美联社新闻一分钟 2006-03-29

（单词翻译）

1. President Bush has announced changes at the White House. Chief of staff Andrew Card has resigned. He'll be replaced by budget chief Joshua Bolten.

2. Former Reagan Defense¹ Secretary Casper Weinberger has died. He was 88 years old.

3. The debate over immigration has sparked rallies around the country, drawing thousands to the streets. The Senate Judiciary Committee has approved legislation that includes a guest worker program. It still needs approval by the full senate.

4. In Israel, voters went to the polls in a general election that amounts to a referendum on the future of the West Bank. It looks good for acting² Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who was promising³ to define Israel’s final borders by 2010.

5. Nationwide strikes continue in France against the new youth employment law that would allow employers to fire workers under the age of 26 without any reason in the first two years on the job. The new law is set to go into effect next month

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. amount to :[not continuous]
to be the same as something, or to have the same effect as something:
e.g. He gave what amounted to an apology on behalf of his company.

2. referendum :noun [C]
a vote in which all the people in a country or an area are asked to give their opinion about or decide an important political or social question:
e.g. Is it more democratic to hold a referendum, rather than let the government alone decide?

3. acting : adjective
someone who does a job for a short time while the person who usually does that job is not there:
e.g. He'll be the acting director until they can appoint a permanent one.

4. nationwide :adjective
existing or happening in all parts of a particular country:
e.g. a nationwide network