美联社新闻一分钟 2007-03-28（在线收听）

1. President Bush wants Press Secretary Tony Snow to stay strong, now that his cancer has returned and spread to his liver. The discovery was made while Snow was having surgery to remove a small growth. He battled colon cancer two years ago.

2. In Maryland, a man and his four children were found dead in a townhouse. The children were in beds beneath sheets, the father hanging by a rope from a banister. The family's mother is missing. Police made the discovery after a school employee noticed the children absent for several days. Authorities are looking for a motive.

3. An aide to Virginia Senator Jim Webb faces weapons violations following his arrest yesterday for allegedly trying to carry a gun into a Senate office building. The Senator's office calls the incident an oversight. Webb says the arrest is enormously unfortunate.

4. In Arizona, inmates are chasing dreams, American Idol style. This is Inmate Idle. That's I-D-L-E, a competition the Maricopa County sheriff dreamed up to boost inmates' self-esteem and make use of their idle time. Inmates auditioned with the best belting are now before judges including the sheriff.

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. colon: n-uncount 结肠
Your colon is the part of your intestine above your rectum.

2. audition: n-count 试镜
An audition is a short performance given by an actor, dancer or musician so that a director or conductor can decide if they are good enough to be in a play, film or orchestra.

3. belting: n-uncount
Belting is a specific technique of singing by which a singer uses his or her chest voice in order to produce high and powerful pitches.

4. sheriff: n-count
In the United States, a sheriff is a person who is elected to make sure that the law is obeyed in a particular county.