美联社新闻一分钟 2006-04-05

1. Texas congressman¹ Tom DeLay announced Tuesday that he will not run for re-election and will resign from Congress. The former House Majority leader was indicted² last fall, for allegedly using funds illegally for state legislative³ races.

2. Protestors again took to the streets in France, nearly a million people protesting a new labor⁴ law that would allow employers to fire young workers under the age of 26 with less than 2 years on the job for no reason.

3. Dozens of homes are threatened by a levee breach⁵ in Sacramento County, California, but no major evacuations are expected. There has been heavy rain in the area for the past month.

4. Will she or won't she? That's the multimillion dollar question swirling⁶ around Katie Couric. The "Today Show" hostess is widely expected to leave the

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. hostess :noun [C]
a woman who introduces and talks to the guests on a television or radio show

2. solo : adjective [before noun], adverb
alone; without other people:
e.g. a solo performance

3. anchor :noun [C]
someone who reads the news on TV and introduces news reports

1 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

2 indicted   

控告，起诉( indict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The senator was indicted for murder. 那位参议员被控犯谋杀罪。
• He was indicted by a grand jury on two counts of murder. 他被大陪审团以两项谋杀罪名起诉。

3 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

4 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

5 breach   

n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破

参考例句：

• We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
• He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。

6 swirling   

v.旋转，打旋( swirl的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Snowflakes were swirling in the air. 天空飘洒着雪花。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• She smiled, swirling the wine in her glass. 她微笑着，旋动着杯子里的葡萄酒。 来自辞典例句