美联社新闻一分钟 2007-01-13

1. It was Day 2 for Defense¹ Secretary Robert Gates on Capitol Hill. ''We would probably have to be in Iraq to provide help of one kind or another to the Iraqis for quite some time.'' He was defending the president's new Iraq war strategy before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

2. The Pentagon has abandoned its time limit for citizen-soldier serving on active military duty. Until now, cumulative² duty time for Guard and Reserve troops serving in Iraq or Afghanistan couldn't exceed 24 months.

3. An anti-tank rocket hit the US embassy in Athens just before 6 a.m. local time this morning. There were no injuries and minimal³ structural⁴ damage.

4. And this child in Baltimore proved unimpressed with the ceremony for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Bored, this youngster took matters into his own hands or mouth.

 

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. active duty: n-uncount
Someone who is on active duty is taking part in a war as a member of the armed forces. (mainly AM)
Active duty means the same as active service. (mainly BRIT)

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 cumulative   

adj.累积的，渐增的

参考例句：

• This drug has a cumulative effect.这种药有渐增的效力。
• The benefits from eating fish are cumulative.吃鱼的好处要长期才能显现。

3 minimal   

adj.尽可能少的，最小的

参考例句：

• They referred to this kind of art as minimal art.他们把这种艺术叫微型艺术。
• I stayed with friends, so my expenses were minimal.我住在朋友家，所以我的花费很小。

4 structural   

adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的

参考例句：

• The storm caused no structural damage.风暴没有造成建筑结构方面的破坏。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities.北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。