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1. The price at the pump is soaring in places to more than 3 dollars a gallon, but President Bush says there is no evidence of gasoline price gouging against consumers. Bush also rejects calls by some lawmakers for a tax on windfall profits by oil companies.
2. The accuser in the Duke lacrosse party case also claimed she’d been raped 10 years ago, but there is a chance the jury won’t hear about the allegations. That’s because North Carolina’s shield law strictly limits the use of an accuser’s past sexual history as evidence. The exotic dancer said she was assaulted last month by three members of the Duke lacrosse team.
3. Five Congress members were arrested during this protest at Sudan’s Embassy in Washington. The House Democrats were calling on the Sudanese government to stop genocide in the Darfur region. They were charged with disorderly conduct and unlawful assembly.
4. It’s a different kind of march for these penguins. They were released back into the wild at this beach near Sydney, Australia. The flightless birds underwent rehabilitation after they were attacked by a dog.
WORDS IN THE NEWS
1. gouge : verb
⑴ informal: to extort from
⑵ slang: to swindle
2. windfall : n-count
A windfall is a sum of money that you receive unexpectedly or by luck, for example if you win a lottery.
3. accuser : n-count
An accuser is a person who says that another person has done something wrong, especially that he or she has committed a crime.
e.g. ...a criminal proceeding where defendants have the right to confront their accusers.
4. shield law : noun
Law protecting confidentiality of journalistic sources: in North America, a law that protects a journalist from being forced to reveal the name of a source who provided information confidentially.
5. genocide : n-uncount
Genocide is the deliberate murder of a whole community or race.
e.g. They have alleged that acts of genocide and torture were carried out.
6. penguin : n-count
A penguin is a type of large black and white sea bird found mainly in the Antarctic. Penguins cannot fly but use their short wings for swimming.
7. flightless : adj
A flightless bird or insect is unable to fly because it does not have the necessary type of wings. |