美联社新闻一分钟 2007-05-04

1. The US military says it killed a senior al-Qaeda official responsible for several high-profile kidnappings of Westerners. Official say Muharib Abdul-Latif al-Jubouri served as al-Qaeda's information minister in Iraq. He is believed to have been involved in the kidnapping of journalist Jill Carroll.

2. A bus carrying high school students to a band competition crashed into a tractor-trailer early Thursday, shutting down traffic on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Thirty people were injured. Most of the injuries were minor¹ although the bus driver is in critical condition.

3. Wally Schirra, one of the original Mercury² Seven astronauts died today of a heart attack. Shirra was the only astronaut to fly on NASA's Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs.

4. Britain's Queen Elizabeth II is in the US to celebrate the 400th anniversary³ of Jamestown. The Queen will also meet with students of Virginia Tech and attend the Kentucky Derby.

 

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. high-profile: adj.
A high-profile person or a high-profile event attracts a lot of attention or publicity⁴.

2. turnpike: n-count
A turnpike is a road, especially an expressway, which people have to pay to drive on. (mainly AM)

1 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

2 mercury   

n.汞，水银，水银柱

参考例句：

• The liquid we can see in thermometers is mercury.我们看到的温度计里的液体是水银。
• Mercury has a much greater density than water.水银的密度比水大得多。

3 anniversary   

n.周年(纪念日)

参考例句：

• They celebrate their wedding anniversary annually.他们每年庆祝一番结婚纪念日。
• Today is my parents'30th wedding anniversary.今天是我父母结婚30周年纪念日。

4 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。