美联社新闻一分钟 2006-01-20

1. A new audiotape supposedly from Osama bin¹ Laden², and Al-Jazeera has aired it. A voice identified as bin Laden says Al Qaeda is making preparations for attacks in the US, but offers a truce³ to build Iraq and Afghanistan.

2. Islamic Jihad has phoned the Associated Press to claim responsibility for today's suicide bombing in Tel Aviv's central bus station. A police commander says the blast wounded 15 people. Witnesses say the bomber⁴ pretended to be a peddler in a crowded mall.

3. More videotape of US reporter Jill Carroll was aired by Al-Jazeera television today. The 28 year-old was kidnapped in Iraq. Her captors threaten to kill her tomorrow, if all female Iraqis in U.S. military custody⁵ aren’t freed.

4. A fiery⁶ train collision in Alabama kept hundreds of people away from their homes overnight. About five hundred people were evacuated⁷ after a train carrying sodium⁸ cyanide caught fire when it rear-ended another train. The huge cloud of billowing black smoke could be seen forty miles away.

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. peddler : noun [C]
one who travels about selling wares⁹ for a living; a hawker

2. captor : noun [C]
someone who is keeping another person prisoner
e.g. He managed to escape from his captors.

3. sodium cyanide :
a poisonous white crystalline compound, NaCN, used in extracting gold and silver from ores and in dye manufacture 氰化钠

4. rear-end : verb
to hit the back of one car with another in an accident:
e.g. My new car was rear-ended while it was parked outside the station.

5. billowing : adj. (Dictionary.com)
moving in surges and billows and rolls:
e.g. billowing smoke from burning houses

1 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

2 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

3 truce   

n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束

参考例句：

• The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。
• She had thought of flying out to breathe the fresh air in an interval of truce.她想跑出去呼吸一下休战期间的新鲜空气。

4 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。

5 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

6 fiery   

adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的

参考例句：

• She has fiery red hair.她有一头火红的头发。
• His fiery speech agitated the crowd.他热情洋溢的讲话激动了群众。

7 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。

8 sodium   

n.（化）钠

参考例句：

• Out over the town the sodium lights were lit.在外面，全城的钠光灯都亮了。
• Common salt is a compound of sodium and chlorine.食盐是钠和氯的复合物。

9 wares   

n. 货物, 商品

参考例句：

• They sold their wares at half-price. 他们的货品是半价出售的。
• The peddler was crying up his wares. 小贩极力夸耀自己的货物。