美联社新闻一分钟 2007-07-25

1. A prominent doctor in Connecticut is in the hospital after his house was set on fire and his wife and two daughters were allegedly killed by two men who were out on parole. The brutal¹ attack has shocked the community now struggling to cope with this tragedy.

2. One of the men involved in this videotaped beating of Robert Davis, has been acquit²ted. A judge said that in his opinion the beating which took place in New Orleans about six weeks after Hurricane Katrina would have stopped if Davis hadn't struggled with the officers.

3. These pictures come from Hawaii, where lava⁴ is flowing from fissures at the Kilauea Volcano on the Big Island. It has been 15 years since this part of Hawaii has seen lava flow like this.

4. A 9-year-old could probably buy a lot of toys with nearly 18,000 dollars? And this 9-year-old in Louisiana really could. Kyle Shoemaker has been given two credit cards with very high limits. Why? No one knows. But the pre-approved cards came in the mail and Kyle's mom is trying to stop it.

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. prominent: adj
important

2. parole: countable⁶ noun
permission for someone to leave prison, on the condition that they promise to behave well

3. brutal: adj
very cruel and violent

4. acquit: transitive usually passive
to give a decision in a court of law that someone is not guilty of a crime

5. lava: uncountable noun
hot liquid rock that flows from a volcano, or this rock when it has become solid

6. fissure: countable noun
a deep crack, especially in rock or earth

1 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

2 acquit   

vt.宣判无罪；(oneself)使(自己)表现出

参考例句：

• That fact decided the judge to acquit him.那个事实使法官判他无罪。
• They always acquit themselves of their duty very well.他们总是很好地履行自己的职责。

3 acquitted   

宣判…无罪( acquit的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（自己）作出某种表现

参考例句：

• The jury acquitted him of murder. 陪审团裁决他谋杀罪不成立。
• Five months ago she was acquitted on a shoplifting charge. 五个月前她被宣判未犯入店行窃罪。

4 lava   

n.熔岩，火山岩

参考例句：

• The lava flowed down the sides of the volcano.熔岩沿火山坡面涌流而下。
• His anger spilled out like lava.他的愤怒像火山爆发似的迸发出来。

5 fissures   

n.狭长裂缝或裂隙( fissure的名词复数 )；裂伤；分歧；分裂v.裂开( fissure的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Rising molten rock flows out on the ocean floor and caps the fissures, trapping the water. 上升熔岩流到海底并堵住了裂隙，结果把海水封在里面。 来自辞典例句
• The French have held two colloquia and an international symposium on rock fissures. 法国已经开了两次岩石裂缝方面的报告会和一个国际会议。 来自辞典例句

6 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。