美联社新闻一分钟 2006-05-21

1. Five miners were killed when an explosion ripped through a coal mine in eastern Kentucky. A 6th worker was able to escape the blast without serious injury. The cause of the accident remains¹ under investigation².

2. In New Orleans, voters are choosing a leader to oversee³ the rebuilding of their hurricane-ravage⁴d city. Incumbent⁶ Mayor Ray Nagin and Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu are the candidates in the run-off election. The winner will start the term just one day before the next hurricane season begins June 1st.

3. At least 31 people have been killed in attacks around Iraq today. The violence comes on the same day the nation's parliament finally approved a unity⁷ government, ending months of political wrangling⁸.

4. San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds just hit his 714th career home run. The hit came during the 2nd inning of today's game in Oakland. Bonds is now tied with Babe Ruth for second place on baseball's career list

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. ravage : verb
A town, country, or economy that has been ravaged⁵ is one that has been damaged so much that it is almost completely destroyed.
e.g. For two decades the country has been ravaged by civil war and foreign intervention⁹.

2. incumbent : n-count
An incumbent is someone who holds an official post at a particular time. (FORMAL)
e.g. In general, incumbents¹⁰ have a 94 per cent chance of being re-elected.

3. Lt. : n-count, n-title
A lieutenant¹¹ is a person who holds a junior officer's rank in the army, navy, marines, or air force, or in the American police force.
e.g. Lieutenant Campbell ordered the man at the wheel to steer¹² for the gunboat.

4. run-off : n-count
A run-off is an extra vote or contest which is held in order to decide the winner of an election or competition, because no one has yet clearly won.
e.g. There will be a run-off between these two candidates on December 9th.

5. wrangle¹³ : verb
If you say that someone is wrangling with someone over a question or issue, you mean that they have been arguing angrily for quite a long time about it.
e.g. The two sides have spent most of their time wrangling over procedural problems.

6. slugger : n-count
In baseball, a slugger is a player who hits the ball very hard. (AM)

7. hit a home run
(of a batter¹⁴) to hit a pitch over the outfield fence or within the ballpark that allows the batter to circle the bases and score.
SYNONYMS¹⁵: homer, touch 'em all, go downtown, go yard, get all of it, park one, park it, hit for the circuit, get it all, go deep, unload one

8. inning : n-count
An inning is one of the nine periods that a standard baseball game is divided into. Each team is at bat once in each inning

1 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

2 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

3 oversee   

vt.监督，管理

参考例句：

• Soldiers oversee the food handouts.士兵们看管着救济食品。
• Use a surveyor or architect to oversee and inspect the different stages of the work.请一位房产检视员或建筑师来监督并检查不同阶段的工作。

4 ravage   

vt.使...荒废，破坏...；n.破坏，掠夺，荒废

参考例句：

• Just in time to watch a plague ravage his village.恰好目睹了瘟疫毁灭了他的村庄。
• For two decades the country has been ravaged by civil war and foreign intervention.20年来，这个国家一直被内战外侵所蹂躏。

5 ravaged   

毁坏( ravage的过去式和过去分词 )； 蹂躏； 劫掠； 抢劫

参考例句：

• a country ravaged by civil war 遭受内战重创的国家
• The whole area was ravaged by forest fires. 森林火灾使整个地区荒废了。

6 incumbent   

adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的

参考例句：

• He defeated the incumbent governor by a large plurality.他以压倒多数票击败了现任州长。
• It is incumbent upon you to warn them.你有责任警告他们。

7 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

8 wrangling   

v.争吵，争论，口角( wrangle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The two sides have spent most of their time wrangling over procedural problems. 双方大部分时间都在围绕程序问题争论不休。 来自辞典例句
• The children were wrangling (with each other) over the new toy. 孩子为新玩具（互相）争吵。 来自辞典例句

9 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

10 incumbents   

教区牧师( incumbent的名词复数 )； 教会中的任职者

参考例句：

• In general, incumbents have a 94 percent chance of being reelected. 通常现任官员有94%的几率会再次当选。
• This arangement yields a wonderful gain to incumbents. 这种安排为在职人员提供了意外的得益。

11 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

12 steer   

vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶

参考例句：

• If you push the car, I'll steer it.如果你来推车，我就来驾车。
• It's no use trying to steer the boy into a course of action that suits you.想说服这孩子按你的方式行事是徒劳的。

13 wrangle   

vi.争吵

参考例句：

• I don't want to get into a wrangle with the committee.我不想同委员会发生争执。
• The two countries fell out in a bitter wrangle over imports.这两个国家在有关进口问题的激烈争吵中闹翻了。

14 batter   

v.接连重击；磨损；n.牛奶面糊；击球员

参考例句：

• The batter skied to the center fielder.击球手打出一个高飞球到中外野手。
• Put a small quantity of sugar into the batter.在面糊里放少量的糖。

15 synonyms   

同义词( synonym的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• If you want to grasp English, you must carefully discriminate synonyms. 如果你想掌握好英语，你必须仔细区分同义词。
• Study the idioms and synonyms l wrote down before your test. 学考试前我给你写的习惯用语和同义字。