美国有线新闻 CNN 2012-12-07

 Today I want to make it absolutely clear to Assad and those under his command, the world is watching, the use of chemical weapons is and would be totally unacceptable. And if you make the tragic¹ mistake of using these weapons and there will be consequences and you will be held accountable."

 

That was president Obama on Monday talking about Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. There are concerns that al-Assad's government forces might use chemical weapons like poison gas in its fight against rebels in Syria's ongoing² civil war. Syrian officials say the government doesn't have any plans to use these kinds of weapons. The fighting in Syria thoug, is not letting up, you can see some of the damage here in the Syrian city of Aleppo. Reports say more than 42,000 Syrians have been killed since the civil war started 21 months ago.

 

This picture was taken from the International Space Station, the giant white spiral, that's a typhoon. It's the same kind of storm as a hurricane, this one is called Bohpa and it's huge. At 1:00 on Monday, it was a super typhoon, the same size and speed as a category 5 hurricane. Yesterday, it hit the Philippines, this is some of what it left behind. Massive flooding, landslides³, homes destroyed, more than 2 dozens people were killed and more than 50,000 thousand have been affected⁴ by the typhoon. A lot of communities in Bopha's path weren't prepared for it. Before the typhoon hit, government agencies tried to get people out of the way and get relief supplies and emergency crews in place to help out afterward⁵.

 

Less than 4 weeks to go, and still no deal in D.C. Yes, we're talking about the "Fiscal⁶ Cliff", the series of automatic government spending cuts and tax increases that will take place on January 1th if president Obama and Congress can't agree ways to cut the nation's debt. We don't have a deal, we do have a proposal. Two of them, in fact. President Obama offered his plan last week, Republican leaders rejected it. Republicans offered a counterplan this week, the preisdent rejected it. There are some ideas that both sides are agree on, but the two big sticking points are government spending and tax rates for Americans who make more than 250,000 dollars a year. So right now, we have proposals but no agreement.

1 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

2 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

3 landslides   

山崩( landslide的名词复数 )； （山坡、悬崖等的）崩塌； 滑坡； （竞选中）一方选票占压倒性多数

参考例句：

• Landslides have cut off many villages in remote areas. 滑坡使边远地区的许多村庄与外界隔绝。
• The storm caused landslides and flooding in Savona. 风暴致使萨沃纳发生塌方和洪灾。

4 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

5 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

6 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。