美联社新闻一分钟 2005-09-12

（单词翻译）

1. Nearly two weeks after Hurricane Katrina's onslaught , relief workers in New Orleans show signs of making strides in cleanup efforts.

2. Families gather at the World Trade Center Site to mourn lost loved ones as America marks four years since the September Eleventh attacks.

3. In Tal Afar, many insurgents¹ use tunnels to escape the US-Iraqi sweep of the militant² stronghold near Iraq's border with Syria.

4. Japan's Prime Minister Koizumi gets a big political boost as his ruling party heads for a landslide³ win in the Lower House of parliament.

5. And the first Israeli army convoys⁴ leave the Gaza Strip, kicking off the final stage of a pullout, ending nearly forty years of military occupation.

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. onslaught
1 onslaught onslaughts
An onslaught on someone or something is a very violent, forceful attack against them.
The attackers launched another vicious onslaught on their victim.
The rebels responded to a military onslaught against them by launching a major assault on an army camp.
...a media onslaught.
N-COUNT: usu with supp, oft N on/against n, N by n
= assault

2. boost
2 boost boosts boosting boosted
If something boosts your confidence or morale⁵, it improves it.
We need a big win to boost our confidence.
Do what you can to give her confidence and boost her morale.
VB
= bolster⁶
+ boost boosts
Also a noun.
It did give me a boost to win such a big event.
N-COUNT: usu sing

3. landslide
1 landslide landslides⁷
A landslide is a victory in an election in which a person or political party gets far more votes or seats than their opponents.
He won last month's presidential election by a landslide.
The NLD won a landslide victory in the elections five months ago.
N-COUNT

4. kick off
2 kick off kicks off; kicking off; kicked off
If an event, game, series, or discussion kicks off, or is kicked off, it begins.
The shows kick off on October 24th.
The Mayor kicked off the party.
We kicked off with a slap-up dinner.
PHR-V-ERG