美联社新闻一分钟 2005-08-23(在线收听

1:In another dramatic last-minute standoff, Iraqi leaders put off a vote on a draft constitution late Monday, adjourning parliament at a midnight deadline in a bid for more time to win over the Sunni Arab minority whose support is key to stopping the insurgency.

2:Saboteurs trigger a cascade of blackouts that halt Iraq's entire oil export capacity for most of the day, costing the country almost 60 million dollars in lost exports and adding to supply concerns on world markets.

3:The last Israeli settlers leave the Gaza Strip ending a civilian presence that heightened Mideast tensions for decades. Troops surround two small West Bank settlements where thousands of extremists armed with stun grenades and tear gas defy orders to leave.

4:President Bush facing dwindling support for his war policy argues that the United States must not retreat from Iraq. In his speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars Bush says the only way to defend our citizens where we live is to go after the terrorists where they live.

5:Dramatic video of a fiery helicopter crash in a remote region of Kyrgyzstan has been obtained by APTN. Incredibly no one was killed when the chopper slammed into a glacier and exploded in flames on August 6th.

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. adjourn
adjourn adjourns adjourning adjourned
If a meeting or trial is adjourned or if it adjourns, it is stopped for a short time.
The proceedings have now been adjourned until next week.
I am afraid the court may not adjourn until three or even later.
V-ERG

2. saboteur
saboteur saboteurs
A saboteur is a person who deliberately damages or destroys things such as machines, railway lines, and bridges in order to weaken an enemy or to make a protest. In Britain, people who try to stop blood sports such as fox hunting are also referred to as saboteurs.
The saboteurs had planned to bomb buses and offices.
...a confrontation between huntsmen and saboteurs.
N-COUNT

3. cascade
1 cascade cascades
If you refer to a cascade of something, you mean that there is a large amount of it. (LITERARY)
The women have lustrous cascades of black hair.
A cascade of mail arrived from friends.
N-COUNT: usu N of n

4. blackout
3 blackout blackouts
If there is a power blackout, the electricity supply to a place is temporarily cut off.
There was an electricity black-out in a large area in the north of the country.
N-COUNT: usu sing, usu n N also black-out.

5. dwindle
dwindle dwindles dwindling dwindled
If something dwindles, it becomes smaller, weaker, or less in number.
The factory's workforce has dwindled from over 4,000 to a few hundred.
Exports are dwindling and the trade deficit is swelling.
He is struggling to come to terms with his dwindling authority.
VB

6. chopper
chopper choppers
A chopper is a helicopter. (INFORMAL)
Overhead, the chopper roared and the big blades churned the air.
N-COUNT
= helicopter

7. glacier
glacier glaciers
A glacier is an extremely large mass of ice which moves very slowly, often down a mountain valley.
N-COUNT

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