据一家伊斯兰网站20日报道，上周被绑架的美国人质、建筑承包商尤金·阿姆斯特朗已被斩
首。这家网站播放了其被斩首的录像。录像中还出现了隶属于“基地”组织三号人物扎卡维
的“统一和圣战”组织的标志。该组织威胁说，如果美国当局不在在24小时内释放关押在阿布格莱布和乌姆盖斯尔监狱的伊拉克女囚犯，他们将杀死另两名人质。外电报道如下：The video footage shows U.S. contractor Eugene Armstrong sitting blindfolded on the floor in an orange jumpsuit, with black-clad hooded gunmen standing behind him. Armstrong rocks back and forth as a militant reads a statement. The video footage的意思是“录像”。Footage的意思是“电影胶片，连续镜头，英尺数”。例如：They screened some interesting old footage of the first flight across the Atlas Mountains.（他们放映了一段首次飞越阿特拉斯山脉的有趣的旧影片）。
（中国日报网站编）
Preemptive
美国总统布什21日在第59届联大一般性辩论中发言，继续为美国的伊拉克政策辩解。 布什说，美国领导的伊拉克战争把伊拉克人民从一个独裁者的统治中“解救”出来，美国领导的联盟落实了世界的“正义要求”。布什政府仍在为其先发制人的军事战略辩护。外电报道如下：The doctrine of "preemptive war" -- attacking a potential enemy before the United States is attacked -- is now official US policy reserving and this has left Washington further at odds with some allies. Preemptive的意思是“先发制人的、抢先的”。例如：a preemptive offer for the property our competitors wanted to buy（对我们的竞争对手想购买的房地产抢先提出的报价）。The army launched a preemptive strike against the enemy.（军队对敌人发起了先发制人的攻击）。
（中国日报网站编）
State visit
在对哈萨克斯坦进行了为期两天的国事访问后，韩国总统卢武铉将于9月20日到23日期间出访俄罗斯，与俄领导人讨论朝鲜半岛局势等问题。新华社报道如下：South Korean President Roh Moo-hyunon Sunday left here(China) for a belated visit to Kazakhstan and Russia as part of his itinerary to neighboring countries which had already taken him to Japan and China. After a two-day state visit to Kazakhstan, Roh will fly to Moscow for his first ever official visit to Russia from Sept. 20 to Sept. 23. State visit表示“国事访问，国家元首对其他国家的官方访问”。
近日，美国新任中情局局长戈斯(Porter Goss)表示，参议院在调查美军虐囚丑闻的公开听证会上的表现有失公平，并认为那些被指与虐囚事件有间接关系的军事将领们不应该逃脱法律指控。外电报道如下：Goss took a hard line on interrogations in interviews with The Associated Press earlier this year, saying "Gee you're breaking my heart" to complaints that Arab men found it abusive to have women guards at the Guantanamo Bay terror camp - statements that could draw scrutiny during his Senate confirmation hearing, possibly next week. Hard line表示“强硬路线，强硬政策”，例如：socialist hardliner（社会主义者中的强硬派）。
从7日起，来自亚洲13个国家及欧洲25国的政府与企业界代表就促进双方贸易、金融、投资及旅游业展开了讨论，同时关于禁止朝鲜半岛核试验一事也是重要议题之一。外电报道如下：The fifth Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) will open in Hanoi, Vietnam with the participation of 39 leaders, including the President Roh Moo-hyun. Holding summit talks three times on Friday and Saturday, the leaders will announce the results in the form of a "chairman's declaration." In the declaration is expected to be included the support of participating nations for denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and peaceful resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue. Denuclearization是denuclearize的名词形式，表示“使非核武器化；禁止核武器生成或试验；撤除核武器”。
Green Belt Movement
10月8日，挪威诺贝尔委员会宣布，将2004年诺贝尔和平奖授予肯尼亚环境和自然资源部副部长旺加里·马塔伊，以表彰她在“可持续发展、民主与和平”方面所作出的贡献。这名启动了非洲种树运动的女性成为第一位获得诺贝尔和平奖的非洲女性。外电报道如下：Kenyan environmental activist Wangari Maathai won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for her work as leader of the Green Belt Movement, which has sought to empower women, better the environment and fight corruption in Africa for almost 30 years. Green Belt Movement表示“绿带运动”，green belt多指“城市绿化区，森林地带”。和belt有关的词语还有很多。例如：hurricane belt（热带气旋地带）；life belt（生物带）；magnetic belt（磁带）；marine belt（领海）；belt of weathering（风化地带）等。
据报道，美国前总统克林顿在推销自己的新书《我的生活》的过程中，还利用巡回宣传售书活动积极为他的政治盟友、民主党总统候选人约翰·克里造势助阵。近日他又出席了民主党在佛罗里达召开的全国大会并发表演讲为克里拉选票。外电是这样报道的：Bill Clinton had the spotlight on Day One of John Kerry's convention, as the soon-to-be Democratic presidential nominee cast for votes in Florida. Spotlight的本意是 “聚光灯”，后延伸为“公众的注意力，焦点”，例如：He likes to be in the spotlight.（他喜欢出风头。）
Sign off on
8月2日，据联邦情报局分析，基地恐怖组织可能要对美国纽约、新泽西和华盛顿等地的金融重地发动袭击，美国政府决定将恐怖警戒级别再次从黄色提高到橙色，这标志着美国面临恐怖袭击的高度威胁。外电有这样的报道：President Bush was briefed on developments while on a weekend campaign swing in Ohio and Pennsylvania. He signed off on raising the threat level Sunday morning. Sign off on是美国俚语，表示“未经签署而认可，非正式地同意”。值得注意的是，sign off on和sign off的含义完全不同，后者表示“结束广播；离开，停止（工作、活动）”。
Argumentative
当地时间10月8日晚，美国总统布什和民主党总统候选人克里进行了第二次面对面的激烈辩论。布什对伊拉克战争进行了辩护，攻击克里立场不一，克里则指责布什善用欺骗技俩。外电报道如下：President Bush and John Kerry sprinted back to the campaign trail, trying to build on their performances in an argumentative second debate that saw the presidential candidates colliding over war, jobs, education, health care, abortion, the environment and prescription drugs. Argumentative的意思是“爱争论的、好争吵的；论证的”，常含贬义。例如：He is an intelligent but argumentative child.（他是一个聪明但爱争论的孩子。）
Snap poll
美国东部时间10月8日晚9时，美国总统布什和民主党总统候选人克里在密苏里州圣路易斯华盛顿大学进行了第二次面对面的激烈辩论。双方舌战的焦点是伊拉克战争、医疗保健以及财政预算等问题。由于民调显示布什在首场辩论中不敌克里，所以此次辩论对布什意义重大。据美国有线新闻网、《今日美国》和盖洛普公司在辩论后进行的抽样调查显示，布什与克里在此次辩论中基本打成平手。此外，50%的受访者表示会投票给布什，46%的人支持克里。新华社报道如下：A snap poll taken immediately after Friday night's presidential debate found there was no clear winner in the second encounter between Republican President GeorgeW. Bush and his Democratic challenger, Senator John Kerry.
Overall, 47 percent of the respondents said Kerry won, while 45percent said the edge went to Bush, well within the poll's plus-or-minus five percentage point error margin, according to a CNN/USA Today/Gallup snap poll.
The respondents included 515 registered voters who watched the debate. Their political affiliations broke down as 38 percent Republican, 32 percent Democratic and 30 percent independent.
Snap poll表示“实时调查，即席调查”，因为snap具有“突然的；仓促的”的意思。和snap的这个意义相关的词组还有很多，例如：snap to [in, into] it（[俚]赶快开始干）；snap up（抢购；抢先弄到手；匆匆吃下）；snap sb. up（怒气冲冲地顶撞某人; 不耐烦或愤怒地打断某人谈话）；in a snap（立刻，马上）等。
Bent on
当地时间10月13日晚上9点（北京时间14日上午9点），美国总统大选的第三场公开辩论在亚利桑那州州立大学校园举行。外电报道如下：Sen. John Kerry said Wednesday night that President Bush bears responsibility for a misguided war in Iraq, lost jobs at home and mounting millions without health care. The Republican incumbent tagged his rival in campaign debate as a lifelong liberal bent on raising taxes and government spending.Bent和on连用，表示“下决心的，决心做某事的”，例如：I was bent on going to the theater.（我一心要去剧院。）
Solidarity
王恩德和王鹏两名中国工程师在巴基斯坦遭武装分子绑架已经4天了，他们的安危牵动着亲人、朋友以及普通中国人的心。为了营救中国人质，中国驻巴使馆全体人员全力以赴，与巴方多方面交涉，引起了巴领导人的高度重视。外电报道如下：Condemning the kidnapping of two Chinese engineers by militants in the country's tribal region, Pakistan federal cabinet on Wednesday expressed its complete solidarity with the Chinese people and the Government and reaffirmed Pakistan's resolve in securing the release of the engineers, Information Minister Sheikh Rashid said here. Solidarity表示“团结，一致”，在此表达了巴基斯坦政府对与中方合力营救人质之事体现出的高度一致性和积极态度。
新华社报道如下：Russia opened a new military base in Tajikistan Sunday, the second in Central Asia since the Soviet collapse in 1991, the ITAR-TASS news agency reported.
Russian President Vladimir Putin raised a Russian flag at the base, saying that "the military base in Tajikistan, along with the air base in Kyrgyzstan, will be a reliable element in the united system of collective security in the region."
新华社报道如下：The Group Eight diplomats have agreed on a proposal by France, Germany and Britain to present a package of "carrots and sticks" at pressing Iran to halt uranium enrichment.
The G8's Friday meeting in Washington agreed the EU trio to hold talks with Iran next week and demanded an immediately stop of Iran's fuel cycle otherwise it would receive new UN sanction, China Radio International reported Sunday.
10月18日，白俄罗斯全民公决结果揭晓，总统亚历山大·卢卡申科可能继续留在他已经坐了10年的总统宝座上。但是，这一结果并不为西方国家所乐见，美国于18日发表声明，谴责白俄罗斯的选举是“不公”的，并没有使选民真正得到表达意愿和自由选择的机会。新华社报道如下：The United States on Monday criticized the Belarus elections for so-called "electoral misconduct", saying "It does not look like the voters of Belarus were given a fair choice or a fair chance to express their choice."
"The election was seriously flawed, didn't meet standards," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told a regular news briefing.
"We deeply regret that the Belorussian people were kept from freely and fairly expressing their will," Boucher said.
Misconduct表示“不正当的行为”，在此反映了对选举公正性的质疑。此外，misconduct还有“处置失当；管理不善；行为轻佻、不检点”等意思。例如：She sued for divorce on the grounds of her husbands alleged with his secretary.（她以其夫与秘书有染为由提起离婚诉讼。）
Symptom
泰国官方今天证实，自10月14日以来，泰国著名的动物园“是拉查龙虎园”有23只成年虎因感染禽流感而死亡，估计病毒可能来自老虎的主要食物——鸡。另有30多只老虎出现与禽流感相似的症状。新华社报道如下：Lab test confirmed that 23 tigers in a private zoo in eastern Thailand have died of infecting with avian influenza virus, officials said here on Tuesday.
|
Tigers in the private zoo started to show flu symptoms since last Thursday and altogether 23 have died until Tuesday.
Symptom表示：“征兆，征候；症兆，症候”，例如：Fever is a symptom of many illnesses.（发烧是许多疾病的症兆。）和symptom相关的词组有：clinical symptom（临床症状）；well-defined symptom（明显症状）；deficiency symptom（营养缺乏症状）；deficient symptom（内分泌缺乏症状）；poisoning symptom（中毒症状）；eruption symptom（喷发征兆）；premonitory symptoms（地震征兆）等。
一名不希望透露名字的北约官员10月20日透露，北约下个月将在挪威和德国培训一批伊拉克军官。外电报道如下：NATO will begin training Iraqi officers in Norway and Germany next month, as part of a NATO mission offered to the new interim government in Baghdad, officials said Wednesday.
Some 20 senior Iraqi army officers will travel to Stavanger in southwestern Norway for a week's training at NATO's newly-created Joint Warfare Centre at the start of November.
Meanwhile another group of Iraqi officers will undergo military doctrine instruction at a NATO centre in Oberammergau, southern Germany, said an official, requesting anonymity.
Anonymity表示“匿名，隐姓埋名，作者不明”；还可表示“匿名者，无名氏”。例如：He wanted the anonymity of suburban life where his reputation was not known.（他希望在他的盛名鲜为人知的郊区过一种隐姓埋名的生活。）
10月23日上午，伊拉克西部发生一起自杀式汽车炸弹爆炸事件，造成至少20人死亡，多人受伤。据悉，爆炸事件的起因是美军下令逮捕盖达恐怖组织成员在伊拉克的领导人扎卡维的一名高级副官。新华社报道如下：As many as 20 people were killed on Saturday in suicide car bomb attacks in Iraq with dozens of others wounded amid US claim of the arrest of a senior aide to Washington's top foe, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
The US forces have recently stepped up operations in Fallujah, 65 km west of Baghdad, in an effort to root out anti-US militants, who are said to be behind suicide bombings and beheadings of foreign hostages.
Root out表示“发现，用鼻拱出，连根拔除，肃清”等含义，因为root表示“仿佛用口吻或用鼻子在泥土里翻，翻找某物”。例如：Waste and fraud will be vigorously rooted out of Government（要强有力地铲除政府中的挥霍和欺诈现象。）
Air strike
以色列空军24日夜至25日清晨用导弹袭击了加沙地带南部巴勒斯坦城镇汗尤尼斯，造成16人死亡，至少60多人受伤。另有2名以色列士兵受重伤。新华社报道如下：Medics at Nasser Hospital in the city of Khan Younis said that the 11 Palestinian bodies reached to the hospital torn-off limbs and the 60 wounded are between serious and moderate conditions. They said that three Palestinians were killed in the early Israeli strike on a group of Palestinians in Baten al Semen area Sunday night while four others were killed shortly after the early Monday air strike.
Air strike表示“对地面或海上目标的空中袭击”，strike除了“罢工，殴打”等含义外，还表示“袭击，空袭”。例如：The Israeli army said the air strike targeted four Palestinians who were planting a bomb and all four were hit. （以色列军方表示此次空袭的目标是四名正在安装炸弹的巴基斯坦人，四人全部被击中。）
Drastic
10月25日，上周因摔倒造成膝盖和手臂骨裂的78岁的古巴领袖卡斯特罗在电视上露面，宣布将停止美元在古巴境内流通。他谴责了美国政府针对古巴的一些举措，包括加强经济制裁、管制美元汇款、限制在美家眷回乡等。他说：“美帝国决意给我国制造更多困难。”新华社报道如下：As a drastic measure in response to tightened US sanctions, Cuba said Monday that it will ban transactions in US dollars in the country starting Nov. 8.
Under the Central Bank decree read on national television, Cubans will still be allowed to possess US dollars, but all commercial transactions in US dollars will be banned.
Instead, a "convertible peso" with equal value to the dollar will be used. A 10-percent commission is to be charged when the dollar is converted into the new currency.
Drastic measure 表示“果断措施，激烈手段”，drastic表示“激烈的；极端的；急剧的”，例如：Drastic measures to cure inflation（制止通货膨胀的激烈措施）；the drastic measure of amputating the entire leg（截除整条腿的极端措施）；a drastic remedy（烈性药物）；a drastic debate（激烈的辩论）；make drastic change（做彻底的改变）
10月27日，欧委会候任主席巴罗佐·若泽·曼努埃尔决定推迟向欧洲议会提交下届欧盟委员会组成名单。新华社报道如下：Incoming President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso decided here Wednesday to postpone putting his team to the vote by the European Parliament (EP).
据《华盛顿邮报》报道，五角大楼和国会消息人士透露，美国总统布什准备再向国会申请拨款700亿美元，用于在伊拉克和阿富汗境内的军事行动。如果这项申请通过的话，美国自发动伊拉克战争以来的战争支出将增加到2250亿美元。新华社报道如下：The Bush administration intends to seek about 70 billion US dollars in emergency funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan early next year, the Washington Post reported Tuesday.
White House budget office spokesman Chad Kolton said final decisions will not be made until shortly before Bush submits his budget for fiscal 2006 in early February, assuming he wins re-election.
最近，现年75岁的巴勒斯坦民族权力机构主席阿拉法特的健康状况成了国际社会关注的焦点。继先后传出患有流感和胆结石后，阿拉法特于当地时间10月27日晚病情突然加重，虚弱到无法走路和吞咽食物，并一度昏迷。28日凌晨，情况稍见好转的阿翁参加了在官邸内的晨祈仪式，以稳定人心。目前阿拉法特已接受了医疗小组的建议，准备飞往巴黎接受紧急治疗，这将是他被以色列软禁达两年半以来首次离开拉姆安拉官邸。以色列日前已表示同意阿拉法特前往任何国家的任何医院接受治疗，并承诺将允许他在康复后返回拉姆安拉官邸。 外电报道如下：Ailing Palestinian President Yasser Arafat - too weak to stand, unable to hold down food and spending most of Thursday sleeping - agreed to leave his battered compound for the first time in more than two years and fly to Paris for urgent medical treatment. The 75-year-old Palestinian leader's planned departure Friday, a decade after he arrived on the West Bank of the Jordan River with the promise of statehood, could mark the end of an era. Arafat, who hoarded power and declined to groom a successor, leaves behind a people in disarray. Groom有“马夫，新郎，男仆”的含义，在此作动词表示“推荐，培植”，例如：groom a presidential candidate（推荐总统候选人）；groom her for stardom（培养她成为电影明星）。 美联社指出，一位有威信的巴勒斯坦新领导人的出现需要数年时间。由于巴勒斯坦人没有做好权力交接的准备，一旦阿拉法特出现不测，巴勒斯坦的权力交接几乎不可避免地陷入混乱，这对中东和平进程是一个打击。巴立法委员阿什拉维27日说：“可以预料到的情形是，要么将有一场激烈的权力争斗，要么暂时出现权力断层。”
Rhetoric
基地组织首脑本·拉登在美国大选投票前四天突然透过录影带亮相，并直接向美国选民喊话，明显意图影响美国大选。在拉登发出恐怖威胁后，美国《纽约时报》对5个关键州的数十位选民进行调查，结果显示选民的投票意向并不会因拉登的威胁而改变。据报道：A senior US official said here on Sunday that Osama bin Laden's surprise address to the American people was merely "threatening rhetoric." "I can tell you, it's rhetoric. It's threatening rhetoric. We don't have any specific threat information that comes out of that tape," White House Chief of Staff Andy Card told local mass media. Rhetoric表示“修辞，华丽的文辞，花言巧语”，这里指美方认为本·拉登的讲话不过是虚张声势的夸夸其谈而已。例如：His offers of compromise were mere rhetoric.（他提出的妥协只是空话。）此外，rhetoric还表示“雄辩，辩才说话或写作的风格”，例如：fiery political rhetoric（激昂的政治语言风格）。
Tax code
在大选中笑到最后的布什总统于4日发表了演说，向美国民众保证将在社会保障、税收和医疗故障界定等方面做出有力改变，并和民主党合作——如果他们善于接受别人的意见和政策的话。外电报道如下：Contending Americans have embraced his conservative agenda, President Bush pledged Thursday to aggressively pursue major changes in Social Security, the tax code and medical malpractice awards, working with Democrats if they are receptive and leaving them behind if they're not. "I earned capital in the campaign, political capital, and now I intend to spend it," Bush said a day after a decisive victory that made him the first president in 68 years to win re-election and gain seats in both the House and Senate. Tax code表示“免税代码”，指雇员收入免税部分的数字代码，由税务机关编定。Tax code也可泛指税法，例如：Federal Income Tax Code and Regulations（联邦所得税法律与法规）
Watershed
印度总理辛格率代表团赴海牙，出席11月8日召开的第五届“印度-欧盟峰会”，这次会议对促进印欧关系具有重大意义。外电报道如下：Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will be leading a high-powered delegation to The Hague November 8 for the fifth annual India-European Union summit which is being viewed as a watershed in relations between the two sides, India's foreign ministry said Friday.
The summit will endorse the EU's proposal to upgrade its relationship with India to a strategic partnership. The EU has a similar partnership with five other nations - US, Canada, Russia, Japan and China.
Watershed表示“分水岭，转折点”，例如：A watershed in modern American history, a time that . . . forever changed American social attitudes（现代美国历史的转折点，一个…永远改变了美国社会观念的时刻）。
Disinfect
美国环境保护总署(Environmental Protection Agency，EPA)最近对158架美国民航客机的抽样测试发现，航班上约有13%的饮用水不符合环保署的标准，主要是因为机上的水被大肠杆菌等细菌污染。尽管此举遭到了各大航空公司的质疑和反驳，美政府与十几家航空公司于本周二（11月9日）达成协议，要求改善航班上的卫生设施，并增加对飞机上饮用水的测试。外电报道如下：The government and a dozen airlines struck a deal Tuesday requiring sanitation improvements and increased testing of drinking water aboard aircraft after officials found evidence of harmful bacteria in the water of one in every eight planes tested.
At the same time, the Environmental Protection Agency announced it would perform random water quality tests on 169 domestic and international passenger aircraft at 14 airports throughout the United States and publish the results by the end of the year.
If coliform bacteria are discovered, the airliners will have to be disinfected within 24 hours unless the agency grants an extension because the plane involved is outside the United States. In the meantime, passengers would find signs posted in the lavatories and galleys of affected aircraft.
Disinfect表示“消毒，灭菌”，例如：disinfect a wound（为伤口消毒）；Rigorous sanitation measures have been taken to disinfect SARS contaminated places and articles and we felt deeply that preventing infection within hospitals is of vital importance.（要采取严格的卫生措施对被非典病毒污染过的地方和物品进行消毒，我们深感在医院内部预防病毒传染的重要性。）
Vendetta
11月11日，哥伦比亚考卡山谷省分别发生了两场种族仇杀，造成七人死亡。外电报道如下：Seven people were killed Wednesday in two separate vendettas in Colombia's western department of Valle del Cauca, police said Thursday.
Police in Cali, provincial capital of Valle del Cauca, said both vendettas are between drug pushers and other criminal organizations.
Vendetta表示“族间仇杀，世仇，宿怨”，由于该词往往意味着血腥屠杀和深仇大恨，有时也用作戏谑，例如：wage a personal vendetta against the Post Office（个人向邮局进行的长期斗争）。
