美联社新闻一分钟 2005-12-23(在线收听

1. Striking New York City transit workers take steps to return to work while contract talks resume, a deal that could pave the way for service to return.

2. On a surprise visit to Iraq, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld hints at a possible cut in US forces there below the baseline of 138000 troops.

3. Elsewhere in Iraq, Saddam Hussein's trial was adjourned until next month. The judge says no proof verifies Saddam's claims of abuse while in US custody.

4. In a city in Russia's Far East, the dreaded moment has arrived - a toxic spill from China caused by a chemical plant explosion 5 weeks ago.

5. And Spain's Christmas lottery, sprinkles more than 2.4 billion dollars in holiday cheer around the country

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. take steps to do sth
= try to do sth

2. pave the way for someone/something
to make it easier or possible for for someone or something to follow.
e.g. The procedure helped pave the way for successful open heart surgery using the heart-lung machine.

3. hint at
暗示

4. adjourn / adjournment n [U and C]
vi.延期, 休会, 换另一 个地方
1 [I and T] if a meeting, parliament, law court etc adjourns, or if the person in charge adjourns it, it stops for a short time: --It was almost noon when the meeting adjourned.
adjourn for/until
--Congress has adjourned for the November elections.
--His trial was adjourned until May.
2 adjourn to sth: to finish an activity and go somewhere - often used humorously
--The rest of us adjourned to a nearby pub for some refreshments.
--We sought an adjournment of the proceedings.

5. dreaded
adj also dread literary [only before noun] making you feel afraid or anxious - often used humorously
 --She couldn't put off the dreaded moment forever.

6. sprinkle
1. to scatter small drops of liquid or small pieces of something: sprinkle sth with sth: sprinkle the top with cheese.
2. be sprinkled with jokes/quotations etc: to be full of jokes etc
The book is liberally sprinkled with cliches.

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