美国有线新闻 CNN 2012-09-18

 A wave of anger and violence is spreading across Northern Africa and the Middle East. Sudan, Tunisia, Morocco, Iraq, Iran, some of the protests have been small, some have been large. The biggest have been in countries we`re highlighting on this map. Egypt where one of the first protests happened this week. Libya where four Americans were killed during an attack at a U.S. facility on Tuesday, and Yemen where protests broke out at the U.S. embassy on Thursday. Those demonstrations¹ turned violent in Yemen. Dozens of people were injured after protesters fought with security forces when police tried to break up the crowd. There was similar fighting in Egypt yesterday. Protesters there threw rocks and other dangerous items at police who used tear gas to try to keep the angry crowd away from the U.S. embassy there. The anger started because of an online anti-Muslim film that ridiculed² the Prophet Muhammad. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called the video disgusting and reprehensible³, but she added that "there is no justification⁴ for responding to this video with violence."

 

In Chicago, stand-off between the teachers union and school board officials might be coming to an end. Yesterday the two sides started sounding more optimistic about their negotiations⁵. Teachers walked off the job on the picket⁶ lines on Monday. That meant 350,000 Chicago students were out of school. We`ve been reporting on the strike and its impact throughout the week on our show. We`ve also been covering it on CNN`s education blog, "Schools of thought". You can check that out at cnn.com/education. And read different prospective⁷ on the strike.We heard another one when we talked with the Chicago parent this week.

 

Hi, my name is Nino Rodriguez. I submitted an iReport photo of my children being taught at my home, and my kids at the table. There is a big strike in Chicago that`s affecting children.We are always doing stuff at home. You know, keeping them away from the computer, keeping them away from television and movies, which is what they want to run to first. So, we know, we are always right on it from the beginning. You know, they must, you know, either do writing, reading or something like that.Overall, you know, we just want to get back in class, because they were only in class for five days. Four days, because they had Labor<sup>8</sup> Day off.And other, you know, it`s like back in summer, which it cuts on a lot of instructions and a lot of school time.Keep reading, keep writing and keep, you know, keep your mind ability, because that`s the only thing you have, and that`s the only thing to control other forces outside. They are always going to try to influence you, but if you have a strong mind, that`s always going to win.

 

At about six months, if you are looking for a certain size soda⁹ of sugary drink you won`t find it in New York restaurants. The city has banned anything larger than 16 ounces. The New York Board of Health approved the ban yesterday, Mayor Michael Bloomberg who proposed the idea said it`s a way to fight obesity¹⁰ and to encourage people to live healthier lifestyles. Critiques, including restaurant and soda companies called the ban misguided and arbitrary. Now, we blogged about the story back in May when Mayor Bloomberg first proposed the idea. Kelly said, it`s a great idea. She said a change isn`t bad when the health of our children and future generations will be healthier. Leanne said, it comes down to personal decisions. "I don`t think the government should make people`s decisions for them about how much to eat or drink."

1 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

2 ridiculed   

v.嘲笑，嘲弄，奚落( ridicule的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Biosphere 2 was ultimately ridiculed as a research debade, as exfravagant pseudoscience. 生物圈2号最终被讥讽为科研上的大失败，代价是昂贵的伪科学。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She ridiculed his insatiable greed. 她嘲笑他的贪得无厌。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 reprehensible   

adj.该受责备的

参考例句：

• Lying is not seen as being morally reprehensible in any strong way.人们并不把撒谎当作一件应该大加谴责的事儿。
• It was reprehensible of him to be so disloyal.他如此不忠，应受谴责。

4 justification   

n.正当的理由；辩解的理由

参考例句：

• There's no justification for dividing the company into smaller units. 没有理由把公司划分成小单位。
• In the young there is a justification for this feeling. 在年轻人中有这种感觉是有理由的。

5 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

6 picket   

n.纠察队；警戒哨；v.设置纠察线；布置警卫

参考例句：

• They marched to the factory and formed a picket.他们向工厂前进,并组成了纠察队。
• Some of the union members did not want to picket.工会的一些会员不想担任罢工纠察员。

7 prospective   

adj.预期的，未来的，前瞻性的

参考例句：

• The story should act as a warning to other prospective buyers.这篇报道应该对其他潜在的购买者起到警示作用。
• They have all these great activities for prospective freshmen.这会举办各种各样的活动来招待未来的新人。

8 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

9 soda   

n.苏打水；汽水

参考例句：

• She doesn't enjoy drinking chocolate soda.她不喜欢喝巧克力汽水。
• I will freshen your drink with more soda and ice cubes.我给你的饮料重加一些苏打水和冰块。

10 obesity   

n.肥胖，肥大

参考例句：

• One effect of overeating may be obesity.吃得过多能导致肥胖。
• Sugar and fat can more easily lead to obesity than some other foods.糖和脂肪比其他食物更容易导致肥胖。