美联社新闻一分钟 2006-01-25(在线收听

1. By week's end, Samuel Alito is expected to be on the US Supreme Court. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 10-8 along party lines Tuesday to send his nomination to the full Senate. That vote is expected by the end of the week.

2. A seven-year-old girl was shot at a Germantown Maryland day-care center Tuesday morning. Police say an eight-year-old boy had a gun in his backpack, and the girl was wounded when the gun went off accidentally.

3. A twin-engine business jet crashed and burst into flames near Carlsbad, California Airport Tuesday, killing all four people on board. The plane took off from an airport in Idaho, and was landing when it skidded off the end of the runway and hit a shack.

4. They are the strangest bedfellows: a rat snake and a dwarf hamster, a pair that became fast friends at one Tokyo zoo. The hamster was originally intended to be dinner for the reptile, but the four-foot snake decided to play nice and invited the furry creature to be his roommate. The hamster even climbs onto the snake's back to take naps

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. shack : noun [C]
a very simple and small building made from bits of wood, metal or other materials 小屋:简陋的小屋

2. bedfellow : noun [C]
a person connected with another in a particular activity: 伙伴,盟友
e.g. The priest and the politician made strange bedfellows in their campaign for peace.

3. hamster : noun [C]
a small furry animal with a short tail and large spaces in each side of its mouth which are used for storing food. It is often kept as a pet. 仓鼠

4. furry : adjective
covered with fur:
e.g. small furry animals

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