美联社新闻一分钟 2007-01-19

1. The man accused of kidnapping two young boys has pleaded not guilty in one of the cases. Michael Devlin went before a judge this morning in the case of Ben Ownby. Meantime, the parents of Shawn Hornbeck, the other teen he's accused of kidnapping, says they think Devlin sexually assaulted their son.

2. It's the east coast turn to get a taste of bad wintry blast that's been hitting the Midwest. Areas in North Carolina are getting pelted² by snow and sleet³ while states like Texas and Oklahoma are starting to thaw⁴ out.

3. The Pentagon is releasing its manual for handling upcoming trials of terror suspects. It would allow suspects to be convicted and perhaps executed using hearsay⁵ evidence and some coerced⁷ testimony⁸.

4. Call it tragedy averted¹⁰. A news chopper decided¹¹ to help out a struggling deer by using its powerful rotor to actually blow the animal off the ice where it was stuck and then back onto land.

 

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. plead: verb
When someone charged with a crime plead guilty or not guilty in a court of law, they officially state that they are guilty or not guilty of the crime.

2. go before: phrase
To go before a judge, tribunal, or court of law means to be present there as part of an official or legal process.

3. wintry: adj.
Wintry weather is cold and has features that are typical of winter.

4. pelt¹: verb
To pelt means to strike repeatedly.

5. manual: n-count
A manual is a book which tells you how to do something or how a piece of machinery¹² works.

6. hearsay: n-uncount
Hearsay is information which you have been told and do not know to be true.

7. coerce⁶: verb
If you coerce someone into doing something, you make them do it, although they do not want to. (FORMAL)

8. avert⁹: verb
If you avert something unpleasant, you prevent it from happening.

9. rotor: n-count
The rotors or rotor blades of a helicopter are the four long, flat, thin pieces of metal on top of it which go round and lift it off the ground.

10. chopper: n-count
A chopper is a helicopter. (INFORMAL)

1 pelt   

v.投掷，剥皮，抨击，开火

参考例句：

• The boy gave the bully a pelt on the back with a pebble.那男孩用石子掷击小流氓的背脊。
• Crowds started to pelt police cars with stones.人群开始向警车扔石块。

2 pelted   

（连续地）投掷( pelt的过去式和过去分词 )； 连续抨击； 攻击； 剥去…的皮

参考例句：

• The children pelted him with snowballs. 孩子们向他投掷雪球。
• The rain pelted down. 天下着大雨。

3 sleet   

n.雨雪；v.下雨雪，下冰雹

参考例句：

• There was a great deal of sleet last night.昨夜雨夹雪下得真大。
• When winter comes,we get sleet and frost.冬天来到时我们这儿会有雨夹雪和霜冻。

4 thaw   

v.（使）融化，（使）变得友善；n.融化，缓和

参考例句：

• The snow is beginning to thaw.雪已开始融化。
• The spring thaw caused heavy flooding.春天解冻引起了洪水泛滥。

5 hearsay   

n.谣传，风闻

参考例句：

• They started to piece the story together from hearsay.他们开始根据传闻把事情的经过一点点拼湊起来。
• You are only supposing this on hearsay.You have no proof.你只是根据传闻想像而已，并没有证据。

6 coerce   

v.强迫，压制

参考例句：

• You can't coerce her into obedience.你不能强制她服从。
• Do you think there is any way that we can coerce them otherwise?你认为我们有什么办法强迫他们不那样吗？

7 coerced   

v.迫使做( coerce的过去式和过去分词 )；强迫；（以武力、惩罚、威胁等手段）控制；支配

参考例句：

• They were coerced into negotiating a settlement. 他们被迫通过谈判解决。
• He was coerced into making a confession. 他被迫招供。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

9 avert   

v.防止，避免；转移(目光、注意力等)

参考例句：

• He managed to avert suspicion.他设法避嫌。
• I would do what I could to avert it.我会尽力去避免发生这种情况。

10 averted   

防止，避免( avert的过去式和过去分词 )； 转移

参考例句：

• A disaster was narrowly averted. 及时防止了一场灾难。
• Thanks to her skilful handling of the affair, the problem was averted. 多亏她对事情处理得巧妙，才避免了麻烦。

11 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。

12 machinery   

n.(总称)机械，机器；机构

参考例句：

• Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗？
• Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。