CNN 2009-08-16

A suicide bomber¹ set off a car-bomb today in Afghanistan's capital of Kabul, at least seven people killed, another hundred injured. Yeah,the explosion went off near NATO Security headquarters and the U.S Embassy. Now the Taliban, which has vowed² to disrupt next Thursday's elections is claiming responsibility for this explosion.

 Mass of rescue operation underway in Taiwan to save people from the flooding and mudslide triggered by typhoon Morakot. It slammed into Taiwan last Saturday, This spawned³ the worst flooding and landslide⁴ there in fifty years. Take a look at some of what's been happening there. Those waters just rush. Friends and families of victims holding memorial services across Taiwan today. More than a hundred people are confirmed dead but official said the death toll⁵ could go as high as five hundred.

 President Obama, he is taking his Health Care show on the road this weekend. He is in Montana this morning where he held a town hall meeting yesterday. The crowd was pretty civil for the President but he did get some tough yet polite questions about his reform plan. A lot of Health Care related events happening across country. No doubt. I want you to take a look at this map because it can give you an indication on where they all are happening across the country. Democratic Congressman⁶ Perter Stark⁷, well he is holding three, not one, not two but three in fact in California well he is gonna be a busy guy. As you can see from the map, there are also events in Chicago and Atlanta.

 The latest on these wildfires in California in fact, one is called the Lockheed Fire. Taking a look at it right now. Strong winds are indeed making it very difficult to fight this fire. It's just outside of Santa Cruz, California. Also getting some new video overnight, close to eight square miles of a forest have been burned. About 15 percent of this fire has been contained. So that shows you that not a whole lot, but there are plenty of fire fighters on the scene working this, some fifteen hundred in fact, and a lot of mandatory⁸ evacuations are in place, as well as a state of an emergency which has been declared because of this fire.

1 bomber   

n.轰炸机，投弹手，投掷炸弹者

参考例句：

• He flew a bomber during the war.他在战时驾驶轰炸机。
• Detectives hunting the London bombers will be keen to interview him.追查伦敦爆炸案凶犯的侦探们急于对他进行讯问。

2 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

3 spawned   

（鱼、蛙等）大量产（卵）( spawn的过去式和过去分词 )； 大量生产

参考例句：

• The band's album spawned a string of hit singles. 这支乐队的专辑繁衍出一连串走红的单曲唱片。
• The computer industry has spawned a lot of new companies. 由于电脑工业的发展，许多新公司纷纷成立。

4 landslide   

n.(竞选中)压倒多数的选票；一面倒的胜利

参考例句：

• Our candidate is predicated to win by a landslide.我们的候选人被预言将以绝对优势取胜。
• An electoral landslide put the Labour Party into power in 1945.1945年工党以压倒多数的胜利当选执政。

5 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

6 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

7 stark   

adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
• He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。

8 mandatory   

adj.命令的；强制的；义务的；n.受托者

参考例句：

• It's mandatory to pay taxes.缴税是义务性的。
• There is no mandatory paid annual leave in the U.S.美国没有强制带薪年假。