美联社新闻一分钟 2007-03-18

1. Thousands of war protesters converged² on Washington today. They marched from the Vietnam War Memorial to the Pentagon to observe the 4th anniversary of the start of the war in Iraq.

2. Meanwhile the violence continues in Iraq. The military says there were three separate suicide bombings yesterday in Iraq's Anbar province involving trucks carrying chlorine. About 350 Iraqi civilians³ and six US troops have been treated for exposure to chlorine gas.

3. Winter isn't going away without a fight. A mix of snow, sleet⁴ and freezing rain has pummeled the East Coast just days before the arrival of spring. The wild weather canceled hundreds of flights and caused a number of accidents on roads.

4. And Irish eyes are smiling today on Saint Patrick's Day. Thousands of revelers in New York City wore their green and hit the streets to enjoy the annual Saint Patrick's Day parade.

 

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. converge¹: verb
If people or vehicles converge on a place, they move fast towards it from different directions.

2. chlorine: n-uncount
Chlorine is a strong-smell gas that is used to clean water nd to make cleaning products.

3. pummel: verb
If you pummel someone or something, you hit them many times using your fists.

4. reveler: n-count
Revelers are people who are enjoying themselves in a noisy way, often while they are drunk. (LITERARY)

1 converge   

vi.会合；聚集，集中；(思想、观点等)趋近

参考例句：

• The results converge towards this truth.其结果趋近于这个真理。
• Parallel lines converge at infinity.平行线永不相交。

2 converged   

v.（线条、运动的物体等）会于一点( converge的过去式 )；（趋于）相似或相同；人或车辆汇集；聚集

参考例句：

• Thousands of supporters converged on London for the rally. 成千上万的支持者从四面八方汇聚伦敦举行集会。
• People converged on the political meeting from all parts of the city. 人们从城市的四面八方涌向这次政治集会。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

4 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。