美联社新闻一分钟 2006-06-06

（单词翻译）

1. President Bush says marriage between a man and a woman is one of the most important institutions and he's proud to support a constitutional amendment¹ to ban same sex marriages. He spoke² today as the Senate begins three days of debate on the proposal.

2. Leads are pouring in from across Texas but so far Lubbock police have not found Priscilla Nicole Maldonado. Police say a woman posing as a nurse befriended the five-day-old infant's mother and abducted³ her Sunday. Police have issued an Amber⁴ alert.

3. Utah National Guard members have begun their work on the Arizona-Mexico border. They are providing support like extending fences and improving roads. It's part of President Bush's plan to crack down on illegal immigration.

4. A baby born with two left arms in China will have one of the appendage⁵s removed Tuesday. Tests show neither of the arms is fully⁷ functional⁸, but doctors say the one closer to his chest is less developed and will be removed. The surgery is expected to last 3 to 5 hours and the biggest risk is nerve damage.

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. lead : n-count
A lead is a piece of information or an idea which may help people to discover the facts in a situation where many facts are not known, for example in the investigation⁹ of a crime or in a scientific experiment.
e.g. The inquiry¹⁰ team is also following up possible leads after receiving 400 calls from the public.

2. pour : verb
If something such as information pours into a place, a lot of it is obtained or given.
e.g. Martin, 78, died yesterday. Tributes poured in from around the globe.
= flood

3. befriend : verb
If you befriend someone, especially someone who is lonely or far from home, you make friends with them.
e.g. The film's about an elderly woman and a young nurse who befriends her.

4. amber : color-----琥珀色
Amber is used to describe things that are yellowish-brown in color.
Amber alert : noun
A message that conveys information about a recently missing or abducted person, usually displayed on electronic signs positioned along roadways and broadcast by mass media, intended to enlist¹¹ the public's help in finding the abducted person and often in catching¹² the abductor. AMBER is a backronym for "America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response," and was named for 9-year-old Amber Hagerman, who was abducted and murdered in Arlington, Texas in 1996.

5. crack down on : phrasal verb
to try harder to prevent an illegal activity and deal more severely¹³ with those who are caught doing it
e.g. Police are cracking down on drug dealers¹⁴.

6. appendage : n-count
An appendage is something that is joined to or connected with something larger or more important. (FORMAL)
e.g. the growing demand in Wales for recognition that it was not just an appendage to England