美联社新闻一分钟 2006-07-01

1. The U. S. Army is investigating reports that five American soldiers were involved in the killings¹ of four Iraqi relatives, including a woman who had been raped² in March.

2. People began the clean-up in the Northeast after nearly a week of rain left many areas flooded. Thousands of people were evacuated³ because of the floods.

3. NASA says it's prepared to launch shuttle Discovery Saturday despite some concern that flying foam⁴ may harm the space shuttle. This is all the second launch since the Columbia tragedy in 2003.

4. President Bush and Japan's prime minister made a trip to Graceland on Friday. The outgoing prime minister is a big Elvis Presley fan.

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. clean-up : n-count
A clean-up is the removing of dirt, pollution, crime, or corruption⁵ from somewhere.

1 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

2 raped   

v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的过去式和过去分词 )；强奸

参考例句：

• A young woman was brutally raped in her own home. 一名年轻女子在自己家中惨遭强暴。 来自辞典例句
• We got stick together, or we will be having our women raped. 我们得团结一致，不然我们的妻女就会遭到蹂躏。 来自辞典例句

3 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

4 foam   

v./n.泡沫，起泡沫

参考例句：

• The glass of beer was mostly foam.这杯啤酒大部分是泡沫。
• The surface of the water is full of foam.水面都是泡沫。

5 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。