美联社新闻一分钟 2005-08-04

1.A spacewalking astronaut ventures beneath shuttle Discovery's belly¹ and successfully completes an unprecedented² emergency repair.

2.In the single deadliest bombing of US troops in Iraq, a roadside bomb kills 14 marines, all from Ohio battalion³ that lost 6 others just days ago .

3.Investigators⁴ say weather was a factor that caused the jet to skid⁵ off a Toronto runway and burst into flames. All on board evacuated⁶ and survived.

4.Saudi Arabia's new King Abdullah receives loyalty⁷ oaths from hundreds of his new subjects as well as visits from foreign dignitaries .

5.And scientists in South Korea have cloned a dog for the first time, reigniting a fierce ethical⁸ and scientific debate over the technology.

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. venture ：VB =go；venture，ventures，venturing，ventured
If you venture somewhere, you go somewhere that might be dangerous. (LITERARY)
eg. People are afraid to venture out for fear of sniper attacks.
eg. Few Europeans who had ventured beyond the Himalayas had returned to tell the tale.

2. battalion :N-COUNT=garrison;battalion,battalions
A battalion is a large group of soldiers that consists of three or more companies.
eg. Ten hours later Anthony was ordered to return to his battalion.
eg. When war broke out, he joined the second battalion of the Grenadier Guards.

3. skid :VB;skid,skids⁹,skidding,skidded¹⁰
If a vehicle skids, it slides sideways or forwards while moving, for example when you are trying to stop it suddenly on a wet road.
eg. The car pulled up too fast and skidded on the dusty shoulder of the road.
eg. The plane skidded off the runway while taking off in a snow storm.
eg. A man lay critically injured for eight hours after his car skidded off a road and smashed into trees.

4. dignitary :N-COUNT: usu pl;dignitary,dignitaries
Dignitaries are people who are considered to be important because they have a high rank in government or in the Church.

5. ignite :V-ERG;ignite,ignites,igniting,ignited
When you ignite something or when it ignites, it starts burning or explodes.
eg. The bombs ignited a fire which destroyed some 60 houses.
eg. The blasts were caused by pockets of methane¹¹ gas that ignited.

1 belly   

n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛

参考例句：

• The boss has a large belly.老板大腹便便。
• His eyes are bigger than his belly.他眼馋肚饱。

2 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

3 battalion   

n.营；部队；大队(的人)

参考例句：

• The town was garrisoned by a battalion.该镇由一营士兵驻守。
• At the end of the drill parade,the battalion fell out.操练之后，队伍解散了。

4 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 skid   

v.打滑 n.滑向一侧；滑道 ，滑轨

参考例句：

• He braked suddenly,causing the front wheels to skid.他突然剎车，使得前轮打了滑。
• The police examined the skid marks to see how fast the car had been travelling.警察检查了车轮滑行痕迹，以判断汽车当时开得有多快。

6 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

7 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

8 ethical   

adj.伦理的，道德的，合乎道德的

参考例句：

• It is necessary to get the youth to have a high ethical concept.必须使青年具有高度的道德观念。
• It was a debate which aroused fervent ethical arguments.那是一场引发强烈的伦理道德争论的辩论。

9 skids   

n.滑向一侧( skid的名词复数 )；滑道；滚道；制轮器v.（通常指车辆） 侧滑( skid的第三人称单数 )；打滑；滑行；（住在）贫民区

参考例句：

• The aging football player was playing on the skids. 那个上了年纪的足球运动员很明显地在走下坡路。 来自辞典例句
• It's a shame that he hit the skids. 很遗憾他消沉了。 来自辞典例句

10 skidded   

v.（通常指车辆） 侧滑( skid的过去式和过去分词 )；打滑；滑行；（住在）贫民区

参考例句：

• The car skidded and hit a lamp post. 那辆汽车打滑撞上了路灯杆。
• The car skidded and overturned. 汽车打滑翻倒了。

11 methane   

n.甲烷，沼气

参考例句：

• The blast was caused by pockets of methane gas that ignited.爆炸是由数袋甲烷气体着火引起的。
• Methane may have extraterrestrial significance.甲烷具有星际意义。