| In the News: Woman with shotgun forces 15 into vault |
2008-05-31 17:05:27 |
 |
|
Orlando TV 9 News:
SWAT officers and Orange County sheriff's deputies swarmed the Bank of America at 10900 Orangewood Boulevard, (see map) Friday evening. Deputies say 40-year-old Donna Bynum walked into the bank with a long rifle, or possibly a shotgun and said, "This is a stick-up."Full article...
***What is "stick-up"?
stick-up (also stickup) is a slang for "robbery".
Marriam-Webster dictionary defines it as "a robbery at gunpoint".
|
|
|
[打印]
|
| |
|
|
| In the News: Florida, Michigan make their case to seat delegate |
2008-05-31 14:37:46 |
|
|
From CNN today -
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Florida and Michigan Democrats tried to make their case to a national party rules committee Saturday to seat their delegates at the party convention in August.
After meeting for about five hours, the hearing broke for lunch. The audience of 500 people and those out in hallways appeared to grow more boisterous as the hearing went on, cheering and booing speakers...
The dispute over the seating of Michigan's delegates is a thornier dispute than the dilemma over Florida's delegation. Clinton was the only major candidate who did not remove her name from Michigan's primary ballot after the committee's decision last summer...
Read full article
Two words today:
boisterous - 猛烈的,喧闹的, noisily turbulent; stormy
thorny - 艰苦的, 棘手的, full of difficulties or controversial
For ex.
He gives a marvelousl boisterous performance.
Bring your thorny questions to this forum.
|
|
|
[打印]
|
| |
|
|
| In the News: A four-cylinder solution to the mid-size crisis |
2008-05-30 21:34:01 |
|
|
LA Times today: A four-cylinder solution to the mid-size crisis
As the cost of putting a tiger in the tank keeps going up, drivers are opting for a smaller cat under the hood.
Small-car sales have been a rare pocket of strength for the slumping auto industry in recent months as Americans sought relief from sky-high gasoline prices. But many buyers are sticking with mid-size or larger vehicles and choosing a smaller engine instead -- saving money on the sticker price and at the pump without downsizing their ride.
...
The swerve by consumers toward smaller engines "is a big relief for auto manufacturers," he said. "They have their test labs full of four-cylinder engines that they plan to bring out in the next five to six years with the idea that they would be replacing six-cylinder engines."
A new word today:
swerve - 突然转向, to turn aside abruptly
For ex.
One reason for this swerve is that the gas price has been sky-rocketing. |
|
|
[打印]
|
| |
|
|
| In the News: Sharon Stone's Own Bad Karma |
2008-05-29 21:15:48 |
|
|
From Forbes.com today -
LONDON - Ooh la la. In one horrifying moment on the red carpet, Sharon Stone has shown the world what a gamble fashion labels can take when they plaster a famous face on their branding campaigns. Christian Dior has dropped Stone from its Chinese ad campaign after the long-legged Basic Instinct star let slip in a TV interview--now on YouTube--that China's recent earthquake may have been "bad karma" for the country's actions actions against Tibet. Read more...
*** What is "karma"?
Karma - 因缘, 宿命, The Buddhist belief that whatever you do comes back to you, e.g. if you do something good, something good will happen to you, and vice versa.
|
|
|
[打印]
|
| |
|
|
| In the News: U.S. won't confirm report of Chinese hacking |
2008-05-29 20:04:59 |
|
|
From CNN today:
Government officials are not confirming a report that Chinese officials may have secretly copied the contents of a government laptop computer during a December visit to China by Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez. Read more...
The AP cited officials and industry experts as sources for the story, which said the surreptitious copying is believed to have occurred when a laptop belonging to someone in the U.S. trade delegation was left unattended.
...
US-CERT, a DHS entity charged with analyzing and reducing cyberthreats and vulnerabilities, has visited the Commerce Department "roughly eight times" since Guttierez's December trip but that the visits had "nothing to do with laptops or these allegations." At some agencies, laptops and other electronic devices officials take abroad are routinely "scrubbed" upon return.
...
Two words today:
surreptitious - 秘密的,偷偷摸摸的, done, made, or acquired by stealth
scrub - 擦掉, to clean with hard rubbing
For example:
News organizations frequently adopt policies regarding surreptitious use of these newsgathering tools.
The tran of the "one terrible pilot" comment was scrubbed from the White House Website.
|
|
|
[打印]
|
| |
|
|
| In the News: Think Gas is High? Try Europe |
2008-05-28 18:38:15 |
|
|
From CNN.com today -
American motorists are understandably grumbling over skyrocketing gas prices as the summer travel season approaches. But their pain hardly registers against the rage afoot in Europe these days. Fishermen, truck drivers and farmers are threatening to bring entire economic sectors to a halt with protests against crippling fuel costs. The wave of angry action is expected to spread further across Europe in coming days, despite efforts by political leaders to feel the pain and figure out how to alleviate it.
Read more...
Given the growing chorus of angry protests, it isn't surprising that leaders across Europe have begun scurrying for ways to provide some relief at the pump. But their margin for maneuver is limited...
Today's two words:
grumble - 抱怨不平, to express with discontent or grumbling
scurry - 匆匆ben跑, to move in a brisk pace
For ex.
I grumble behind closed curtains. I do so because my work doesn’t give me much freedom to grumble.
Fans scurry for last minute flights to Big Apple's Jazz Festival.
** I am attending a meeting today and in next two days. Pardon me for the late posts furnished after the meeting each day.
|
|
|
[打印]
|
| |
|
|
| In the News: Drivers change their lives to dodge gas bills |
2008-05-27 13:12:55 |
|
|
CNN reported today: Drivers change their lives to dodge gas bills
Click for full article
As rising gas prices leave drivers with ever-heftier tabs at the pump, Americans have started looking for ways to reduce the drain on their budget. For some, transitioning away from a one person, one car lifestyle has proved rewarding.
Janaki Purushe, a 22-year-old genetic researcher living in Rockville, Maryland, bikes just about everywhere she goes. "When I had the opportunity to finally plan my own life after I graduated college," Purushe explains, "I took into consideration where I was going to shop, where my friends live, where my boyfriend lives, and I definitely tried to plan the location of my home around where I was going."
...
Dietz says the family's gas bill is encroaching onto the food budget. "You just have to make the choice," Dietz explains, to conserve money on gas in order to afford food.
....
Two words for today:
dodge - 避开, an act of evading
encroach - 侵蚀, to enter by gradual steps or by stealth into
for ex.
How to dodge a parking ticket?
Construction materials, debris encroach roads, causing inconvenience to motorists. |
|
|
[打印]
|
| |
|
|
| In the News: |
2008-05-26 08:28:52 |
|
|
LA Times reported today:
The first spacecraft designed to taste the water of an alien planet landed safely on Mars' northern pole Sunday afternoon, beginning a three-month mission to determine whether the Red Planet ever did, or still might, support rudimentary forms of life.
....
"We have the best team in the world," said an exultant Barry Goldstein, the project manager, who has devoted the last five years to this mission.
About two hours after the landing, the first images came back from Phoenix crystal clear, showing that its solar arrays had been successfully deployed and the craft was sitting on a stable and safe surface.
Read details
Memorize the following words:
rudimentary - 原本的; of a primitive kind
exultant - 狂欢的, expressing great joy or triumph : jubilant
For ex:
Please have a look in nautilus and you will get a rudimentaty preview.
In sports arena, winners exultant, losers disappointed.
|
|
|
[打印]
|
| |
|
|
| In the News: NASA Braces for '7 minutes of terror' on Mars |
2008-05-23 13:40:28 |
|
|
NASA's spacecraft Phoenix, which launched to Mars last August, will finally arrive on the Red Planet.
Seven minutes is all it takes for a spacecraft travelling neary 13 thousand miles per hour to hit the Martian atmosphere, slam on the brakes, and reach the ground.
During that time, onboard computers will be working at a manic pace as the spacecraft deploys its parachute, jettisons its heat shield, extends its three legs, releases the parachute, and finally fires its thrusters to bring it down for a soft landing. Hopefully.
Click here
brace - 准备开始, to get ready
manic - 疯狂的, excessive or unreasonable in rushing
jettison - 投弃, to drop from spacecraft in flight
|
|
|
[打印]
|
| |
|
|
| In the News: Court: Texax polygamists take back children |
2008-05-22 11:43:01 |
|
|
In the court ruling today, the state of Texas should not have removed the more than 460 children it took from a polygamist sect's ranch. In its ruling, the Texas 3rd District Court of Appeals decided in favor of 38 women who had appealed the removals, as well as a decision last month by a district judge that the children will remain in state custody.
It concluded, "Evidence that children raised in this particular environment may some day have their physical health and safety threatened is not evidence that the danger is imminent enough to warrant invoking the extreme measure of immediate removal prior to full litigation of the issue."
In the article, there are couple words not new but should be reviewed:
polygamy - 一夫多妻
Imminent - 即将来临的
Invoke - 引起
|
|
|
[打印]
|
| |
|
|
| In the News: Rat on Cat on Dog (video) |
2008-05-22 09:56:00 |
|
|
They can get along, can't we? click here
The guy said: Animals are simple, people are complicated :-)
|
|
|
[打印]
|
| |
|
|
| In the News: Oil price hit $132 per barrel |
2008-05-21 10:47:46 |
|
|
ABC news reported today - The top executives of the nation's largest oil companies are once again being summoned before Congress to testify about the skyrocketing cost of gasoline.
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/Economy/Story?id=4895104&page=1
Sen. Dick Durbin, who later called the oil companies "unconscionable", said,
"We're on the precipice here and about to fall into a recession."
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said: "Apparently you have no ethical compass about the price of gasoline."
...
Remember these two today:
precipice: 危险境地; The brink of a dangerous situation.
ethical compass: 道德水准
For ex:
North Korea is on the Precipice of Famine.
We need an individual who has a good ethical compass.
Does your ethical compass need calibrating?
|
|
|
[打印]
|
| |
|
|
| In the News: Malignant Tumor |
2008-05-20 17:16:49 |
|
|
There is a news today that doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital have announced that Ted Kennedy has malignant brain tumor.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/05/20/kennedy.tumor/index.html
Remember these two words today:
Malignant Tumor - 恶性肿瘤
Benign Tumor - 良性肿瘤
In general, malignant tumors grow faster than benign tumors and are more likely to cause health problems.
=======================
From now on, I'll try to post 2 to 3 medium-level-difficulty but commonly used words from news media each day. While I am learning it, interested you can learn along - come back everyday so you'll be able to command ~1000 new words each year. When you sitting in front of your TV watching news at nights, hopefully you'll remember that internuts posted these words today :-)
Some people have asked for methods to learn English, here you go...
|
|
|
[打印]
|
| |
|
|
| In the News: How to say 渎职 .... |
2008-05-19 14:07:03 |
|
|
In today's CBS news, there is a report that three officials in Sichuan are punished for their 渎职... How to say it?
渎职 - dereliction of duty
"In Dujiangyan, three local government officials were removed from their posts for dereliction of duty over the earthquake - the first officials punished, Xinhua reported. One of the officials was reprimanded for miscounting casualty figures, while the others were punished for failing to come to work."
|
|
|
[打印]
|
| |
|
|
| In English - 下半旗或升半旗志哀? |
2008-05-19 08:49:50 |
|
|
中国政府宣布:
为表达全国各族人民对四川汶川大地震遇难同胞的深切哀悼，国务院决定，2008年5月19日至21日为全国哀悼日。在此期间，全国和各驻外机构下半旗志哀...
Notice in Chinese it says "下半旗", is it really "lower to" in English? Actually, it's "raised to"... Here is example:
Chinese national flag was raised to half-mast (or half-staff) to honor the victims of last week's Sichuan earthquake.
Why in Chinese we say 下半旗? Here is the reason:
When raising a flag to be flown at half-staff, it should be first raised to the peak of the staff and then lowered to a point where the distance between the top of the flag and the peak of the staff is one third of the length of the staff. When lowering the flag from half-staff, it should be first raised to the peak of the staff before it is lowered completely.
Remember in English use "raised to".
|
|
|
[打印]
|
| |
|
|
|
|
