美联社新闻一分钟 2006-04-23

1. There's been a steady stream of voters in New Orleans first mayoral election since Hurricane Katrina devastated¹ the city. Activists² are concerned that not enough of the city's displaced population returned to cast their ballots³, and say the results may not reflect the will of the many minority residents who've been scatter⁴ed around the country. Incumbent⁶ Mayor Ray Nagin is facing more than 20 challengers.

2. More oil pain at the pumps. AAA says the average cost for a gallon of regular is $ 2. 88. The price jumped 3 cents from yesterday.

3. Swedish authorities are trying to solve the puzzle of a man found floating on a makeshift raft in the waters between Denmark and Norway Friday. The man says his name is George Williams, and that he is an American, and was thrown off a ship several days earlier.

4. Miss Kentucky, Tara Elizabeth Conner, was crowned Miss USA last night at the 55th annual pageant⁷. The 20-year-old new titleholder is a business student.

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. mayoral :adjective
adjective for mayor
e.g. mayoral duties

2. scatter :verb [I or T]
to (cause to) move far apart in different directions:
e.g. The protesters scattered⁵ at the sound of gunshots.

3. incumbent :adjective [before noun]
officially having the named position:
e.g. The incumbent president faces problems which began many years before he took office.

4. regular : noun [U]
petrol that contains lead

5. makeshift :adjective
temporary and of low quality, but used because of a sudden need:
e.g. Thousands of refugees are living in makeshift camps.

6. raft :noun [C]
a flat floating structure for travelling across water, often made of pieces of wood tied roughly together and moved along with a paddle (= pole with a flat end):
e.g. We lashed⁸ together anything that would float to make a raft.

7. pageant :noun [C]
a competition for young women in which they are judged on their beauty and other qualities:
e.g. a beauty pageant

8. titleholder :noun [C]
a person who is in the position of having beaten all other competitors in a sports competition:
e.g. The field includes Portugal's Rosa Mota, the Olympic, world and European titleholder.

1 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

2 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 scatter   

vt.撒，驱散，散开；散布/播；vi.分散，消散

参考例句：

• You pile everything up and scatter things around.你把东西乱堆乱放。
• Small villages scatter at the foot of the mountain.村庄零零落落地散布在山脚下。

5 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

6 incumbent   

adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的

参考例句：

• He defeated the incumbent governor by a large plurality.他以压倒多数票击败了现任州长。
• It is incumbent upon you to warn them.你有责任警告他们。

7 pageant   

n.壮观的游行；露天历史剧

参考例句：

• Our pageant represented scenes from history.我们的露天历史剧上演一幕幕的历史事件。
• The inauguration ceremony of the new President was a splendid pageant.新主席的就职典礼的开始是极其壮观的。

8 lashed   

adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥

参考例句：

• The rain lashed at the windows. 雨点猛烈地打在窗户上。
• The cleverly designed speech lashed the audience into a frenzy. 这篇精心设计的演说煽动听众使他们发狂。 来自《简明英汉词典》