美联社新闻一分钟 2006-05-28

1. Rescue crews in Indonesia are racing¹ to try to find survivors² from a 6. 3 magnitude earthquake. So far at least 3, 500 people are known dead and thousands more are injured.

2. President Bush has told graduates at West Point, they will be the ones who will win the war on terror. He gave the commencement address today and said the country is counting on them more than any other group of young people.

3. The self-proclaimed Minutemen who are watching over the US-Mexico border are taking matters into their own hands this weekend. They are building a fence hoping that will help keep illegal immigrants out.

4. A castle in Romania that has ties to Dracula has changed hands. The country has given it back to the family who owned it from the communist government seized the property in the 1940s. According to local lore³, Vlad the Impale⁴r, who inspired the mythical⁶ character Dracula, once used the castle during his incursions in Transylvania

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. commencement : n-var
Commencement is a ceremony at a university, college, or high school at which students formally receive their degrees or diplomas. (AM; in BRIT, use graduation)

2. count on phrasal verb
If you count on someone or count upon them, you rely on them to support you or help you.
e.g. I can always count on you to cheer me up.

3. Minuteman : noun
An armed man pledged to be ready to fight on a minute's notice just before and during the Revolutionary War in the United States.

4. change hands : phrase
When something changes hands, its ownership changes, usually because it is sold to someone else.
e.g. The firm has changed hands many times over the years.

5. Dracula
The title character of Dracula, a novel from the late nineteenth century by the English author Bram Stoker. Count Dracula, a vampire⁷, is from Transylvania, a region of eastern Europe now in Romania. He takes his name from a bloodthirsty nobleman of the Middle Ages. To lay the vampire Dracula's spirit to rest, one must drive a wooden stake through his heart.

6. lore : n-uncount
The lore of a particular country or culture is its traditional stories and history.
e.g. the Book of the Sea, which was stuffed with sailors' lore.

7. impale : verb
To impale something on a pointed⁸ object means to cause the point to go into it or through it.
e.g. Researchers observed one bird impale a rodent⁹ on a cactus¹⁰.

8. incursion : n-count
If there is an incursion into a country, enemy soldiers suddenly enter it. (FORMAL)
e.g. armed incursions into border areas by rebel forces.

1 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

2 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

3 lore   

n.传说；学问，经验，知识

参考例句：

• I will seek and question him of his lore.我倒要找上他，向他讨教他的渊博的学问。
• Early peoples passed on plant and animal lore through legend.早期人类通过传说传递有关植物和动物的知识。

4 impale   

v.用尖物刺某人、某物

参考例句：

• Do not push me,or I wil impale you on my horns!别推我，要不我会用我的角顶你。
• I poisoned him,but I did not impale him on a spear!我毒死了他，但是我没有把他插在长矛上！

5 impaler   

插入物

参考例句：

• Vlad the Impaler is infamous for his cruel deeds. 弗拉德公爵因其残忍暴行而臭名昭彰。

6 mythical   

adj.神话的；虚构的；想像的

参考例句：

• Undeniably,he is a man of mythical status.不可否认，他是一个神话般的人物。
• Their wealth is merely mythical.他们的财富完全是虚构的。

7 vampire   

n.吸血鬼

参考例句：

• It wasn't a wife waiting there for him but a blood sucking vampire!家里的不是个老婆，而是个吸人血的妖精！
• Children were afraid to go to sleep at night because of the many legends of vampire.由于听过许多有关吸血鬼的传说，孩子们晚上不敢去睡觉。

8 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

9 rodent   

n.啮齿动物；adj.啮齿目的

参考例句：

• When there is a full moon,this nocturnal rodent is careful to stay in its burrow.月圆之夜，这种夜间活动的啮齿类动物会小心地呆在地洞里不出来。
• This small rodent can scoop out a long,narrow tunnel in a very short time.这种小啮齿动物能在很短的时间里挖出一条又长又窄的地道来。

10 cactus   

n.仙人掌

参考例句：

• It was the first year that the cactus had produced flowers.这是这棵仙人掌第一年开花。
• The giant cactus is the vegetable skycraper.高大的仙人掌是植物界巨人。