美联社新闻一分钟 2007-02-22

1. British Prime Minister Tony Blair is laying out plans for withdrawing the country's troops in Iraq. He says 1,600 will be removed in the coming month, but adds the country will keep some forces there until at least 2008.

2. The jury in the CIA leak case has been given its final instructions. It is trying to determine whether former White House aide Lewis Libby lied to investigators¹ about the leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity.

3. A Florida judge says he'll decide who gets control of Anna Nicole Smith's remains² by the end of this week. The medical examiner says the former playmate's body is rapidly decomposing³ and warns it may not be possible to hold a public viewing.

4. Here's a stunt⁴ that's got to have dentists around the world smiling. Some 40,000 kids in the Philippines got together and tried to break the world record for the most people brushing their teeth simultaneously⁵. No word if they also flossed.

 

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. decompose⁶: verb
When things such as dead plants or animals decompose, they change chemically and begin to decay.

2. stunt: n-count
A stunt is something interesting that is done to attract attention and get publicity⁷ for the person or company responsible for it.

3. floss: verb
When you floss, you use a special kind of strong string to clean between your teeth and gums.

1 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 decomposing   

腐烂( decompose的现在分词 )； （使）分解； 分解（某物质、光线等）

参考例句：

• The air was filled with the overpowering stench of decomposing vegetation. 空气中充满了令人难以忍受的腐烂植物的恶臭。
• Heat was obtained from decomposing manures and hot air flues. 靠肥料分解和烟道为植物提供热量。

4 stunt   

n.惊人表演，绝技，特技；vt.阻碍...发育，妨碍...生长

参考例句：

• Lack of the right food may stunt growth.缺乏适当的食物会阻碍发育。
• Right up there is where the big stunt is taking place.那边将会有惊人的表演。

5 simultaneously   

adv.同时发生地，同时进行地

参考例句：

• The radar beam can track a number of targets almost simultaneously.雷达波几乎可以同时追着多个目标。
• The Windows allow a computer user to execute multiple programs simultaneously.Windows允许计算机用户同时运行多个程序。

6 decompose   

vi.分解；vt.（使）腐败，（使）腐烂

参考例句：

• The eggs began to decompose after a day in the sun.鸡蛋在太阳下放了一天后开始变坏。
• Most animals decompose very quickly after death.大多数动物死后很快腐烂。

7 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。