美联社新闻一分钟 2006-12-01

1. Washington is not looking for a graceful¹ exit from the Iraq war. This assurance comes from President Bush in a private meeting Thursday with Iraqi leader Nouri al-Maliki. During the meeting, Maliki argued that his military and police can handle security in the war-torn country reportedly within the next six months.

2. A SeaWorld whale trainer is now nursing a broken foot after one of the park's killer² whales dragged the trainer underwater during a show. Officials of the park in San Diego say the whale may be allowed to perform again.

3. Storms that roared through the northwestern Rockies earlier in the week have now blasted the southern plains in Midwest. Many areas have received significant amounts of ice and snow.

4. A former Russian prime minister is now the latest possible victim of radiation poisoning. He is reporting symptoms consistent with contamination. This development comes as British investigators³ are scour⁴ing multiple sites looking for clues in the poisoning death of a former Russian spy.

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. nurse: verb
If you nurse an illness or injure, you allow it to get better by resting as much as possible.

2. radiation: n-uncount
Radiation consists of very small particles of a radioactive substance. Large amounts of radiation can cause illness and death.

3. contaminate: verb
If something is contaminated by dirt, chemicals, or radiation, they make it dirty or harmful.
contamination: n-uncount

4. scour: verb
If you scour something such as a place or a book, you make a thorough search of it to find what you are looking for.

1 graceful   

adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的

参考例句：

• His movements on the parallel bars were very graceful.他的双杠动作可帅了!
• The ballet dancer is so graceful.芭蕾舞演员的姿态是如此的优美。

2 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

3 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 scour   

v.搜索；擦，洗，腹泻，冲刷

参考例句：

• Mother made me scour the family silver.母亲让我擦洗家里的银器。
• We scoured the telephone directory for clues.我们仔细查阅电话簿以寻找线索。

5 scouring   

擦[洗]净，冲刷，洗涤

参考例句：

• The police are scouring the countryside for the escaped prisoners. 警察正在搜索整个乡村以捉拿逃犯。
• This is called the scouring train in wool processing. 这被称为羊毛加工中的洗涤系列。