美联社新闻一分钟 2007-07-22

1. President Bush briefly¹ transferred power to Vice² President Cheney while being screened for colon³ cancer. Doctors have moved five small polyps. The spokesman says they are not worrisome. Bush reclaimed⁴ his authority about two hours later.

2. A Taliban spokesman says the hard-line militia⁵ killed two German hostages in Afghanistan, a report disputed by government officials. The Taliban also says it will exchange 23 South Korean captives for imprisoned⁶ Taliban fighters.

3. In parts of Britain more than a month's worth of rain fell in a few hours, trapping motorists, with rescue crews scrambling to pluck people from rooftops.

4. After all the build-up, the waiting, Harry⁸ Potter fans are devouring⁹ the last book in the series about the boy wizard. The book even making its way to the streets of Kabul, Afghanistan, with a likely audience of diplomats¹⁰ and journalists.


WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. screen: transitive verb
to do tests on a lot of people to find out whether they have a particular illness

2. colon: countable¹¹ noun
the lower part of the bowels¹², in which food is changed into waste matter

3. polyp: countable noun
a small lump that grows inside your body because of an illness, but is not likely to harm you

4. hard-line:
having extreme political beliefs, and refusing to change them

5. militia: countable noun
a group of people trained as soldiers, who are not part of the permanent army

6. scramble¹³: intransitive always + adverb/preposition
to climb up, down, or over something quickly and with difficulty, especially using your hands to help you

7. wizard: countable noun
a man who is supposed to have magic powers

8. build-up: countable usually singular
the length of time spent preparing an event

9. pluck: transitive always + adverb/preposition
to take someone away from a place or situation that is dangerous or unpleasant in a quick and unexpected way

1 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

2 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

3 colon   

n.冒号，结肠，直肠

参考例句：

• Here,too,the colon must be followed by a dash.这里也是一样，应当在冒号后加破折号。
• The colon is the locus of a large concentration of bacteria.结肠是大浓度的细菌所在地。

4 reclaimed   

adj.再生的；翻造的；收复的；回收的v.开拓( reclaim的过去式和过去分词 )；要求收回；从废料中回收（有用的材料）；挽救

参考例句：

• Many sufferers have been reclaimed from a dependence on alcohol. 许多嗜酒成癖的受害者已经被挽救过来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They reclaimed him from his evil ways. 他们把他从邪恶中挽救出来。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

6 imprisoned   

下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was imprisoned for two concurrent terms of 30 months and 18 months. 他被判处30个月和18个月的监禁，合并执行。
• They were imprisoned for possession of drugs. 他们因拥有毒品而被监禁。

7 scrambling   

v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Scrambling up her hair, she darted out of the house. 她匆忙扎起头发，冲出房去。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• She is scrambling eggs. 她正在炒蛋。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

9 devouring   

吞没( devour的现在分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光

参考例句：

• The hungry boy was devouring his dinner. 那饥饿的孩子狼吞虎咽地吃饭。
• He is devouring novel after novel. 他一味贪看小说。

10 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 countable   

adj.可数的，可以计算的

参考例句：

• The word "person" is a countable noun.person这个词是个可数名词。
• Countable nouns have singular and plural forms.可数名词有单数和复数之分。

12 bowels   

n.肠，内脏，内部；肠( bowel的名词复数 )；内部，最深处

参考例句：

• Salts is a medicine that causes movements of the bowels. 泻盐是一种促使肠子运动的药物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cabins are in the bowels of the ship. 舱房设在船腹内。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 scramble   

v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料

参考例句：

• He broke his leg in his scramble down the wall.他爬墙摔断了腿。
• It was a long scramble to the top of the hill.到山顶须要爬登一段长路。