CNN 2009-06-30

Hello from the CNN Center here in Atlanta, I'm Mellissa Long and it's Monday, June 29th. Here is a look at some of the stories that are happening NOW IN THE NEWS.

The man behind a multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme is in court today. Bernard Madoff and eleven of his victims are speaking in court about what may be the biggest investment fraud in history. Madoff pleaded guilty due to fraud investors¹ out of more than 13 billion dollars, he faces a sentence as long as 150 years. At the beginning of today’s sentencing, the judge recommended that Madoff receive a 50-year sentence. Actually that’s the federal probation² department making the recommendation of 50 years in prison.

In the last day of this US Supreme³ Court session, a big decision today regarding reverse discrimination. The US Supreme Court decided⁴ in favor of the 20 white fire fighters in New Haven⁵, Connecticut who said they were just discriminated⁶ against because of their race. It's an intriguing⁷ case, a reverse discrimination and interestingly, Supreme Court nominee⁸ Sonia Sotomayor was one of the 3 judges who rejected an initial appeal in the case. Today the Supreme Court were five to four, saying the city of New Haven improperly⁹ threw out the results of exams when two female minorities qualified¹⁰.

The Jackson family's attorney says a will has not surfaced since the singer died last week. So there is nothing definitive¹¹ yet in terms of who will get custody¹² of the three children. For now, Jackson's mother is taking care of his two sons and a daughter. And the family's attorney will be going in court today, to help protect her right to keep them. Debbie Rowe, the mother of Jackson's first two children gave up parental¹³ rights to them. And the third child was reportedly born through a surrogate. Jackson's funeral arrangements haven't been made yet. His father says the family is still working on that.

The man who pitched products like Oxyclean and television commercials has died. Billy Mays was 50 years old. An autopsy¹⁴ is supposed to be completed later today that could explain if there is any link to an incident that happened Saturday on a flight, when Billy Mays' plane had a rough landing because of a blown tire. Mays told the television crew luggage came out of the overhead compartment¹⁵ and hit him on the head.

You are up to date. Those are the headlines making news at this hour. Do stay with CNN and CNN. com for more on these stories or other news that develops today.

1 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

2 probation   

n.缓刑(期)，(以观后效的)察看；试用(期)

参考例句：

• The judge did not jail the young man,but put him on probation for a year.法官没有把那个年轻人关进监狱，而且将他缓刑察看一年。
• His salary was raised by 800 yuan after his probation.试用期满以后，他的工资增加了800元。

3 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

6 discriminated   

分别，辨别，区分( discriminate的过去式和过去分词 )； 歧视，有差别地对待

参考例句：

• His great size discriminated him from his followers. 他的宽广身材使他不同于他的部下。
• Should be a person that has second liver virus discriminated against? 一个患有乙肝病毒的人是不是就应该被人歧视？

7 intriguing   

adj.有趣的；迷人的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的现在分词)；激起…的好奇心

参考例句：

• These discoveries raise intriguing questions. 这些发现带来了非常有趣的问题。
• It all sounds very intriguing. 这些听起来都很有趣。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

9 improperly   

不正确地，不适当地

参考例句：

• Of course it was acting improperly. 这样做就是不对嘛！
• He is trying to improperly influence a witness. 他在试图误导证人。

10 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

11 definitive   

adj.确切的，权威性的；最后的，决定性的

参考例句：

• This book is the definitive guide to world cuisine.这本书是世界美食的权威指南。
• No one has come up with a definitive answer as to why this should be so.至于为什么该这样，还没有人给出明确的答复。

12 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

13 parental   

adj.父母的；父的；母的

参考例句：

• He encourages parental involvement in the running of school.他鼓励学生家长参与学校的管理。
• Children always revolt against parental disciplines.孩子们总是反抗父母的管束。

14 autopsy   

n.尸体解剖；尸检

参考例句：

• They're carrying out an autopsy on the victim.他们正在给受害者验尸。
• A hemorrhagic gut was the predominant lesion at autopsy.尸检的主要发现是肠出血。

15 compartment   

n.卧车包房，隔间；分隔的空间

参考例句：

• We were glad to have the whole compartment to ourselves.真高兴，整个客车隔间由我们独享。
• The batteries are safely enclosed in a watertight compartment.电池被安全地置于一个防水的隔间里。