美国有线新闻 CNN 2015-05-29

 Welcome to your mid-week edition of CNN Student News. We're catching¹ you up on stories from around the world and we're doing it without commercials. I'm Carl Azuz.

 

First up, Iraqi forces say they're fighting back. They're trying to retake control of two provinces in western and central Iraq from the Islamic State terrorist group. ISIS expanded its territory last week, capturing the city of Ramadi. It's 70 miles away from the Iraqi capital Baghdad.

 

U.S. Defense² Secretary Ashton Carter said that the Iraqi army in Ramadi vastly outnumbered the ISIS fighters but that it didn't want to fight. An Iraqi soldier put the blame on military leadership and said the army didn't have enough supplies or support.

 

But all this has renewed international pressure on the U.S. government, to do more to fight ISIS, following the terrorist group's two key victories last week. 

 

Arguably, this is the terror group's best week in a year. Combine their battlefield successes, uh, ISIS' biggest strategic gains since they swept across Iraq last summer. 

 

In Syria, the radical³ Islamists now control more than half the country, according to the Syrian Observatory⁴ for Human Rights. The latest attack added more oil and gas fields, more ancient artifacts, and a key highway intersection–all potential money owners. They also cemented their control of Syria's border crossings into Iraq, taking Tanf, the last outside the Kurdish region not already under their control. Their advances at times hard to follow.

 

It's hard for us to nail down with any sort of granularity exactly what's happening on the ground. So, this is something we're following.

 

The speed of ISIS's Syrian advance questions the ability or willingness of President Bashar al-Assad's forces to hold ground. Local reports described the Syrian army fleeing Palmyra. By design or default, he is losing the east of Syria to ISIS. 

 

In Ramadi, Iraq, where Iraqi special forces can call in U.S. air support, the army also retreated, as ISIS closed in on them. In scenes reminiscent of ISIS' sweeping⁵ gains in Iraq last summer, the terror group seized more weapons as government's stockpiles fell into their hands.

 

It's not uh, something positive which is happening, but we hope that we can conquer. The war is war. You lose some of the fighters, but you have to win the war ultimately.

 

For now, battlefield momentum⁶ is with ISIS, quickly moving on from Ramadi towards Baghdad.

 

By the end of the week, taking the town of Husayba, taken in totality, gains in the east of Syria, connecting through greater control of the border between Iraq and Syria, to gains to the west of Iraq, ISIS's power base is growing, and so are international concerns.

 

Extreme dry heat is blowing into India. It's pushing thermometers up to 117 degrees Fahrenheit⁷. And this is in a country where about a third of the population doesn't have access to electricity. Many of those who do are dealing⁸ with occasional power outages, with fans and air-conditioning straining the system. 

 

More than 1,100 people have died in this week-long heat wave. They include India's poor, its homeless, and some construction workers who labored⁹ in direct sunlight. The monsoon¹⁰ rains are coming. They should bring some relief. But it could take a week or more before they cover the country.

1 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

2 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

3 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

4 observatory   

n.天文台，气象台，瞭望台，观测台

参考例句：

• Guy's house was close to the observatory.盖伊的房子离天文台很近。
• Officials from Greenwich Observatory have the clock checked twice a day.格林威治天文台的职员们每天对大钟检查两次。

5 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

6 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

7 Fahrenheit   

n./adj.华氏温度；华氏温度计(的)

参考例句：

• He was asked for the boiling point of water in Fahrenheit.他被问到水的沸点是华氏多少度。
• The thermometer reads 80 degrees Fahrenheit.寒暑表指出华氏80度。

8 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

9 labored   

adj.吃力的，谨慎的v.努力争取(for)( labor的过去式和过去分词 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转

参考例句：

• I was close enough to the elk to hear its labored breathing. 我离那头麋鹿非常近，能听见它吃力的呼吸声。 来自辞典例句
• They have labored to complete the job. 他们努力完成这一工作。 来自辞典例句

10 monsoon   

n.季雨，季风，大雨

参考例句：

• The monsoon rains started early this year.今年季雨降雨开始得早。
• The main climate type in that region is monsoon.那个地区主要以季风气候为主要气候类型。