美联社新闻一分钟 2006-02-01

1. Coretta Scott King, the widow of slain¹ civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. has died. An activist² in her own right, she created the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, following her husband’s assassination³ in 1968.

2. Samuel Alito has been sworn in as a Supreme⁴ Court justice. President Bush hailed the Senate's confirmation⁵ of Alito that takes Sandra Day O' Connor’s place on the high court.

3. A former postal⁶ worker opened fire at a mail-processing plant Monday night, killing⁷ 5 people before turning the gun on herself. It was the biggest bloodbath at a US postal installation since a massacre⁸ twenty years ago.

4. The crew woke just before dawn to the sounds of twisting metal. A chemical tanker⁹ and cargo¹⁰ ship collided in the English Channel early Tuesday, setting off a rescue of 22 sailors by helicopter and lifeboat. The tanker was carrying 11000 tons of phosphoric acid. But authorities say there was no risk of pollution as the liquid dissolved in the sea

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. hail : verb
to describe someone or something as being very good
e.g. Lang's first film was immediately hailed as a masterpiece.

2. bloodbath : noun [S]
an extremely violent event in which a great number of people are killed:
e.g. Is there nothing that the outside world can do to prevent a bloodbath?

3. phosphoric : adj.
of, relating to, or containing phosphorus, especially with a valence of 5 or a valence higher than that of a comparable phosphorous compound [化]磷的(尤指含五价磷的), 含磷的

1 slain   

杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词)

参考例句：

• The soldiers slain in the battle were burried that night. 在那天夜晚埋葬了在战斗中牺牲了的战士。
• His boy was dead, slain by the hand of the false Amulius. 他的儿子被奸诈的阿缪利乌斯杀死了。

2 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

3 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

4 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

5 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

6 postal   

adj.邮政的，邮局的

参考例句：

• A postal network now covers the whole country.邮路遍及全国。
• Remember to use postal code.勿忘使用邮政编码。

7 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。

8 massacre   

n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀

参考例句：

• There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在战争中，这里的村民惨遭屠杀。
• If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘记了大屠杀，大屠杀就有可能再次发生！

9 tanker   

n.油轮

参考例句：

• The tanker took on 200,000 barrels of crude oil.油轮装载了二十万桶原油。
• Heavy seas had pounded the tanker into three parts.汹涌的巨浪把油轮撞成三载。

10 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。