CNN 2010-06-10

Over this past semester, we've covered some huge headlines. We've explored the debate over health care reform, examined the devastation¹ caused by a massive earthquake in Haiti, and we've taken you up close to see an erupting volcano. Here's a look back at some of the biggest stories from this semester.

After nearly 100 years of talk and frustration², after decades of trying and a year of sustained effort and debate, the United States Congress finally declared that America's workers and America's families and America's small businesses deserve the security of knowing that here in this country neither illness nor accident should endanger the dreams they've worked a lifetime to achieve.

It has now been heralded³ the passage of Obamacare as "historic." They're right, they're right, it's historic. It's the first time in history where a major piece of legislation has been passed over the overwhelming objection of the majority of the American people. It's historic.

We're dealing⁴ with the most dramatic financial recession for 70 years. Every country is facing up to the consequences of that.

Jobs must be our number one focus in 2010.

This recession caused a huge amount of damage, and we're going to be living with that damage for a while to come.

I ran out into the courtyard and began to cry out to other members of the apartment building to come in to the courtyard. The shaking was severe, and it went on for what I thought was quite a long time, but I guess it was about 15 to 20 seconds. It delivered one heck of a jolt⁵ and I'm very pleased to have made it through that. It was very scary.

The Coast Guard described a rather grim scenario⁶, where 11 of the 126 workers are missing from the Deepwater Horizon, which continues to burn out of control.

This is an unprecedented⁷ accident in the oil and gas industry.

As oil continues to hit our shores week after week, thousands of barrels of oil remain in the water.

The marsh⁸ gets all full of oil, what am I gonna do? I've been crabbing⁹ all my life. So, that's all I know how to do.

Emirate says this is the worst disruption it has ever seen.

It's literally¹⁰ raining ash. The ash is going into my eyes, it's on the streets. We are south of the volcano, this is the way the wind is blowing in the western part of Iceland.

Exactly how many flyers are stranded¹¹, how long will they be stuck? Half, half of all transatlantic flights are expected to be cancelled today.

Earlier this evening, Faisal Shahzad was arrested in connection with the attempted car bombing in the New York on Saturday. Mr. Shahzad, an American citizen, was taken into custody¹² at JFK airport in New York as he attempted to board a flight to Dubai.
 

1 devastation   

n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤

参考例句：

• The bomb caused widespread devastation. 炸弹造成大面积破坏。
• There was devastation on every side. 到处都是破坏的创伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

3 heralded   

v.预示( herald的过去式和过去分词 )；宣布（好或重要）

参考例句：

• The singing of the birds heralded in the day. 鸟鸣报晓。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A fanfare of trumpets heralded the arrival of the King. 嘹亮的小号声宣告了国王驾到。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

5 jolt   

v.（使）摇动，（使）震动，（使）颠簸

参考例句：

• We were worried that one tiny jolt could worsen her injuries.我们担心稍微颠簸一下就可能会使她的伤势恶化。
• They were working frantically in the fear that an aftershock would jolt the house again.他们拼命地干着，担心余震可能会使房子再次受到震动。

6 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

7 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

8 marsh   

n.沼泽，湿地

参考例句：

• There are a lot of frogs in the marsh.沼泽里有许多青蛙。
• I made my way slowly out of the marsh.我缓慢地走出这片沼泽地。

9 crabbing   

v.捕蟹( crab的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• We ought not to begin by crabbing everything. 我们不应当一开始就对一切事情采取吹毛求疵的态度。 来自辞典例句
• The boss is always crabbing about my work. 老板对我的工作总是横挑鼻子竖挑眼。 来自辞典例句

10 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

11 stranded   

a.搁浅的，进退两难的

参考例句：

• He was stranded in a strange city without money. 他流落在一个陌生的城市里， 身无分文，一筹莫展。
• I was stranded in the strange town without money or friends. 我困在那陌生的城市，既没有钱，又没有朋友。

12 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。