美联社新闻一分钟 2005-11-17

1. As ahead of meetings with Chinese leaders, President Bush hails Taiwan as a model of freedom, raising a thorny¹ issue in Sino-US relations.

2. Inflation pressures moderated significantly last month as energy prices retreated after hitting recorded highs in September.

3. Iraq's main Sunni Arab political party demands an international probe into alleged² torture of suspected insurgents³ held by Iraqi forces.

4. China reports its first three human cases of bird flu as the government races to vaccinate⁴ poultry⁵ in an effort to stop the spread of the virus.

5. Paul McCartney and wife Heather Mills McCartney host a Benefit Gala in Beverly Hills to raise money to do away with landmines⁶.

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. thorny
2 thorny thornier⁷ thorniest⁸
If you describe a problem as thorny, you mean that it is very complicated and difficult to solve, and that people are often unwilling⁹ to discuss it.
...the thorny issue of immigration policy...
It is essential that we tackle this thorny problem.
ADJ-GRADED: usu ADJ n
= knotty¹⁰

2. moderate
5 moderate moderates moderating moderated
If you moderate something or if it moderates, it becomes less extreme or violent and easier to deal with or accept.
They are hoping that once in office he can be persuaded to moderate his views.
Amongst relief workers, the immediate¹¹ sense of crisis has moderated somewhat.
Without Westcott's moderating influence, Mathers's autocratic manner became unbearable¹².
V-ERG
= attenuate¹³

3. gala
gala galas
A gala is a special public celebration, entertainment, performance, or festival.
...a gala evening at the Royal Opera House.
N-COUNT: oft N n

4. do away with
1 do away does away; doing away; did away; done away
To do away with something means to remove it completely or put an end to it.
The long-range goal must be to do away with nuclear weapons altogether.
PHR-V

1 thorny   

adj.多刺的，棘手的

参考例句：

• The young captain is pondering over a thorny problem.年轻的上尉正在思考一个棘手的问题。
• The boys argued over the thorny points in the lesson.孩子们辩论功课中的难点。

2 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

3 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

4 vaccinate   

vt.给…接种疫苗；种牛痘

参考例句：

• Local health officials then can plan the best times to vaccinate people.这样，当地的卫生官员就可以安排最佳时间给人们接种疫苗。
• Doctors vaccinate us so that we do not catch smallpox.医生给我们打预防针使我们不会得天花。

5 poultry   

n.家禽，禽肉

参考例句：

• There is not much poultry in the shops. 商店里禽肉不太多。
• What do you feed the poultry on? 你们用什么饲料喂养家禽?

6 landmines   

潜在的冲突； 地雷，投伞水雷( landmine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The treaty bans the use production and trade of landmines. 该条约规定，禁止使用地雷相关产品及贸易。
• One of the weapon's of special concern was landmines. 在引起人们特别关注的武器中就有地雷。

7 thornier   

adj.多刺的( thorny的比较级 )；有刺的；棘手的；多障碍的

参考例句：

• Changing regulations, meanwhile, is even thornier. 与此同时，不断变化的法规更加棘手。 来自互联网
• The vote, on a procedural point, does not bode well for the passage of thornier legislation. 从程序上说，这次选举对更为棘手的立法进程来说并不是个好兆头。 来自互联网

8 thorniest   

adj.多刺的( thorny的最高级 )；有刺的；棘手的；多障碍的

参考例句：

• Paradoxically, the thorniest outstanding issue involves Bolivia. 而荒谬可笑的是，最棘手的国家要事却牵涉到了玻利维亚。 来自互联网

9 unwilling   

adj.不情愿的

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。

10 knotty   

adj.有结的，多节的，多瘤的，棘手的

参考例句：

• Under his leadership,many knotty problems were smoothly solved.在他的领导下，许多伤脑筋的问题都迎刃而解。
• She met with a lot of knotty problems.她碰上了许多棘手的问题。

11 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

12 unbearable   

adj.不能容忍的；忍受不住的

参考例句：

• It is unbearable to be always on thorns.老是处于焦虑不安的情况中是受不了的。
• The more he thought of it the more unbearable it became.他越想越觉得无法忍受。

13 attenuate   

v.使变小，使减弱

参考例句：

• Then we got involved with trying to find polymers that attenuate radiation.接著我们致力于找出能够减弱辐射的聚合物。
• In a forest,wet wood and needles attenuate the signals.在森林中，潮湿的树木与针叶会使讯号变弱。