历史上的今天-Today in History 2010-05-10

 May 10th,1869A Promontory¹ Utah, a golden spike² is driven into the ground, completing the first trans-continental railroad in United States. 1933Months after taking power in Germany, the Nazi³ stage massive public burnings of books considered to have un-German ideas.

1941During World War II, Rudolf Hess, Adolf Hitler’s deputy in Nazi Germany, parachute into Scotland. Hess claims he is on a peace mission. But he is treated as a prisoner of war and spends the rest of his life behind bars. 1994Nelson Mandela takes the oath of office to become South Africa’s first black president after the end of apartheid.

Also that same year, in Illinois, serial⁴ killer⁵ John Wayne Gacy is executed by lethal⁶ injection for murdering 33 young men and boys during the 1970s.

And 1960Rock musician Bono, front man of the group U2 and an anti-poverty activist⁷, is born in Dublin, Ireland. Today in History, May 10th, Sandy Kozel, the Associated Press.

1 promontory   

n.海角；岬

参考例句：

• Genius is a promontory jutting out of the infinite.天才是茫茫大地突出的岬角。
• On the map that promontory looks like a nose,naughtily turned up.从地图上面，那个海角就像一只调皮地翘起来的鼻子。

2 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

3 Nazi   

n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的

参考例句：

• They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻，并出面求和。
• Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。

4 serial   

n.连本影片，连本电视节目；adj.连续的

参考例句：

• A new serial is starting on television tonight.今晚电视开播一部新的电视连续剧。
• Can you account for the serial failures in our experiment?你能解释我们实验屡屡失败的原因吗？

5 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

6 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

7 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。