AP美联社一分钟新闻 2008-07-12

Updating Time：2008-7-23 22:05:47

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【AP News 美联社一分钟新闻】

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听力文稿 ( Transcript )

1. California is ordering 2,000 more National Guard troops to help fight the hundreds of wildfires burning across the state. More than 1,100 square miles have already been burned and about 100 homes have been destroyed.

2. President Bush is among those trying to calm the nerves of investors in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The two play a crucial role in the housing market. And some investors fear the government is considering a plan to take over one or both of them.

3. Bermuda has issued a tropical storm watch as Hurricane Bertha approaches. Forecasters say tropical storm conditions are possible in the area by late tomorrow night. Bertha has already been producing large swells and high surf there.

4. It may not be the way Mother Nature intended it, but a house cat in the Netherlands has adopted a baby red panda. The panda's mother had abandoned it days after giving birth. Now this cat is letting it nurse alongside the rest of her kittens.

WORDS IN THE NEWS
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English Online
Merriam-Webster Online

1.Fannie Mae范妮梅(财富500强公司之一，总部所在地美国,主要经营多种金融)/房利美公司

The Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA) (NYSE: FNM), 联邦国民抵押贷款协会commonly known as Fannie Mae, is a government sponsored enterprise (GSE) of the United States federal government. It is a shareholder-owned corporation authorized to make loans and loan guarantees. It is not backed or funded by the U.S. government, nor do the securities it issues benefit from any statutory government guarantee or protection.

It is the leading market-maker in the U.S. secondary mortgage market, which helps to replenish the supply money for mortgages and enables money to be available for housing purchases. The name "Fannie Mae" is a creative pronunciation of the company's initialism that has been adopted officially for ease of identification.

As of 2008, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac own or guarantee about half of the $12 trillion dollars mortgage market of the United States.

2. Freddie Mac弗雷德马克(财富500强公司之一，总部所在地美国,主要经营多种金融)

The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation ("FHLMC") NYSE: FRE, 联邦住房贷款抵押公司 commonly known as Freddie Mac, is a government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) of the United States federal government. It is a stockholder-owned corporation authorized to make loans and loan guarantees. The FHLMC was created in 1970 to expand the secondary market for mortgages in the US. Along with other GSEs, Freddie Mac buys mortgages on the secondary market, pools them, and sells them as mortgage-backed securities to investors on the open market. This secondary mortgage market helps to replenish the supply of lendable money available for mortgages lending, and ensures that money continues to be available for new home purchases. The name "Freddie Mac" is a creative acronym of the company's full name that has been adopted officially for ease of identification (see "GSEs" below for other examples).

3.take over phrasal verb

to take control of something

4.tropical storm watch

A tropical storm watch (TRA) is issued when tropical storm conditions, including winds from 39 to 73 mph (35 to 64 knots, 63 to 117 km/h) pose a possible threat to a specified coastal area within 36 hours. Maritime flags indicate this with a single square red flag.

5.swell [countable]n.

a formation of long wavelength ocean surface waves

6.surf [uncountable]n.

the white substance that forms on top of waves as they move towards the shore

7.Mother Nature

is a common anthropomorphized representation of nature that focuses on the life-giving and nurturing features of nature by embodying it in the form of the mother.

8.give birth

give birth (to somebody)

if a woman gives birth, she produces a baby from her body

9.nurse [intransitive]v.

if a baby nurses, it sucks milk from its mother's breast

10.kitten [countable]n.

a young cat

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