美联社新闻一分钟 2007-06-02

1. The Atlanta lawyer quarantined with a rare strain of tuberculosis¹ is said to be doing well at a Denver hospital. The attending physician says Andrew Speaker has a very low level of contagion². Meantime friends of Speaker's are coming to his defense³.

2. Jack⁴ Kevorkian, the man known as "Dr. Death" is once again a free man. Kevorkian was released from prison this morning after serving eight years for second-degree murder in connection with the death of a man with Lou Gehrig's disease. Kevorkian says he will no longer help in another suicide.

3. A new report says the number of people sickened by peanut butter tainted⁵ with salmonella has grown from 425 to 628. The outbreak was first reported in February and now includes cases in 47 states. The new report is the first update on cases since ConAgra recalled all of its peanut butter from a plant in Sylvester, Georgia.

4. Now that he has become the National Spelling Bee champ, Evan O'Dorney is admitting to an even bigger interest in math. The 13-year-old eighth-grader says he just likes how the numbers all fit together.

 

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. contagion: n-uncount
Contagion is the spreading of a particular disease by someone touching⁶ another person who is already affected⁷ by the disease.

2. update: n-count
An update is a news item containing the latest information about a particular situation.

1 tuberculosis   

n.结核病，肺结核

参考例句：

• People used to go to special health spring to recover from tuberculosis.人们常去温泉疗养胜地治疗肺结核。
• Tuberculosis is a curable disease.肺结核是一种可治愈的病。

2 contagion   

n.(通过接触的疾病)传染；蔓延

参考例句：

• A contagion of fear swept through the crowd.一种恐惧感在人群中迅速蔓延开。
• The product contagion effect has numerous implications for marketing managers and retailers.产品传染效应对市场营销管理者和零售商都有很多的启示。

3 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

4 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

5 tainted   

adj.腐坏的；污染的；沾污的；感染的v.使变质( taint的过去式和过去分词 )；使污染；败坏；被污染，腐坏，败坏

参考例句：

• The administration was tainted with scandal. 丑闻使得政府声名狼藉。
• He was considered tainted by association with the corrupt regime. 他因与腐败政府有牵连而名誉受损。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

7 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。