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Hello to you, I'm Creshon Saunders at the CNN. com newsroom in Atlanta. Here is a look at what's happening NOW IN THE NEWS.

"Folks, don't drive if you don't have to. " A message from the Minnesota DOT to residents in the southwestern part of the state Saturday afternoon. Snow and high winds have been blasting the Midwest for days now, and officials say the combination is making for dangerous driving conditions. Meantime, warnings of blinding snow and near zero temperatures for residents in Washington State. A blizzard¹ warning was issued for the area Saturday afternoon.

Canada is chipping in to help out struggling US automakers. The Canadian government will provide about 3. 3 billion dollars to the struggling companies. It's part of a pledge the Canadian government made to provide 20% of whatever was offered by the US government to automakers. Prime Minister Stephen Harper also made a point to say the aid is not a blank check, saying conditions will be attached.

Iraqi lawmakers have rejected the first draft of a bill that would extend the stay of foreign troops in their country. The bill takes up when a UN mandate² on coalition³ troop withdrawal⁴ ends, it would extend the stay for some troops like British forces until after December 31st. Now last month, the US reached an agreement, keeping its forces in the country until June 2009 where a partial withdrawal will begin, ending in a total withdrawal by the end of 2011.

Meantime, a big boost to US troop levels in Afghanistan come 2009. US Joint⁵ Chief of Staff Mike Mullen says the US plans to deploy⁶ between 20, 000 and 30, 000 additional US troops to Afghanistan by the summer of 09. The troops come to bolster⁷ existing forces and help combat rising insurgent⁸ violence.

It took about 25 seconds for the 24-year-old RCA Dome⁹ to become a heaping pile of rubble¹⁰ this morning. Did you see that? The former stadium of the Indianapolis Colts was brought down with some 800 explosive charges. The site is being cleared for an expansion of the Indiana Convention Center. The Colts moved to the new Lucas Oil Stadium this season.

Those are the headlines this hour. For more on these stories and other news of the day, CNN is your source, online, on TV, even when you're on the go.

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收听单词发音

1 blizzard
n.暴风雪
参考例句：
The blizzard struck while we were still on the mountain.我们还在山上的时候暴风雪就袭来了。 You'll have to stay here until the blizzard blows itself off.你得等暴风雪停了再走。

2 mandate
n.托管地；命令，指示
参考例句：
The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。 The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

3 coalition
n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合
参考例句：
The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。 Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

4 withdrawal
n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销
参考例句：
The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。 They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

5 joint
adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合
参考例句：
I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。 We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

6 deploy
v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开
参考例句：
The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。 The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

7 bolster
n.枕垫；v.支持，鼓励
参考例句：
The high interest rates helped to bolster up the economy.高利率使经济更稳健。 He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。

8 insurgent
adj.叛乱的，起事的；n.叛乱分子
参考例句：
Faruk says they are threatened both by insurgent and government forces.法鲁克说，他们受到暴乱分子和政府军队的双重威胁。 The insurgent mob assembled at the gate of the city park.叛变的暴徒聚在市立公园的门口。

9 dome
n.圆屋顶，拱顶
参考例句：
The dome was supported by white marble columns.圆顶由白色大理石柱支撑着。 They formed the dome with the tree's branches.他们用树枝搭成圆屋顶。

10 rubble
n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾
参考例句：
After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。 After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。