CNN 2010-11-16

Right smack¹ in the middle of November with the Thanksgiving break right around the corner, CNN Student News is bringing you the latest from your world.

President Obama is back in Washington after a ten-day trip to Asia, his longest trip overseas since he became president. It wrapped up over the weekend in Japan, where he attended APEC, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. This is a group of 21 member countries, from Australia to Canada -- from China to Mexico to the US -- and their mission is to improve economies and help the Asia-Pacific region to become more prosperous. No surprise, they talked about how the world economy is still hurting from the recession. And they acknowledged that it's still hard to say whether things are improving, with so much uncertainty² in its members' economies. APEC nations did agree to work toward increased trade, though. And during the meeting, President Obama talked about some other concerns as well. This soundbite you're about to hear, came after a meeting he had with Russian leaders.

"We spoke³ about a range of security issues. I reiterated⁴ my commitment to get the START Treaty done during the lame⁵ duck session and I communicated to Congress that it is a top priority."

Okay, you heard the president mention two things there: the start treaty and Congress. Here's the deal on start: it's an agreement between the US and Russia to reduce the number of nuclear weapons they have. Because it's a treaty, it has to be ratified⁶ by the U.S. Congress, and tha is one of the things that'll be brought up in Congress' lame duck session, which starts today and ends in December. Another task for lawmakers: What to do about tax cuts that date back to President George W. Bush. Do they keep them in place for everybody, meaning taxes don't go up but neither does government revenue? Or do they let the cuts expire, as they're scheduled to do. Meaning taxes do go up, but the government takes in more money? Or do lawmakers compromise, raising taxes only on wealthier Americans? You're going to hear more about these issues as 2010 winds down.

1 smack   

vt.拍，打，掴；咂嘴；vi.含有…意味；n.拍

参考例句：

• She gave him a smack on the face.她打了他一个嘴巴。
• I gave the fly a smack with the magazine.我用杂志拍了一下苍蝇。

2 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 reiterated   

反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• "Well, I want to know about it,'she reiterated. “嗯，我一定要知道你的休假日期，"她重复说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Some twenty-two years later President Polk reiterated and elaborated upon these principles. 大约二十二年之后，波尔克总统重申这些原则并且刻意阐释一番。

5 lame   

adj.跛的，(辩解、论据等)无说服力的

参考例句：

• The lame man needs a stick when he walks.那跛脚男子走路时需借助拐棍。
• I don't believe his story.It'sounds a bit lame.我不信他讲的那一套。他的话听起来有些靠不住。

6 ratified   

v.批准，签认（合约等）( ratify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The treaty was declared invalid because it had not been ratified. 条约没有得到批准，因此被宣布无效。
• The treaty was ratified by all the member states. 这个条约得到了所有成员国的批准。