美联社新闻一分钟 2005-08-28

（单词翻译）

1:Parts of Louisiana may evacuate¹ while Mississippi declares a state of emergency, as Hurricane Katrina appears to take aim at the region.

2:Top Sunnis in Iraq's government speak out against the country's draft constitution, a blow to last-minute efforts to win wide support.

3:The tiny Texas town of Crawford near President Bush's ranch² brace³s for duel⁵ing protests over his Iraq policy and an anti-war mom.

4:A video from Hamas purportedly⁷ shows a bomb maker⁸ sought by Israel celebrating the Gaza pullout as a triumph for armed resistance.

5:And a simple plaque⁹ is London's first permanent memorial to the dozens killed in last month’s transit¹⁰ bombings in Britain's capital.

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. brace
1 brace braces⁴ bracing¹¹ braced¹²
If you brace yourself for something unpleasant or difficult, you prepare yourself for it.
He braced himself for the icy plunge¹³ into the black water.
She braced herself, as if to meet a blow.
VB

2. duel
3 duel duels¹⁴ duelling duelled
To duel means to fight a duel or be involved in a conflict.
We duelled for two years and Peterson made the most of it, playing us off against each other.
...two silver French duelling pistols.
V-RECIP (AM) dueling⁶, dueled¹⁵

3. purportedly
purportedly
If you say that something has purportedly been done, you mean that you think that it has been done but you cannot be sure. (FORMAL)
He was given a letter purportedly signed by the Prime Minister.
ADV: ADV with v, ADV cl/group
= supposedly