时间:2018-12-07 作者:英语课 分类:VOA慢速英语2009年(一)月


英语课

This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.



Each December the editors and news directors of the Associated Press vote for the top ten news stories of the year.








Barack Obama during his acceptance speech in Chicago, Illinois on November fourth



They chose the election of Barack Obama as president of the United States as the top news story of two thousand eight. President-elect Obama is the first black man to be elected president of the United States. His decisive victory over Republican Senator John McCain brought down the last racial barrier in American politics. His campaign for the White House lasted twenty-one months.



The American economic crisis was second on the list of top stories last year. Wall Street investment banks and other financial companies collapsed 1. The stock market suffered huge losses. Two thousand eight was considered the worst economic year since the nineteen thirties.



The price of oil was voted the third top story of the year. Less than six months ago, oil traded at a record one hundred forty-seven dollars a barrel. Now, oil is trading for less than forty dollars a barrel. At the root of the sharp price decrease is reduced demand because of the economic downturn.








Michael Phelps with one of eight gold medals he won in the Beijing Olympic Games




The war in Iraq was fourth on the list. The American troop surge helped reduce violence in Iraq. But bombings and kidnappings continued. A recent security agreement between Iraq and the United States sets a plan for American troop withdrawal 2 by two thousand twelve.



The Beijing Olympic Games were next on the list. After seven years of preparations, the Summer Olympic Games were held in China for the first time. American swimmer Michael Phelps won eight gold medals, breaking the record for the most gold medals won at a single Olympics.



Also among the top news stories was the huge earthquake that struck China in May. Seventy thousand people were killed in Sichuan province. Another five million lost their homes.



Alaska Governor Sarah Palin also made the list of major news stories. She became well-known after Republican presidential candidate John McCain chose her as his vice 3 presidential running mate. She was the first female vice presidential candidate of the Republic Party.








The Taj Hotel in Mumbai burning during the terrorist attacks




In November, ten terrorists attacked India's financial center, Mumbai. More than one hundred sixty people were killed during two and a half days of violence.



Hillary Clinton's candidacy for president was also among the top news stories. She came closer than any other woman in American history to becoming a major party's presidential candidate. Barack Obama nominated her to become the next secretary of state.



And finally, the tenth news story of the year was the five-day war between Russia and Georgia. The war was the worst violence since South Ossetia declared independence from Georgia in nineteen ninety-two.



And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English, written by Brianna Blake. You can find other reports from the past year on our web site at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.



1 collapsed
adj.倒塌的
  • Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
  • The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。
2 withdrawal
n.取回,提款;撤退,撤军;收回,撤销
  • The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
  • They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。
3 vice
n.坏事;恶习;[pl.]台钳,老虎钳;adj.副的
  • 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。
学英语单词
a pair of scissors
adhesive band
all-over design
application to reorganization
as before
Atelostomata
balanced incomplete type
bar polishing machine
Braco
breathanalyzer
brim-stretching machine
business reciprocity
calculated feed
cerebrospinal syphilis
chief operations officer
chloragogen cell
circumstantial evidence of audit
closed oscillation circuit
compass record
contacting thermometer
crystal quartz flour
cuticular plate
dirinaria picta
double-end ventilation
equideparture
exemption en bloc
Facies sacropelvica
ferrite slider
fertilization ability
flame photometric
fundus-stereoscope
gabinus
general secretary of government
Gerbil, GERBIL
germanies
gillless
gray cast iron powder
grease-proof antioxidant paper
Great Power, great power
hanging microphone
Hoengseong-gun
hydraulic
ice movement
insertion character
inversion of FahraeusLindquist effect
LANalyzer
launching engineer
leucokininase
linotape
Loschmidt number
lucreces
magnetoresistive sensitivity
malvid
marblewood
maximal ejection period
Mayan language
mediocubital crossvein
military airspace reservation
minimum toxic single dose
natural sense
ncni
night cart
nigidius fromosanus
non-redundant network
nondecimal base
overcapitalisation
partial innovation
plain-spoken
polishing oil
ponygirls
Potemkinian
pressure-feed air bearing
print station
Procrustean bed
programmed operators
psedopurpurin
pseudoneurosis
pubic symphysis
question sheet
real angle
recipocating engine
rewate
Sabia schumanniana
salad
serclet
square check irrigation
start-to-finish
t-rnas
tax officer
test of braking stability
Tetrasul
thermal conversion efficiency
thonzonium
transignification
trazolopride
turnover moulding
vibration proof switch
warning gas
wet dust collection
where
within doors
woik