AP美联社一分钟新闻 2008-12-25（在线收听）

1.As if spending one night at Chicago's O'Hare Airport wasn't enough. Some passengers face the prospect of doing it again this Christmas Eve. More than 100 flights were canceled at O'Hare today, a day after the weather forced the cancellations of more than 500 flights.

2.Officials at Seattle's Sea-Tac Airport say about 26 people have been treating for eye irritation after fumes from a de-icer seeped inside an Alaska Airlines plane. An airline spokeswoman says all five crew members and two other airline employees onboard decided to go to a hospital. It’s unknown how the fumes seeped into the plane. An airline official calls it “highly unusual”.

3.Deep discounts are drawing in customers, but analysts say that may not be enough to offset what's expected to be the worst holiday sale season in decades. Merchants desperate to pull in shoppers started discounting holiday goods last month. But except for a shopping binge on the day after Thanksgiving, Americans remained tightfisted.

4.It doesn't look like the dispute over Snow-zilla will end anytime soon. The city of Anchorage has levied thousands of dollars in fines against the owner of a property where a giant snowman sits, but the owner claimed someone else rebuilt the snowman that had previously been destroyed.

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1.de-icer: n.防冰装置

a device used on an aircraft to keep the wings and propeller free from ice or to remove ice after it has formed

2.offset: vt.

if the cost or amount of something offsets another cost or amount, the two things have an opposite effect so that the situation remains the same

3.binge: n. informal

a short period when you do too much of something, such as eating or drinking

4.tightfisted: adj. informal

not generous with money [= stingy]

5. levy: vt.

to officially say that people must pay a tax or charge

e.g. levy a tax/charge/fine etc (on something)