CNN 2012-08-15

 CNN Student News is kicking off a new school year. I’m Natisha Lance, filling in for Carl Azuz, who’ll be back tomorrow. And here’s what you can expect from us every day, 10 minutes, no commercials and top headlines from around the world.

 

 

 

Our first headline of the school year comes from the U.S. presidential campaign trail. Now it’s known for a while that former Massachusetts Governor Mitt¹ Romney is the Republican Party’s presumptive nominee². But now we know his running mate.

 

 

 

On Saturday, Governor Romney announced U.S. Representative Paul Ryan as his pick for vice³ president. You may recognize Representative Ryan; he’s been in the headlines over the past few years because he’s the chairman of the House Budget Committee.

 

 

 

Now that we know that he’ll be the Republican V.P. nominee, we want to give you a little more information about Paul Ryan.

 

 

 

He was born in Wisconsin, and that’s the state he represents in Congress. He was first elected to Congress when he was just 28 years old. Now he’s 42, serving his 7th term. Before he got into politics, Representative Ryan worked at a family construction company. And in college, he earned a degree in political science and economics.

 

 

 

Now analysts⁴ say the decision to choose Representative Ryan as a running mate shows that Governor Romney plans to focus his campaign on the economy and government spending. Over the weekend, the new vice president candidate talked about what he sees as the choices in this election.

 

 

 

We feel, as your fellow citizens, that we owe you a choice, a choice of two futures⁵. We can either stay on the current path that we are on, a nation in debt, a nation in doubt, a nation in despair, a nation with high unemployment, where we’re giving our children a diminished future, or we can change this thing and get this country back on the right track.

 

 

 

Our next headline takes us from the United States over to the Middle East and the recovery efforts after a natural disaster in Iran. Two powerful earthquakes, just 11 minutes apart, hit the northwestern part of the country on Saturday. 

 

 

 

The first quake had a magnitude of 6.4; the second one, 6.3. Local news agencies reported that at least 250 people were killed by the quakes, more than 2,000 others injured. One Iranian official said more than 100 villages were damaged. 

 

 

 

Rescue operations, just like the ones that you’re seeing right here, those were happening on Saturday. But those operations ended yesterday. Iran has suffered through multiple devastating⁶ earthquakes over the last 20 years or so.

 

 

 

In Oak Creek⁷, Wisconsin, there was a two-day private funeral service this weekend. It was for the six people who were killed during an attack on the Sikh temple earlier this month. 

 

 

 

It all started during services on August 5th. The attacker killed himself after being shot by police. Investigators⁸ say they haven’t found any clues to explain the shooting. Now during a public memorial service last week, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder⁹ called it, quote, "an act of terrorism, an act of hatred¹⁰."

 

 

 

Sikhism is the world’s 5th most popular religion. It was founded more than 500 years ago in a region that’s now a part of India. Sikhs have sometimes been mistaken for Muslims, but those two are very separate religions. There are around 25 million Sikhs around the world. Around 700,000 of them live in the United States.

 

 

 

You can learn more about the Sikh temple shooting at our website. Go to cnnstudentnews.com, and also check out the Spotlight¹¹ section.

 

 

 

And later on this week, we’ll have more in our show about the vice presidency¹² and a huge drought across the U.S

1 mitt   

n.棒球手套，拳击手套，无指手套；vt.铐住，握手

参考例句：

• I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日，我送给他一只棒球手套。
• Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。

2 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

3 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

4 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

5 futures   

n.期货，期货交易

参考例句：

• He continued his operations in cotton futures.他继续进行棉花期货交易。
• Cotton futures are selling at high prices.棉花期货交易的卖价是很高的。

6 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

7 creek   

n.小溪，小河，小湾

参考例句：

• He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
• People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。

8 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 holder   

n.持有者，占有者；(台，架等)支持物

参考例句：

• The holder of the office of chairman is reponsible for arranging meetings.担任主席职位的人负责安排会议。
• That runner is the holder of the world record for the hundred-yard dash.那位运动员是一百码赛跑世界纪录的保持者。

10 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。

11 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

12 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。