美联社新闻一分钟 2006-04-04

1. A military plane crashed shortly after take-off from Dover Airforce Base in Delaware early today. There were 17 people on board. All survived. The plane had apparently¹ just taken off when the pilot realized there was a problem and attempted to land.

2. Severe weather rocked the Midwest over the weekend. Tornadoes² killed at least 19 people including a baby, and injured dozens of people in northwest Tennessee. The severe storm system is also blamed for the deaths of at least 4 other people in Missouri and Illinois.

3. The Supreme³ Court has rejected an appeal filed by Jose Padilla. Until last year, Padilla was being held as an enemy combatant without traditional legal rights. But he is now facing criminal charges in Miami. The government argued that his appeal now is pointless.

4. Elated baseball fans will be heading to stadiums across the nation. The season opener for Major League Baseball was held in Chicago Sunday night where the White Sox took on the Cleveland Indians. The Sox came out on top, final score: 10-4.

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. take-off :noun⁴ [C]
the time when a plane leaves the ground and begins to fly
e.g. Night take-offs and landings are banned at this airport.

2. combatant :noun [C] FORMAL
a person who fights in a war

3. pointless :adjective⁵
Something that is pointless has no purpose and it is a waste of time doing it:
e.g. It's pointless arguing with him.

4. elated :adjective
extremely happy and excited, often because something has happened or been achieved:
e.g. The prince was reported to be elated at/by the birth of his new daughter.

5. opener:noun [C]
the first of a series of games in a sports competition
e.g. They are hoping to win tomorrow's opener against New Zealand.

6. take sb on: phrasal verb [M]
to compete against or fight someone:
e.g. The Government took on the unions and won.

1 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

2 tornadoes   

n.龙卷风，旋风( tornado的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Tornadoes, severe earthquakes, and plagues create wide spread havoc. 龙卷风、大地震和瘟疫成普遍的毁坏。 来自互联网
• Meteorologists are at odds over the working of tornadoes. 气象学者对龙卷风的运动方式看法不一。 来自互联网

3 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。

4 noun   

n.名词

参考例句：

• What kind of noun is this?这是哪类名词？
• This word is a collective noun.这个词是个集体名词。

5 adjective   

n.形容词；adj.形容词的，用作形容词的

参考例句：

• Don't apply that adjective to me.不要用那个字眼来形容我。
• The adjective loose has several senses. 形容词loose有几个义项。