美联社新闻一分钟 2006-12-26

1. On Santa's busiest day, he is getting a little help from postal¹ workers in Washington DC. Some employees gathered today to make sure all the last-minute express packages got delivered in time for the holiday.

2. It was a white Christmas for US troops in Afghanistan as more than 6 inches of snow fell near Kabul. Soldiers say they are feeling the spirit of Christmas despite being thousands of miles away from loved ones.

3. New Yorkers are reacting with sadness to the death of James Brown. The Godfather of Soul influenced generations of musicians across a range of genre²s from rap⁴ to rock with his revolutionary rhythms, rough voice and flashy footwork.

4. This surfing Santa is braving the freezing cold waters near Niagara Falls. The brave businessman puts on a Santa suit each year and takes to the water to raise money for troubled teens and homeless charities.

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. genre : N-COUNT
A genre is a particular type of literature, painting, music, film, or other art form which people consider as a class because it has special characteristics.

2. flashy : ADJ
If you describe a person or thing as flashy, you mean they are smart and noticeable, but in a rather vulgar⁵ way.

3. footwork : N-UNCOUNT
Footwork is the way in which you move your feet, especially in sports such as boxing, football, or tennis, or in dancing

1 postal   

adj.邮政的，邮局的

参考例句：

• A postal network now covers the whole country.邮路遍及全国。
• Remember to use postal code.勿忘使用邮政编码。

2 genre   

n.(文学、艺术等的)类型，体裁，风格

参考例句：

• My favorite music genre is blues.我最喜欢的音乐种类是布鲁斯音乐。
• Superficially,this Shakespeare's work seems to fit into the same genre.从表面上看， 莎士比亚的这个剧本似乎属于同一类型。

3 genres   

（文学、艺术等的）类型，体裁，风格( genre的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Novel and short story are different genres. 长篇小说和短篇小说是不同的类别。
• But confusions over the two genres have a long history. 但是类型的混淆，古已有之。 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译

4 rap   

n.轻敲，拍击，责骂，厉声说出，说唱音乐，谈话，最少量；vi.轻敲，敲门，表演说唱音乐，畅谈；vt.抓，抢，拍击

参考例句：

• I heard a rap on the door.我听到有轻轻的敲门声。
• Today we are going to rap about relationships.今天我们要聊聊关系的问题。

5 vulgar   

adj.粗野的，下流的，庸俗的，粗俗的

参考例句：

• His language is a bit vulgar at times.他说话有时有点粗俗。
• His vulgar manners shocked everyone.他粗俗的举止使大家大为吃惊。