美联社新闻一分钟 2006-07-10

1. Five more American soldiers are charged in connection with the assault and death of a young woman in Iraq. All five are still on active duty in Iraq. Four are charged with rape¹ and murder, one with dereliction of duty. A former army soldier is in custody² in the US and has pleaded not guilty to similar charges.

2. More than 120 people died when an airliner³ veer⁴ed off the runway and slammed into a nearby garage in a Siberian city. Preliminary investigations⁶ show the braking system on the airbus has failed. More than 200 people were on the flight.

3. NASA says Discovery is in good shape, even though a piece of fabric⁷ filler is still sticking out from some thermal⁸ tiles. The space agency still has not decided⁹ whether to send a crew on another spacewalk to fix it.

4. Today is a day to celebrate in the nation's capital. Little Tai Shan is one year old. The star attraction of the National Zoo has grown quite a bit. One year ago, he weighed only 4 ounces. Now he is a whopping 56 pounds. He celebrated¹⁰ with a giant fruitsicle and a frozen medley¹¹ of fruits.

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. active duty : n-uncount 现役;全役
Active duty means the same as active service. (mainly AM) .In the United States military active duty refers to military members who are currently serving full time in their military capacity. This term comes from the military, where it stands in opposition¹² to reserve, which refers to troops still in the military but not actively¹³ engaged. It is occasionally transferred to civilian¹⁴ matters as well.
e.g. Julian is 81, but he still comes to the office every day and is very much on active duty.

2. dereliction of duty : n-uncount 失职,玩忽职守
Dereliction of duty is deliberate or accidental failure to do what you should do as part of your job. (FORMAL)
e.g. The police officers were found guilty of serious dereliction of duty.
= negligence

3. veer : verb
If someone or something veers¹⁵ in a certain direction, they change their position or direction in a particular situation.

4. runway : n-count
At an airport, the runway is the long strip of ground with a hard surface which an aeroplane takes off from or lands on.

5. thermal tile : 隔热瓦

6. whopping : adj
If you describe an amount as whopping, you are emphasizing that it is large. (INFORMAL)

7. medley : n-count
a mixture of people or things of different kinds:
e.g. The building was a medley of styles from different periods.

1 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

2 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

3 airliner   

n.客机，班机

参考例句：

• The pilot landed the airliner safely.驾驶员使客机安全着陆。
• The passengers were shepherded across the tarmac to the airliner.旅客们被引导走过跑道去上飞机。

4 veer   

vt.转向，顺时针转，改变；n.转向

参考例句：

• He is unlikely to veer from his boss's strongly held views.他不可能背离他老板的强硬立场。
• If you fall asleep while driving,you'll probably veer off the road.假如你开车时打瞌睡，可能会驶离道路。

5 veered   

v.（尤指交通工具）改变方向或路线( veer的过去式和过去分词 )；（指谈话内容、人的行为或观点）突然改变；（指风） （在北半球按顺时针方向、在南半球按逆时针方向）逐渐转向；风向顺时针转

参考例句：

• The bus veered onto the wrong side of the road. 公共汽车突然驶入了逆行道。
• The truck veered off the road and crashed into a tree. 卡车突然驶离公路撞上了一棵树。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

7 fabric   

n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织

参考例句：

• The fabric will spot easily.这种织品很容易玷污。
• I don't like the pattern on the fabric.我不喜欢那块布料上的图案。

8 thermal   

adj.热的，由热造成的；保暖的

参考例句：

• They will build another thermal power station.他们要另外建一座热能发电站。
• Volcanic activity has created thermal springs and boiling mud pools.火山活动产生了温泉和沸腾的泥浆池。

9 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

10 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

11 medley   

n.混合

参考例句：

• Today's sports meeting doesn't seem to include medley relay swimming.现在的运动会好象还没有混合接力泳这个比赛项目。
• China won the Men's 200 metres Individual Medley.中国赢得了男子200米个人混合泳比赛。

12 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。

13 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

14 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

15 veers   

v.（尤指交通工具）改变方向或路线( veer的第三人称单数 )；（指谈话内容、人的行为或观点）突然改变；（指风） （在北半球按顺时针方向、在南半球按逆时针方向）逐渐转向；风向顺时针转

参考例句：

• The car veers out of control. 这辆车失去了控制。 来自辞典例句
• His fondness for his characters sometimes veers towards the sentimental. 他对那位主人公的偏爱有时也稍显矫情。 来自互联网