CNN 2009-07-16

Good morning! I'm Melissa Long here at the CNN center in Atlanta on this Wednesday morning. It is the 15th of July. Here are some of the headlines making news at this hour.

All 168 people aboard a Caspian Airlines passenger jet that crashed / northwest of Tehran are believed to be dead. It happened around 11:30 in the morning local time. Iran state (report) radio is reporting the jet was heading from Teheran to the Armenian capital of Yerevan, when it went down in a field. The plane went down just about 16 minutes after take-off.

A message from al-Qaeda second-in-command was released on radical¹ Islamic websites this morning. Ayman al-Zawahri is calling on all Muslims in Pakistan to back Islamic militants², warning they have a religious duty to support the Jihad and fight the influence of the United States. / Al-Zawahri claims America's interference in Pakistan's affairs poses a grave danger to the country's existence and must be challenged.

Judge Sonia Sotomayor is getting set for a third-day questioning in her bid to become the nation's first Hispanic Supreme³ Court justice. Yesterday, Sotomayor insisted she never let her ethnic⁴ background or / personal opinions influence her decisions as a judge. Today she's going be fielding questions from the newest member of Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Al Franken.

A standing⁵ ovation⁶ for President Obama, as he threw out the opening pitch at Baseball's All-star Game in St. Louis. Mr. Obama, you can see / there proudly wearing his logo of his beloved Chicago White Sox. Mr. Obama's pitch was outside the strike zone, but made it to the plate. Former president George W. Bush described his pitch at the 2001 World Series as the most nervous moment of his presidency⁷ to that point.

Those are the headlines for you at this hour. Do stay with CNN, CNN.com for more on these stories or other news that develops today.

1 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。

2 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

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 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

5 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

6 ovation   

n.欢呼，热烈欢迎，热烈鼓掌

参考例句：

• The hero received a great ovation from the crowd. 那位英雄受到人群的热烈欢迎。
• The show won a standing ovation. 这场演出赢得全场起立鼓掌。

7 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。