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1. President Bush spent his final Veterans Day while in office, aboard a World War II aircraft carrier. He stood in the shadow of the USS Intrepid¹ and met two veterans there. He'll miss being commander in chief of such a fabulous² group.

2. Meanwhile, Vice³ President Dick Cheney placed a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington Cemetery⁴. He praised members of the arm foreces and their families for their enormous sacrifice, saying they have defended America's safety and spread its ideals around the globe.

3. Democratic aides say House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will put a proposed relief measure for the auto⁵ industry on the fast track. President-elect Obama's aides say, he urged Presient Bush to provide extra help to US automakers during their two-hour talk at the White House Monday.

4. And a bigger, brighter, Waterford crystal ball will usher⁶ in 2009 above New York's iconic Times Square. At 12 feet in diameter, weighing nearly 12,000 pounds with 32,000 LED lights, this crystal ball will be the largest ever.

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. fast track: n.

The fast track to something is the fastest way of achieving it.

2. usher in: phr v.

If one thing ushers⁷ in another thing, it indicates that the other thing is about to begin.

3. Waterford crystal: n. 沃特福德水晶

A type of valuable glass, made into such things as wine glasses and vases, that is made from crystal (=a high quality type of glass) in Waterford in Ireland.