美联社新闻一分钟 2005-12-20

（单词翻译）

1. President Bush brushing aside congressional criticism, defends secret domestic surveillance as a necessary part of his job to protect Americans from attack.

2. A weapons expert known as Dr Germ is among two dozen former top Saddam Hussein officials released in Iraq, while militants¹ claim they've killed an American hostage.

3. Doctors say Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered no permanent damage from his mild stroke and will be released from the hospital on Tuesday.

4. Afghanistan inaugurates its first popularly elected parliament in more than 3 decades, a major step toward democracy following the ouster of the hardline Taliban.

5. Madame Tussauds dresses its wax celebrity² figures for the holidays. President Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair are made up as the cow from "Jack³ and the Beanstalk".

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. brush aside, brush away
brush aside brushes aside; brushing aside; brushed aside
If you brush aside or brush away an idea, remark, or feeling, you refuse to consider it because you think it is not important or useful, even though it may be.
Perhaps you shouldn't brush the idea aside too hastily.
He brushed away my views on politics.
PHR-V
= ignore

2. inaugurate
3 inaugurate inaugurates inaugurating inaugurated
If you inaugurate a new system or service, you start it. (FORMAL)
Pan Am inaugurated the first scheduled international flight.
VB

3. celebrity
1 celebrity celebrities⁴
A celebrity is someone who is famous, especially in areas of entertainment such as films, music, writing, or sports.
In 1944, at the age of 30, Hersey suddenly became a celebrity.
...a host of celebrities.
N-COUNT
= star