美联社新闻一分钟 2007-04-03

1. Police are looking into the shooting deaths of two people at the University of Washington. A spokesman says the two were found in a campus building that houses the Architecture Department. Authorities say it may be a case of murder-suicide.

2. Six months after a horrific shooting, Amish children into the brand-new one-room schoolhouse. Ten girls were shot last fall, five died. The gunman then committed suicide. The new school has more sophisticated locks, a steel door and is close to non-Amish homes providing a quick way to summon help if needed.

3. A tsunami¹ struck without warning in the western Solomon Islands, washing away villages and killing² at least 13 people. Officials say the death toll³ will likely rise. An earthquake triggered the tsunami. Thousands of villagers left their homes for higher ground.

4. Howard K. Stern has dropped his challenge to block the release of DNA⁴ test results that could determine who is Dannielynn Smith's father. Bahamas judges said he had filed this challenge too late. Anna Nicole Smith listed Stern as the father on the birth certificate. But Larry Birkhead says the test will prove he is the father.

 

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. Amish
Amish is a group of Protestants who broke away from the Mennonites in the seventeenth century. The Amish live in close communities, farm for a living, and do without many modern conveniences, such as telephones, automobiles⁵, and tractor-drawn plows⁶.

2. Summon: verb
If you summon someone, you order them to come to you.

1 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

2 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

3 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

4 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

5 automobiles   

n.汽车( automobile的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• When automobiles become popular,the use of the horse and buggy passed away. 汽车普及后，就不再使用马和马车了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Automobiles speed in an endless stream along the boulevard. 宽阔的林荫道上，汽车川流不息。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 plows   

n.犁( plow的名词复数 )；犁型铲雪机v.耕( plow的第三人称单数 )；犁耕；费力穿过

参考例句：

• Alex and Tony were turning awkward hands to plows and hoe handles. 亚历克斯和托尼在犁耙等农活方面都几乎变成新手了。
• Plows are still pulled by oxen in some countries. 在一些国家犁头仍由牛拖拉。