美联社新闻一分钟 2005-10-22

1. Hurricane Wilma tore into the heart of Mexico’s Caribbean resort strip on Friday, trapping thousands of tourists in darkened shelters pounded by torrential rains as Cancun’s half-million residents watched their streets filled with water.

2. The President of Lebanon Emile Lahoud rejected demands from anti-Syrian politicians that he step down from office.

3. Fighting continued Thursday in Operation River Gate, an offensive led by 3000 US and Iraqi forces in and around Haditha, 140 miles northwest of Baghdad.

4. A defense¹ lawyer in Saddam Hussein's mass murder trial who was kidnapped has been found dead, his body dumped near a Baghdad mosque².

5. And Danish researchers have come up with an unusual solution for insomnia³ - MusiCure, a soft pillow that chirps⁵ like a bird and is designed to sing soldiers to sleep in Kosovo, Iraq and other hotspots

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. insomnia
insomnia
Someone who suffers from insomnia finds it difficult to sleep.
N-UNCOUNT

2. chirp⁴
1 chirp chirps chirping⁶ chirped⁷
When a bird or an insect such as a cricket or grasshopper⁸ chirps, it makes short high-pitched sounds.
The crickets chirped faster and louder.
VB
= chirrup
+ chirp chirps
Also a noun.
The chirps of the small garden birds sounded distant.
N-COUNT

· chirping
...the chirping of birds.
N-UNCOUNT

3. hot spot
2 hot spot hot spots
You can refer to an area where there is fighting or serious political trouble as a hot spot. (JOURNALISM)
There were many hot spots in the region, where fighting had been going on.
N-COUNT also hotspot.

1 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

2 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。

3 insomnia   

n.失眠，失眠症

参考例句：

• Worries and tenseness can lead to insomnia.忧虑和紧张会导致失眠。
• He is suffering from insomnia.他患失眠症。

4 chirp   

v.(尤指鸟)唧唧喳喳的叫

参考例句：

• The birds chirp merrily at the top of tree.鸟儿在枝头欢快地啾啾鸣唱。
• The sparrows chirp outside the window every morning.麻雀每天清晨在窗外嘁嘁喳喳地叫。

5 chirps   

鸟叫，虫鸣( chirp的第三人称单数 )； 啾； 啾啾

参考例句：

• The linnet chirps her vernal song. 红雀吱喳鸣叫着她春天的歌。
• She heard nothing but the chirps and whirrs of insects. 除了虫的鸣叫声外，她什么也没听见。

6 chirping   

鸟叫，虫鸣( chirp的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The birds,chirping relentlessly,woke us up at daybreak. 破晓时鸟儿不断吱吱地叫，把我们吵醒了。
• The birds are chirping merrily. 鸟儿在欢快地鸣叫着。

7 chirped   

鸟叫，虫鸣( chirp的过去式 )

参考例句：

• So chirped fiber gratings have broad reflection bandwidth. 所以chirped光纤光栅具有宽的反射带宽，在反射带宽内具有渐变的群时延等其它类型的光纤光栅所不具备的特点。
• The crickets chirped faster and louder. 蟋蟀叫得更欢了。

8 grasshopper   

n.蚱蜢，蝗虫，蚂蚱

参考例句：

• He thought he had made an end of the little grasshopper.他以为把那个小蚱蜢干掉了。
• The grasshopper could not find anything to eat.蚱蜢找不到任何吃的东西。