judiciary Committee has approved legislation that includes a guest worker program. It still needs approval by the full senate.

4. In Israel, voters went to the polls in a general election that amounts to a referendum on the future of the West Bank. It looks good for acting² Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who was promising³ to define Israel’s final borders by 2010.

5. Nationwide strikes continue in France against the new youth employment law that would allow employers to fire workers under the age of 26 without any reason in the first two years on the job. The new law is set to go into effect next month

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. amount to :[not continuous]
to be the same as something, or to have the same effect as something:
e.g. He gave what amounted to an apology on behalf of his company.

2. referendum :noun [C]
a vote in which all the people in a country or an area are asked to give their opinion about or decide an important political or social question:
e.g. Is it more democratic to hold a referendum, rather than let the government alone decide?

3. acting : adjective
someone who does a job for a short time while the person who usually does that job is not there:
e.g. He'll be the acting director until they can appoint a permanent one.

4. nationwide :adjective
existing or happening in all parts of a particular country:
e.g. a nationwide network

1 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。

2 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

3 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。