美联社新闻一分钟 2007-08-21

（单词翻译）

1. Preparations are underway in Mexico as Hurricane Dean makes a beeline for the Yucatan Peninsula. Forecasters say the massive storm with top winds of 150 miles an hour will likely be a Category 5 when the center hits somewhere south of Cancun early tomorrow morning.

2. A possible last-resort attempt to rescue the six trapped miners in Utah is too risky¹. Officials say they will not drill a three-foot-wide hole into the mine to lower a rescue capsule. Families of the six men say their loved ones are being abandoned.

3. His lawyer says Atlanta Falcons² quarterback Michael Vick will plead guilty to federal dogfighting conspiracy³ charges. Vick faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. A plea hearing is set for next Monday.

4. Amazingly no one was injured after this China Airlines jet exploded at Japan's Okinawa Airport. All 157 passengers and eight crew members scramble⁴d to safety before the plane was engulfed in flames. The cause of the fire is still unknown.



WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. make a beeline for sb/sth: informal
to go quickly and directly towards someone or something

2. last resort:
what you will do if everything else fails

3. capsule: noun
a small pressurized compartment⁷ or vehicle (as for space flight or emergency escape)

4. hearing: noun
a meeting of a court or special committee to find out the facts about a case

5. scramble: verb
to move somewhere in a hurried awkward way

6. engulf: verb
to completely surround or cover something