Washington

All eyes are focusing in on Las Vegas as the Sporting Goods industry closes in on its first true industry gathering in years. The much anticipated spring market will make its debut June 11^th to 13^th in Las Vegas, and the industry's leading sporting goods companies will be on hand to display their latest gear. The exhibit floor will showcase the latest in, athletic footwear, fitness-related equipment, accessories for fitness, as well as spring teen sports products. "In today's trade show environment, the marketplace demands that we offer more than just the opportunity to promote new products", explained Tom Cove, president of Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association, "we're committed to drive the exchange of cutting-edge knowledge and best practices to complement the action on the floor." Along with many of the industry's most influential brands, a number of groups, associations and media organizations within the sporting goods industry have decided to use the trade show as a business rendezvous.

San Francisco

Apple today introduced Safari 3, the world's fastest and easiest-to-use web browser for Windows PCs and Macs. Safari has always been the fastest browser on the Mac, and now it's the fastest browser on the Windows, loading and drawing web pages up to twice as fast as Microsoft Internet Explorer 7, and up to 1.6 times faster than Mozilla Firefox 2. Safari 3 features easy-to-manage bookmarks, effortless browsing with easy-to-organize tabs, and a built-in RSS reader to quickly scan the latest information. Other Safari features now available to Windows users includes snapback, one-click access to an initial search query, resizable text fields, and private browsing to ensure that information about an individual's browsing history isn't stored.

Afghanistan

Floods triggered by heavy rain killed 23 people and destroyed scores of houses in Afghanistan's northeastern province of Badakhshan, the provincial governor said on Friday. Authorities were searching for missing people after the flooding, which hit on Thursday night in an area of impoverished and mountainous province near the border with Tajikistan, China, and Pakistan. After years of harsh drought, Afghanistan received much more snow and rain this year.

Cuba

Two Cuban soldiers tried to hijack a passenger plane to escape to a foreign country with hostages on Monday, but were arrested after killing an unarmed military officer on board, the government said. The soldiers, who had escaped from an army base where they were doing military service, hijacked a bus with passengers, took it to the domestic terminal of Havana Airport, and seized an empty passenger jet before dawn. They killed one of the hostages, an army lieutenant colonel, when he tried to stop the hijacking, but were then captured by a military unit, the government said in a statement.

Canada

The Royal Canadian Mint unveiled a welcome addition to any piggy bank on Wednesday -- a monster gold coin with a face value of 1 million Canadian dollars that it says is the world's biggest, purest and highest denomination coin. The Canadian mint introduced the mega-coin, which is the size of an extra-large pizza, and weighs in at 100 kilograms alongside the one-ounce gold bullion coins it is mass producing at its Ottawa plant. Originally designed to promote the new one-ounce coins, the colossal coins will be issued in a very limited quantity. While they have a 1 million Canadian dollar face value, the coins are worth twice that amount, given the current gold price of $683.30 per ounce.

Question 6: What is happening in Las Vegas from June 11^th to 13^th?
Question 7: What has Apple introduced today?
Question 8: What happened in Afghanistan's northeastern province of Badakhshan?
Question 9: Which of the following statements is true about the hijacking of a passenger plane in Cuba?
Question10: What is the current worth of the mega coin produced by the Royal Canadian Mint?

点评：

本次5题新闻题本身语言有一定难度，但正如昂立口译考前讲座所介绍的，按照"讲义精华＋做题技巧"两大步骤，且紧扣新闻大意题4题以上，细节题不超过1题的预测，答对3－4题不难。

Q6, 首句原则，无论是the Sporting Goods industry closes in on its first true industry gathering in years还是下一句的... will make its debut June 11^th to 13^th in Las Vegas都明确告诉我们，是美国运动品制造协会即将在拉斯维加斯召开行业博览会。

Q7，首句原则，Apple today introduced Safari 3, the world's fastest and easiest-to-use web browser for Windows PCs and Macs，注意不要为其中专业性较强的术语干扰。

Q8，首句原则，灾难新闻，关键词在考前冲刺讲义上都有。Floods triggered by heavy rain killed 23 people and destroyed scores of houses in Afghanistan's northeastern province of Badakhshan，抓住floods killed ...and destroyed...即可。昂立口译项目部在做听写时也遇到Badakhshan本身的拼写问题，需要查询网络资源，希望考生不要受到局部听力难点的干扰。

Q9，关键词见考前冲刺讲义。紧扣首句Two Cuban soldiers tried to hijack a passenger plane to escape to a foreign country with hostages on Monday, but were arrested after killing an unarmed military officer on board，根据"新闻听首句，首句抓谓语"的技巧，迅速整理出...tried to hijack...to escape..., but were arrested...即可理清思路。

Q10，细节题，较难，需要抓住首句中的关键数字a face value of 1 million Canadian dollar，结合最后一句中的the coins are worth twice that amount，关键在于区分出face value与current worth的含义区别。