VOA慢速英语2015 French Officials Say All on Plane Dead in Crash

French Officials Say All on Plane Dead in Crash

An airplane carrying 150 passengers and crew crashed Tuesday in the French Alps. French officials said all on the plane were killed. The victims include 16 schoolchildren.

The plane was traveling from Barcelona, Spain, to Dusseldorf, Germany when it went down.

The French Interior Minister  said one of the plane's black boxes had been found and would be examined.

Obama meets with Afghan president Ashraf Ghani

President Barack Obama announced Tuesday that the U.S. will not reduce troop numbers in Afghanistan this year. He made the announcement after meeting in Washington with Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani.

Mr. Ghani had asked the United States to reconsider its withdrawal¹ plan. About 9,800 American soldiers are in Afghanistan to advise and train Afghan troops.

Mr. Obama had announced plans to cut back the troops numbers to 5,500 by the end of 2015.

Mr. Ghani and Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah also met Monday with other U.S. officials, including Secretary of State John Kerry. Mr. Kerry described the talks as “productive."

Shi’ite rebels clash with opposing militias³ in Yemen

Yemen’s Shi'ite rebels made progress Tuesday in southern Yemen fighting with militias loyal to the country's current president.

The rebels -- known as Houthis -- entered the town of al-Dhalea and fought fierce gunbattles with militias who support Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

To the north in Taiz province, the rebels and soldiers loyal to ousted⁴ President Ali Abdullah Saleh clashed with anti-Houthi protesters. The soldiers fired on the protesters, killing⁵ at least one.

Words in the News:

troop – n. a group of soldiers

black box – n. a device on an airplane that records flight information

militia² – n. a group of people who are not part of the armed forces of a country but are trained like soldiers

1 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

2 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

3 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

4 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

5 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。