美联社新闻一分钟 2008-05-24_在线英语听力室

(单词翻译:双击或拖选)

1. Officials in Texas are taking the polygamist sect¹ case to the state's highest court. Today they file their appeal of a lower court ruling which stated officials didn't have the right to take more than 400 kids from their parents.

2. Crews in Colorado are busy cleaning up after yesterday's powerful storms that tore apart homes and businesses. Many residents are just now getting back to their houses to see if there is anything left worth salvaging².

3. Officials in China are trying to secure 15 sources of radiation that were buried in the rubble³ of last week's earthquake. Meantime, the government is moving thousands of survivors⁴ living downstream of rivers that have been dammed by landslides⁵. Officials fear those could give way as aftershocks continue.

4. Just as Memorial Day weekend begins, gas prices have reached another record high. The average price of a gallon of regular rose 4 cents overnight to settle at nearly $3.88. Analysts⁶ say they expect that number to keep climbing.

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. give way: v.

Collapse⁷, fail, break down

2. Memorial Day: n. 阵亡将士纪念日

May 30, observed in the United States in commemoration of those members of the armed forces killed in war. It is officially observed on the last Monday in May. Also called Decoration Day.

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收听单词发音

1 sect
n.派别，宗教，学派，派系
参考例句：
When he was sixteen he joined a religious sect.他16岁的时候加入了一个宗教教派。 Each religious sect in the town had its own church.该城每一个宗教教派都有自己的教堂。

2 salvaging
（从火灾、海难等中）抢救（某物）( salvage的现在分词 )；回收利用（某物）
参考例句：
A shipping company has made a claim for the cost of salvaging a sunken ship. 某轮船公司要求赔赏打捞沉船的费用。（make a claim 要求） It is not uncommon to hear that a shipping company has made a claim for the cost of salvaging a sunken ship. 航运公司为打捞沉船的费用而提出要求，这并非奇闻。

3 rubble
n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾
参考例句：
After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。 After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

4 survivors
幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )
参考例句：
The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。 survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

5 landslides
山崩( landslide的名词复数 )；（山坡、悬崖等的）崩塌；滑坡；（竞选中）一方选票占压倒性多数
参考例句：
Landslides have cut off many villages in remote areas. 滑坡使边远地区的许多村庄与外界隔绝。 The storm caused landslides and flooding in Savona. 风暴致使萨沃纳发生塌方和洪灾。

6 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。

7 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。

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美联社新闻一分钟 2008-05-24