美联社新闻一分钟 2005-12-26

1. The Pope gives his Christmas Day message saying that signs of hope in Iraq, the Holy Land and Lebanon need to be reinforced by actions on the ground.

2. A steady stream of worshippers brave cold and rain to celebrate Christmas in Bethlehem where spirits are lifted by the largest turnout of foreign pilgrims in years.

3. Mourners gather at beaches and mass graves to remember 216,000 killed or missing, one year after a massive tsunami¹ hit coastlines from Asia to Africa.

4. Hundreds of Shiites demonstrate in support of their governing coalition² that the opposition³ accused of vote-rigging after it took a large lead in December elections.

5. Along with the start of Christmas, the Jewish festival of Hanukkah begins and is celebrated⁴ for the very first time at the Great Wall of China.

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. brave
2 brave braves braving braved
If you brave unpleasant or dangerous conditions, you deliberately⁵ expose yourself to them, usually in order to achieve something. (WRITTEN)
Thousands have braved icy rain to demonstrate their support.
VB

2. rigging
1 rigging
Vote or ballot⁶ rigging is the act of dishonestly organizing an election to get a particular result.
She was accused of corruption⁷, of vote rigging on a massive scale.
N-UNCOUNT: usu supp N

1 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

2 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

3 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

4 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

5 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

6 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

7 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。