AP美联社一分钟新闻 2008-10-04（在线收听）

1.With the economy on the brink and elections looming, Congress approved an unprecedented 700-billion-dollar rescue package for the financial industry. Shortly after the vote, President Bush signed it Friday afternoon.

2.Stocks climbed as the House passed the financial rescue plan. At one point the Dow was up more than 300 points. But it's since given up all those gains and moved into negative territory.

3.Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden bid his son and other members of a Delaware National Guard unit goodbye as they prepared to deploy to Iraq. Biden’s son, Beau Biden serves as a captain and lawyer in the 261st Signal Brigade.

4.The discovery of Steve Fossett's plane is bringing closure to his widow, 13 months after he vanished. But she hopes the millionaire thrill-seeker is remembered for his accomplishments, not his death. Officials say it appears Fossett's single-engine plane slammed straight into a Californian mountain on a cloudy day, killing him instantly.

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. brink n.

the verge of a state or situation, typically an undesirable one:

The country was on the brink of a crisis.

2.negative territory 负值范围／负值区域

在股市走势图中，以开盘价为基准，其上面的部位称作positive territory，而其下面的部份则是negative territory。

3.closure n.

(in a legislative assembly) a procedure for ending a debate and taking a vote