美联社新闻一分钟 2007-02-28

（单词翻译）

1. A big jolt¹ on Wall Street this afternoon. At one point, the Dow Jones industrials plummeted³ more than 500 points, joining a global market plunge⁴ sparked by concerns of cooling U.S. and Chinese economies.

2. A suicide bomber⁵ attacked the entrance to a U.S. military base in Afghanistan during a visit by Vice⁶ President Dick Cheney. Nearly two dozen people were killed and another 20 wounded.

3. Authorities are still assessing the damage after a landslide⁷ over this morning in San Francisco's North Beach district. A portion of telegraph hill collapsed⁸ sending rocks and boulders¹⁰ down onto the back of at least three buildings.

4. A mother who fears she might lose custody¹¹ of her obese¹² son has struck a deal with British social workers to keep the boy. Officials say the 218-pound eight-year-old routinely missed appointments with nurses and nutritionists.

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. jolt: verb
If something jolts¹³ or if something jolts, it moves suddenly and quite violently.
Also a noun.

2. plummet²: verb
If an amount, rate or price plummets¹⁴, it decreases quickly by a large amount. (JOURNALISM)

3. boulder⁹: n-count
A boulder is a large rounded rock.