美联社新闻一分钟 2007-08-24

1. People in northwest Ohio are returning to their homes, seeing what heavy floods've left behind. In Findlay, Ohio, hundreds remain in a shelter. Streets are still impassable, but the water has started to recede¹.

2. A scaffold near Ground Zero collapsed² on top of firefighters and construction workers today, injuring at least two people. It's the same location where two firefighters died this past weekend. The Deutsche Bank building was damaged in the 9/11 attacks and is being demolish³ed.

3. The latest intelligence report predicts the Iraqi government of Nouri al-Maliki will become very unsteady over the next year. It also says Iraqi forces have performed adequately but have not improved enough. But it finds some progress in Sunni insurgents⁵ fighting al-Qaeda.

4. Investigators⁶ say a fuel leak likely caused the explosion on a Taiwanese jetliner that caught fire after landing in Japan. They say a bolt pierced the fuel tank. Everyone survived the fire.
WORDS IN THE NEWS


1. impassable: adj
a road, path, or area that is impassable is impossible to travel along or through

2. scaffold: noun
a structure built next to a wall, for workers to stand on while they build, repair, or paint a building

3. demolish: verb
to completely destroy a building

4. bolt: noun
a screw with a flat head and no point, for fastening things together

1 recede   

vi.退(去)，渐渐远去；向后倾斜，缩进

参考例句：

• The colleges would recede in importance.大学的重要性会降低。
• He saw that the dirty water had begun to recede.他发现那污浊的水开始往下退了。

2 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

3 demolish   

v.拆毁(建筑物等)，推翻(计划、制度等)

参考例句：

• They're going to demolish that old building.他们将拆毁那座旧建筑物。
• He was helping to demolish an underground garage when part of the roof collapsed.他当时正在帮忙拆除一个地下汽车库，屋顶的一部份突然倒塌。

4 demolished   

v.摧毁( demolish的过去式和过去分词 )；推翻；拆毁（尤指大建筑物）；吃光

参考例句：

• The factory is due to be demolished next year. 这个工厂定于明年拆除。
• They have been fighting a rearguard action for two years to stop their house being demolished. 两年来，为了不让拆除他们的房子，他们一直在进行最后的努力。

5 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

6 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》