CNN 2009-07-18

Good morning, I am Melissa Long here at the CNN center in Atlanta. It is Friday, the 17th of July. Here's a look at some of the stories making news at this hour.

Two suicide bombers¹ have been blamed for blasts that ripped through two luxury hotels in Jakarta, Indonesia today. The hotels are right next to each other. This is some exclusive live video of the aftermath. At least eight people were killed in the bombings that include(s) the two suicide bombers. No one has claimed responsibility yet.

A dramatic show of strength from the opposition² in Iran. Leading reformist cleric Ayatollah Ali Rafsanjani spoke³ during Friday prayers for the first time in weeks. In his remarks, Rafsanjani called on Iran to release those arrested following last month's disputed presidential election, saying there's no need to have them in prison. Tens of thousands of people gathered to hear the sermon.

A funeral is going to be held today for a Florida couple known for adopting special-needs children. Bryd Melanie and Billing were murdered last week in a home invasion robbery in Pensacola. The couple, parents of four children, had adopted 13 others for special needs. Eight people have now been arrested in connection with this case.

President Obama is being criticized by members of his own party on health care reform. Some Democrats⁴ in the Senate are working on how to pay for a trillion-dollar overhaul⁵ once the President is against taxing employer-provided health benefits.

Basically, the president is not helping⁶ us anyway. He does not want the exclusion⁷. That makes it. . . That's making it difficult.
Yesterday the House Ways and Means Committee passed the version of that bill.

Harley-Davidson's ride has hit another recession pothole⁸. The company says it is cutting another 1000 employees. Those layoffs⁹ come on top of about 1500 job cuts announced earlier this year. Harley's US sales fell during the last quarter by 35%. The company's CEO says the economy is making people wary¹⁰ about big-ticket discretionary purchases.

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

1 bombers   

n.轰炸机( bomber的名词复数 )；投弹手；安非他明胶囊；大麻叶香烟

参考例句：

• Enemy bombers carried out a blitz on the city. 敌军轰炸机对这座城市进行了突袭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Royal Airforce sill remained dangerously short of bombers. 英国皇家空军仍未脱离极为缺乏轰炸机的危境。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 overhaul   

v./n.大修，仔细检查

参考例句：

• Master Worker Wang is responsible for the overhaul of this grinder.王师傅主修这台磨床。
• It is generally appreciated that the rail network needs a complete overhaul.众所周知，铁路系统需要大检修。

6 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

7 exclusion   

n.拒绝，排除，排斥，远足，远途旅行

参考例句：

• Don't revise a few topics to the exclusion of all others.不要修改少数论题以致排除所有其他的。
• He plays golf to the exclusion of all other sports.他专打高尔夫球，其他运动一概不参加。

8 pothole   

n.坑，穴

参考例句：

• As the car sped over a pothole she lurched forward.车子飞驶过一个坑洼时，她身子猛地向前一倾。
• The young teacher knows every pothole in the 10-minute ride to school.这位年轻的老师熟悉这条往学校的10分钟路上的每一个坑洞。

9 layoffs   

临时解雇( layoff的名词复数 )； 停工，停止活动

参考例句：

• Textile companies announced 2000 fresh layoffs last week. 各纺织公司上周宣布再次裁员两千人。
• Stock prices broke when the firm suddenly announced layoffs. 当公司突然宣布裁员时，股票价格便大跌

10 wary   

adj.谨慎的，机警的，小心的

参考例句：

• He is wary of telling secrets to others.他谨防向他人泄露秘密。
• Paula frowned,suddenly wary.宝拉皱了皱眉头，突然警惕起来。