美联社新闻一分钟 2005-12-06

1. Saddam Hussein tells the judge at his trial he is not afraid of execution as a witness testifies the former president's agents carried out random¹ arrests, torture and killings³.

2. The former September 11th Commission gives dismal⁴ grades to Federal efforts to shore up national security and prevent another terror attack on the United States.

3. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice turns the tables on European critics of US anti-terror tactics, saying the CIA has thwarted⁶ attacks in Europe.

4. A Palestinian suicide bomber⁷ blows himself up at a shopping mall in the Israeli town of Netanya, killing² at least five shoppers, wounding more than 30.

5. And hundreds of Santas hit the slopes in Maine, to raise money for a charity drive to purchase holiday gifts for needy⁸ children.

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. dismal
1 dismal
Something that is dismal is bad in a sad or depressing way.
...Israel's dismal record in the Olympics...
My prospects⁹ of returning to a suitable job are dismal.
It was a dismal failure.
ADJ-GRADED
= terrible

2. shore up
shore up shores up; shoring up; shored up
If you shore up something that is weak or about to fail, you do something in order to strengthen it or support it.
The democracies of the West may find it hard to shore up their defences.
PHR-V

3. turn the tables(answers.com)
Reverse a situation and gain the upper hand; This expression alludes¹⁰ to the former practice of reversing the table or board in games such as chess, thereby¹¹ switching the opponents' positions.

Steffi won their previous three matches but today Mary turned the tables and prevailed.

Synonym¹²: turn the tide

4. thwart⁵
thwart thwarts¹³ thwarting¹⁴ thwarted
If you thwart someone or thwart their plans, you prevent them from doing or getting what they want.
The security forces were doing all they could to thwart terrorists.
Her ambition to become an artist was thwarted by failing eyesight.
VB

5. Santa Claus
Santa Claus
Santa Claus or Santa is an imaginary old man with a long white beard and a red coat. Traditionally, young children in many countries are told that he brings their Christmas presents.
N-PROPER
= Father Christmas

6. drive
17 drive
A drive is a special effort made by a group of people for a particular purpose.
The ANC is about to launch a nationwide recruitment drive.
The Church in Haiti has played an important role in the drive towards democracy.
N-SING: with supp

1 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

2 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

3 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

4 dismal   

adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的

参考例句：

• That is a rather dismal melody.那是一支相当忧郁的歌曲。
• My prospects of returning to a suitable job are dismal.我重新找到一个合适的工作岗位的希望很渺茫。

5 thwart   

v.阻挠，妨碍，反对；adj.横(断的)

参考例句：

• We must thwart his malevolent schemes.我们决不能让他的恶毒阴谋得逞。
• I don't think that will thwart our purposes.我认为那不会使我们的目的受到挫折。

6 thwarted   

阻挠( thwart的过去式和过去分词 )； 使受挫折； 挫败； 横过

参考例句：

• The guards thwarted his attempt to escape from prison. 警卫阻扰了他越狱的企图。
• Our plans for a picnic were thwarted by the rain. 我们的野餐计划因雨受挫。

7 bomber   

n.轰炸机，投弹手，投掷炸弹者

参考例句：

• He flew a bomber during the war.他在战时驾驶轰炸机。
• Detectives hunting the London bombers will be keen to interview him.追查伦敦爆炸案凶犯的侦探们急于对他进行讯问。

8 needy   

adj.贫穷的，贫困的，生活艰苦的

参考例句：

• Although he was poor,he was quite generous to his needy friends.他虽穷，但对贫苦的朋友很慷慨。
• They awarded scholarships to needy students.他们给贫苦学生颁发奖学金。

9 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

10 alludes   

提及，暗指( allude的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• In the vegetable kingdom Mr. Mivart only alludes to two cases. 在植物界中，密伐脱先生仅提出两点。
• Black-box testing alludes to test that are conducted at the software interface. 黑箱测试是指测试软件接口进行。

11 thereby   

adv.因此，从而

参考例句：

• I have never been to that city,,ereby I don't know much about it.我从未去过那座城市，因此对它不怎么熟悉。
• He became a British citizen,thereby gaining the right to vote.他成了英国公民，因而得到了投票权。

12 synonym   

n.同义词，换喻词

参考例句：

• Zhuge Liang is a synonym for wisdom in folklore.诸葛亮在民间传说中成了智慧的代名词。
• The term 'industrial democracy' is often used as a synonym for worker participation. “工业民主”这个词常被用作“工人参与”的同义词。

13 thwarts   

阻挠( thwart的第三人称单数 )； 使受挫折； 挫败； 横过

参考例句：

• Matcham steady and alert, at a sign from Dick, ran along the thwarts and leaped ashore. 麦青机警、镇静地照着狄克向他做的手势，急急地沿着船上的座板，跳到岸上。
• He laid himself down under the thwarts and waited, panting. 躺在坐板下面，气喘吁吁地等着开船。

14 thwarting   

阻挠( thwart的现在分词 )； 使受挫折； 挫败； 横过

参考例句：

• The republicans are trying to embarrass the president by thwarting his economic program. 共和党人企图通过阻挠总统的经济计划使其难堪。
• There were too many men resisting his authority thwarting him. 下边对他这个长官心怀不服的，故意作对的，可多着哩。