美联社新闻一分钟 2006-08-29

1. Prosecutors¹ are dropping charges against John Karr in the 1996 slaying² of beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey. DNA³ evidence failed to connect Karr to the crime scene.

2. Ernesto is now barely a tropical storm, but National Hurricane Center forecasters are warning Floridians that the storm could whip up to hurricane strength again soon. A hurricane watch is posted from north of the Kennedy Space Center on the Atlantic side of Florida to south of Naples on the Gulf⁴.

3. Families of the 49 victims in the Kentucky Comair crash say they are waiting to hear details about the accident. The plane went down after it took off from the wrong runway. An airport executive says runway repaving was completed a week ago.

4. The Austrian teenager held in a basement cell for more than 8 years says she may never share the intimate details of her captivity⁵. In a statement, the teenager demands privacy and says her captor treated her well at times but very badly at others. The kidnapper⁶ killed himself within hours of the girl's escape.

WORDS IN THE NEWS


1. drop : verb
If you drop an idea, course of action, or habit, you do not continue with it.

2. crime scene : n-count
A crime scene is a place that is being investigated by the police because a crime has taken place there.

3. whip up : phrasal verb
Prepare quickly, as in I can easily whip up some lunch. (在文中应该是"迅速形成"的意思,但在字典找不到确切的解释,就先用这个.)

4. go down : phrasal verb
If a ship goes down, it sinks. If a plane goes down, it crashes out of the sky.

1 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

2 slaying   

杀戮。

参考例句：

• The man mimed the slaying of an enemy. 此人比手划脚地表演砍死一个敌人的情况。
• He is suspected of having been an accomplice in the slaying,butthey can't pin it on him. 他有嫌疑曾参与该杀人案，但他们找不到证据来指控他。

3 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

4 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

5 captivity   

n.囚禁；被俘；束缚

参考例句：

• A zoo is a place where live animals are kept in captivity for the public to see.动物园是圈养动物以供公众观看的场所。
• He was held in captivity for three years.他被囚禁叁年。

6 kidnapper   

n.绑架者，拐骗者

参考例句：

• The kidnapper was shot dead then and there by the armed policeman.绑架者被武装警察当时当地击毙。
• The kidnapper strangled the child with a piece of string.绑票的人用一根绳子把这孩子勒死了。