美联社新闻一分钟 2006-03-23

1. The prime suspect in grad student Imette St. Guillen's brutal¹ death has been charged. Darryl Littlejohn denies raping², strangling and dumping the 24-year-old student's body last month in Brooklyn. Littlejohn was working as a bouncer at the Manhattan bar where Guillen was last seen alive.

2. President Bush says it's time to get an Iraqi government in place. The president continued to defend the war during a speech today in West Virginia. He told a crowd of 2000 in Wheeling it's important to stay the course.

3. Tense moments in Pittsburgh. SWAT teams moved in after an armed man was spotted³ on the roof of a downtown building this afternoon. It turns out it wasn't a sniper, but a man with a pellet gun looking for pigeons.

4. An unwanted tourist was on the loose in the Big Apple. This wily coyote named Hal was first spotted Sunday. The animal elude⁴d officials until this morning when it was finally caught in Central Park.

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. prime :adjective [before noun]
main or most important:
e.g. The president is a prime target for the assassin's bullet.

2. strangle :verb [T]
to kill someone by pressing their throat so that they cannot breathe:
e.g. She had been strangled with her own scarf and her body dumped in the woods.

3. SWAT team :noun [C]
Special Weapons and Tactics team, a specially⁶ trained group of police who deal with the most dangerous and violent situations

4. pellet :noun [C]
small metal objects that are shot from some types of gun:

5. on the loose :
If a dangerous person is on the loose, they are free to move around a place and harm people:
e.g. Brewer⁷ escaped from prison last year and has been on the loose ever since.

6. the Big Apple :noun [S] INFORMAL
New York City:

7. wily :adjective
clever, having a very good understanding of situations, possibilities and people, and often willing to use tricks to achieve an aim:

8. coyote :noun [C]
a small dog-like wild animal which lives in North America

9. elude :verb [T]
to not be caught by someone:
e.g. They eluded⁵ the police by fleeing

1 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

2 raping   

v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的现在分词 )；强奸

参考例句：

• In response, Charles VI sent a punitive expedition to Brittany, raping and killing the populace. 作为报复，查理六世派军讨伐布列塔尼，奸淫杀戮平民。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The conquerors marched on, burning, killing, raping and plundering as they went. 征服者所到之处烧杀奸掠，无所不做。 来自互联网

3 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

4 elude   

v.躲避，困惑

参考例句：

• If you chase it,it will elude you.如果你追逐着它， 它会躲避你。
• I had dared and baffled his fury.I must elude his sorrow.我曾经面对过他的愤怒，并且把它挫败了；现在我必须躲避他的悲哀。

5 eluded   

v.（尤指机敏地）避开( elude的过去式和过去分词 )；逃避；躲避；使达不到

参考例句：

• The sly fox nimbly eluded the dogs. 那只狡猾的狐狸灵活地躲避开那群狗。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The criminal eluded the police. 那个罪犯甩掉了警察的追捕。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

6 specially   

adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地

参考例句：

• They are specially packaged so that they stack easily.它们经过特别包装以便于堆放。
• The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings.这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。

7 brewer   

n. 啤酒制造者

参考例句：

• Brewer is a very interesting man. 布鲁尔是一个很有趣的人。
• I decided to quit my job to become a brewer. 我决定辞职，做一名酿酒人。