美联社新闻一分钟 2007-07-05

（单词翻译）

1. BBC reporter Alan Johnston was released after four months as a prisoner of a Palestinian group. Leaders in Gaza say the release ushers² in a new era of law and order, saying they'll now go after vigilante gunmen.

2. The son of former Vice³ President Al Gore⁴ was arrested in California. After pulling him over for speeding, police arrested 24-year-old Al Gore III for possessing marijuana and prescription⁵ drugs. He lives in Los Angeles and works at a magazine.

3. America celebrated⁶ the fourth of July with parades like this one in Washington. On this midweek holiday, about a thousand people became US citizens at Walt Disney World in Florida, raising their right hands in front of a Cinderella's castle.

4. A new top dog emerged on New York’s Coney Island as the World's Hot Dog Eating Champion. Joey Chestnut⁷, from California, inhaled⁹ 66 hot dogs in 12 minutes, shooing past six-time winner, Takeru Kobayashi from Japan.

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. usher¹ in: PHRASAL VERB V P n (not pron)
If one thing ushers in another thing, it indicates that the other thing is about to begin. (FORMAL)

2. vigilante: N-COUNT
Vigilantes are people who organize themselves into an unofficial group to protect their community and to catch and punish criminals.

3. pull over: PHRASAL VERB V n P, V P n (not pron)
If the police pull over a driver or vehicle, they make the driver stop at the side of the road, usually because the driver has been driving dangerously.

4. marijuana: N-UNCOUNT
marijuana is a drug which is made from the dried leaves and flowers of the hemp¹⁰ plant, and which can be smoked.

5. prescription: N-COUNT
A prescription is the piece of paper on which your doctor writes an order for medicine and which you give to a chemist or pharmacist to get the medicine.

6. midweek: ADJ ADJ n
Midweek describes something that happens in the middle of the week.

7. Cinderella: N-COUNT usu sing, oft N n
If you describe a person or organization as a Cinderella, you mean that they receive very little attention and that they deserve to receive more.

8. top dog: N-COUNT
If a person or organization is top dog , they are the most successful or powerful one in a particular group. (INFORMAL)

9. inhale⁸: VERB V, V n
When you inhale, you breathe in. When you inhale something such as smoke, you take it into your lungs when you breathe in.

10. hot dog: N-COUNT
A hot dog is a long bread roll with a hot sausage inside it.

11. shoo :
To drive or frighten away by or as if by crying “shoo.”