美联社新闻一分钟 2008-06-28

（单词翻译）

1. Crews are rushing to build a four-foot-tall sandbag levee around an eastern Missouri community. Emergency workers are hoping it will block floodwaters from a broken levee south of the town of Winfield. Officials say muskrat² holes caused that breach³.

2. Rivals turned allies. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton made a display of unity¹ earlier today in New Hampshire. It's their first joint⁴ appearance since the divisive Democratic primary race ended.

3. It's being called "a very important step" in the process of disabling North Korea's nuclear program. This 60-foot-tall cooling tower was destroyed earlier today. The destruction came after the US removed the North from terrorism and sanctions blacklists.

4. And there's been a lot of buzz about a Massachusetts town. That's because tens of thousands of honey bees have invaded downtown Pittsfield. A beekeeper has been called in to take care of the problem.

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. muskrat: n. 麝鼠

an animal which lives in water in North America.

2. divisive: adj.

Something that is divisive causes unfriendliness and argument between people.

3. blacklist: n.

If someone is on a blacklist, they are seen by a government or other organization as being one of a number of people who cannot be trusted or who have done something wrong.

4. buzz: n.

a continuous noise like the sound of a bee.

5. cooling tower: n.

a large round tall building, used in industry for making water cool.