美联社新闻一分钟 2006-08-04

1. Again today the National Weather Service has posted heat warnings from Massachusetts to South Carolina. Electricity demands set records in some areas and scattered¹ power outages have been reported. Starting this evening, a cool front could force temperatures down from around 100 degrees to the 80's.

2. Forecasters now say Tropical Storm Chris is not likely to become a hurricane. Pushing across the eastern Caribbean this morning, the storm system had maximum sustained winds of 40 miles an hour, barely enough to be a named storm. It was centered about 285 miles east-southeast of Grand Turk Island.

3. Israel is pounding the southern suburbs of Beirut with airstrikes again today. A missile killed at least three people in a Lebanese village. Meanwhile, Israeli police say at least seven more people have been killed by Hezbollah rockets slamming into northern Israel.

4. Ford² is recalling more than a million trucks, SUVs and vans over concern of potential engine fires. It says the recall is tied to the speed control deactivation³ switch system, which could corrode⁴ over time, overheat and catch fire

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. front : n-count【气】锋
In relation to the weather, a front is a line where a mass of cold air meets a mass of warm air.

2. slam : verb
If one thing slams into or against another, it crashes into it with great force.

3. recall : verb 召回
If a company recalls a product, it asks the shops or the people who have bought that product to return it because there is something wrong with it.

4. deactivate⁵ : verb
to render inactive or ineffective.

1 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

2 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

3 deactivation   

n.钝化（作用），惰性化；非活动化；去活化

参考例句：

• There can be important consequences of activation or deactivation. 在这里可能有活化或钝化的重要结果。 来自辞典例句
• The deactivation of a device, program, or system. 使一个设备、程序或系统停止工作。 来自辞典例句

4 corrode   

v.使腐蚀，侵蚀，破害；v.腐蚀，被侵蚀

参考例句：

• The tools will corrode with rust if never used.这些工具如长期不用会长铁锈而损坏。
• It will pollute people's aesthetic taste and corrode social spirit.它污染人们的审美趣味，腐蚀社会精神。

5 deactivate   

v.使无效；复员

参考例句：

• Russia is deactivating some of its deadliest missiles.俄罗斯正在拆除其一些最危险的导弹。
• I go through several complex steps to try to "deactivate" my profile.我尝试了那些复杂的步骤，试图“撤销”我的个人资料。