美联社新闻一分钟 2007-03-03

1. After getting a firsthand look at the devastation¹, Alabama's governor defended administrators² at Enterprise High School. Questions have been raised about why school officials didn't evacuate³ the school before a tornado⁴ ripped through the building killing⁵ eight students. Warning sirens apparently⁶ went off three hours before the twister hit the building.

2. A tour bus carrying a college baseball team plunged⁷ off Atlanta interstate ramp⁸ and slammed onto the highway below. Four students from Bluffton University in Northwest Ohio were killed along with the bus driver and his wife.

3. Anna Nicole Smith was laid to rest next to her son in the Bahamas Friday. An estimated 100 mourners attended the funeral and graveside service for the former Playboy playmate.

4. Army Secretary Francis Harvey abruptly⁹ stepped down Friday. It comes as the Bush Administration struggles to cope with the fallout from a scandal over the substandard conditions for wounded Iraq war soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

 

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. twister: n-count
A twister is the same as a tornado. (AM)

2. ramp: n-count
A ramp is a sloping surface between two places that are of different levels.

3. slam: verb
If one thing slams into or against another, it crashes into it with great force.

4. graveside: n-count
You can refer to the area around a grave as the graveside, usually when you are talking about the time when someone is buried.

5. fallout: n-uncount
If you refer to the fallout from something that has happened, you mean the unpleasant consequences that follow it.

1 devastation   

n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤

参考例句：

• The bomb caused widespread devastation. 炸弹造成大面积破坏。
• There was devastation on every side. 到处都是破坏的创伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 administrators   

n.管理者( administrator的名词复数 )；有管理（或行政）才能的人；（由遗嘱检验法庭指定的）遗产管理人；奉派暂管主教教区的牧师

参考例句：

• He had administrators under him but took the crucial decisions himself. 他手下有管理人员，但重要的决策仍由他自己来做。 来自辞典例句
• Administrators have their own methods of social intercourse. 办行政的人有他们的社交方式。 来自汉英文学 - 围城

3 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

4 tornado   

n.飓风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• A tornado whirled into the town last week.龙卷风上周袭击了这座城市。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。

5 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

6 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。

7 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

8 ramp   

n.暴怒，斜坡，坡道；vi.作恐吓姿势，暴怒，加速；vt.加速

参考例句：

• That driver drove the car up the ramp.那司机将车开上了斜坡。
• The factory don't have that capacity to ramp up.这家工厂没有能力加速生产。

9 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。