美联社新闻一分钟 2007-08-03

1. Divers¹ are searching the Mississippi River for people missing from the bridge collapse² in Minneapolis. Officials say cars are trapped underwater beneath the wreckage³.As many as 30 people are still unaccounted for.

2. China promises to work with US companies to improve product safety.This comes in the wake of a massive recall of toys made in China. Fisher-Price is pulling thousands of toys off shelves because they could have high amounts of lead in the paint.

3. Green cars are bringing in the green for automakers. Analysts⁴ say drivers bought 187,000 hybrid⁵s in the month of June. Experts say they predict a 35% increase in hybrid sales this year over 2006. The Toyota Prius is the best-selling model.

4. The New York Subway was the site of a heroic rescue. Two men pulled a woman who had fallen on the tracks to safety just in the nick of time, and as paramedics worked on the woman, the men disappeared onto their train and left. They didn't leave their names, no way for the rescued woman to thank them.

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. account for:
to say where all the members of a group of people or things are, especially because you are worried that some of them may be lost

2. in the wake of sth:
if something, especially something bad, happens in the wake of an event, it happens afterwards and usually as a result of it

3. massive: adj
unusually large

4. recall: verb
if a company recalls one of its products, it asks people who have bought it to return it because there may be something wrong with it

5. lead: noun
铅

6. hybrid: noun
混合动力汽车，通常同时以汽油和电作为动力

7. in the nick of time:
just before it is too late, or just before something bad happens

8. paramedic: noun
someone who has been trained to help people who are hurt or to do medical work, but who is not a doctor or nurse

9. work on:
to try very hard to improve or achieve something

1 divers   

adj.不同的；种种的

参考例句：

• He chose divers of them,who were asked to accompany him.他选择他们当中的几个人，要他们和他作伴。
• Two divers work together while a standby diver remains on the surface.两名潜水员协同工作，同时有一名候补潜水员留在水面上。

2 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

3 wreckage   

n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏

参考例句：

• They hauled him clear of the wreckage.他们把他从形骸中拖出来。
• New states were born out of the wreckage of old colonial empires.新生国家从老殖民帝国的废墟中诞生。

4 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

5 hybrid   

n.(动，植）杂种，混合物

参考例句：

• That is a hybrid perpetual rose.那是一株杂交的四季开花的蔷薇。
• The hybrid was tall,handsome,and intelligent.那混血儿高大、英俊、又聪明。

6 hybrids   

n.杂交生成的生物体( hybrid的名词复数 )；杂交植物（或动物）；杂种；（不同事物的）混合物

参考例句：

• All these brightly coloured hybrids are so lovely in the garden. 花园里所有这些色彩鲜艳的杂交花真美丽。 来自辞典例句
• The notion that interspecific hybrids are rare is ill-founded. 有一种看法认为种间杂种是罕见的，这种看法是无根据的。 来自辞典例句