美联社新闻一分钟 2007-07-15

1. North Korea is saying it has shut down a nuclear reactor¹. That announcement comes hours after oil aid arrived there. A UN inspection² team is headed to the reactor to confirm the news. The shutdown would be the first step toward denuclearization in nearly five years.

2. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki says his army and police units are capable of keeping security would American troops leave, but he says his forces need more weapons and training. The White House concedes that not enough progress has been made in training Iraqi forces.

3. Former presidents and first ladies are among those attending the private funeral in Austin, Texas for Lady Bird Johnson. More than eighteen hundred people have been celebrating the memory of the former first lady. She would be buried Sunday next to her husband at the LBJ ranch³.

4. A man in Sydney Australia led police officers on a destructive 90-minute chase in a stolen tank. Authorities say the man crashed into several mobile phone towers, telecommunications buildings and an electricity substation before being arrested.

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. denuclearization: noun
the act of removing nuclear arms

2. be headed:
to go or travel towards a particular place, especially in a deliberate way

3. concede: intransitive and transitive verb
to admit that something is true or correct, although you wish it were not true

4. telecommunication⁴: noun
communication at a distance (as by telephone)

5. substation: countable noun
a place where electricity is passed on from the place that produces it into the main system

1 reactor   

n.反应器；反应堆

参考例句：

• The atomic reactor generates enormous amounts of thermal energy.原子反应堆发出大量的热能。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules.在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

2 inspection   

n.检查，审查，检阅

参考例句：

• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。
• The soldiers lined up for their daily inspection by their officers.士兵们列队接受军官的日常检阅。

3 ranch   

n.大牧场，大农场

参考例句：

• He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
• The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。

4 telecommunication   

n.电信，远距离通信

参考例句：

• Telecommunication is an industry of service.电信业是一个服务型的行业。
• I only care about the telecommunication quality and the charge.我只关心通信质量和资费两个方面。