美联社新闻一分钟 2006-11-02

1. Senator John Carry says he is sorry he botched a joke about the president's Iraq policies which some say was an insult to US troops. He says he meant no offence to the troops.

2. The official American death toll¹ for October in Iraq is 105 and the violence continues. At least 27 Iraqis died today in violence across the country. Some families held funerals for loved one who died when a car bomb exploded at a wedding.

3. At least 6 people have died in a fire that destroyed a historic hotel in Reno Nevada. But fire officials say the death toll could go higher. A woman has been charged with murder and arson². Police say she torched a mattress³ in a hotel room, but they do not have a motive⁴.

4. A strange sight on a British highway. A police constable⁵ was overseeing some construction work when he looked up and saw a bull on the road. The bull was not too happy to see the man and gave chase. Luckily the officer got away and for the next 2 hours had to chase the bull.

WORDS IN THE NEWS


1. arson : N-UNCOUNT
Arson is the crime of deliberately⁶ setting fire to a building or vehicle.

2. mattress : N-COUNT
A mattress is the large, flat layer of padding which is put on a bed to make it comfortable to sleep on.

3. constable : N-COUNT
In Britain and some other countries, a constable is a police officer of the lowest rank.

4. give chase to : PHR-V
Pursue, as in The police gave chase to the robber.

1 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

2 arson   

n.纵火，放火

参考例句：

• He was serving a ten spot for arson.他因纵火罪在服十年徒刑。
• He was arraigned on a charge of arson.他因被指控犯纵火罪而被传讯。

3 mattress   

n.床垫，床褥

参考例句：

• The straw mattress needs to be aired.草垫子该晾一晾了。
• The new mattress I bought sags in the middle.我买的新床垫中间陷了下去。

4 motive   

n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的

参考例句：

• The police could not find a motive for the murder.警察不能找到谋杀的动机。
• He had some motive in telling this fable.他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。

5 constable   

n.(英国)警察，警官

参考例句：

• The constable conducted the suspect to the police station.警官把嫌疑犯带到派出所。
• The constable kept his temper,and would not be provoked.那警察压制着自己的怒气，不肯冒起火来。

6 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。