美联社新闻一分钟 2007-01-27

1. At least 14 people are dead and dozens hurt in a market bombing in Baghdad. The bomb was apparently¹ hidden in a box carrying pigeons². The market is where birds, dogs, cats and other animals are bought and sold.

2. President Bush will be in a retreat³ on Chesapeake Bay today to meet with GOP lawmakers. Press Secretary Tony Snow says the group probably will spend most of the time talking about domestic⁴ issues, everything from healthcare to energy, rather than focusing on Iraq.

3. Police in Florida are finding⁵ more clues as they investigate a mummified baby found in a suitcase. The baby was wrapped in a newspaper from 1957. The woman who found the boy is the daughter of a deceased couple. She's shocked by the discovery.

4. Parades, balloons, native celebrations, boat races and a presentation to the Australian of the Year--all part of National Day festivities down under. The first white settlement of the continent of Australia was established January 26th, 1788.

 

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. mummify: verb
If a dead body is mummified, it is preserved, for example by rubbing⁶ it with special oils and wrapping it in cloth.

2. deceased: adj.
The deceased person is one who has recently died. (FORMAL)

3. festivity: n-count
Festivities are events that are organized in order to celebrate something.

4. down under: phrase
People sometimes refer to Australia and New Zealand as down under. (INFORMAL)

1 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

2 pigeons   

n. 鸽子 名词pigeon的复数形式

参考例句：

• the sound of pigeons cooing 鸽子咕咕的叫声
• The boy frightened away the pigeons from the roof. 那男孩把屋顶上的鸽子吓飞了。

3 retreat   

n.休息寓所，撤退，隐居；v.撤退，向后倾

参考例句：

• You cannot retreat from your responsibility in this affair.你不能回避在这一事件中的责任。
• They knew when to attack and when to retreat.他们知道什么时候进攻和什么时候撤退。

4 domestic   

adj.家里的，国内的，本国的；n.家仆，佣人

参考例句：

• This is domestic news.这是国内新闻。
• She does the domestic affairs every day.她每天都忙家务。

5 finding   

n.发现，发现物；调查的结果

参考例句：

• The finding makes some sense.该发现具有一定的意义。
• That's an encouraging finding.这是一个鼓舞人心的发现。

6 rubbing   

n. 摩擦, 研磨, 按磨

参考例句：

• This insect makes its strange noise by rubbing its back legs together. 这只昆虫摩擦它的两条后腿发出一种奇怪的声音。
• Jerry was already unhappy because he fumbled the ball,but his teammates kept rubbing it in. 本来杰瑞就很不高兴，因为他失了球，而他的队友们还一再提那件事。