美联社新闻一分钟 2006-04-21

1. He was a legend in aviation. Back in 1953, test pilot Scott Crossfield became the first man to fly at twice the speed of sound. He was found dead in the mountains of Georgia Thursday in the wreckage¹ of a single-engine plane.

2. President Bush offered no concrete gains from talks Thursday with Chinese President Hu Jintao. The two leaders were briefly² interrupted by a protestor during a welcoming ceremony on the South Lawn.

3. The prosecution³ has opened its rebuttal in the Zacarias Moussaoui case after the defense⁴ wrapped up on Thursday. Before closing a defense introduced a statement to counter Moussaoui's claim that he and would-be shoe bomber⁵ Richard Reid were supposed to take part in 9/11 attacks. The government-approved statement says there is no evidence of such a partnership⁶.

4. It's the golden years for this New Jersey⁷ grandmother. 84-year-old Josephine Crawford hit the big one of the nickel slots (a kind of game) at Atlantic City, raking in a historic ten million dollars.

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. rebuttal :noun [C] FORMAL
a statement which says that a claim or criticism is not true:
e.g. She issued a point-by-point rebuttal of the company's accusations⁸.

2. counter :verb [I or T]
to react to something with an opposing opinion or action; to defend yourself against something:
e.g. Extra police have been moved into the area to counter the risk of violence.

3. would-be :adjective [before noun]
wanting or trying to be:
e.g. a would-be artist/politician

4. rake sth in :verb [M]
to earn or obtain a large amount of money:
e.g. Lou's been raking in the dollars since he opened his business.

1 wreckage   

n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏

参考例句：

• They hauled him clear of the wreckage.他们把他从形骸中拖出来。
• New states were born out of the wreckage of old colonial empires.新生国家从老殖民帝国的废墟中诞生。

2 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

3 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

4 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

5 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。

6 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

7 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

8 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。