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Today's Headline News
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① Presidential transition team set forth a plan under which people can own apartments after paying only 51 percent of the housing price from the second half of the year.
* set forth: 밝히다, 설명하다
② A consensus that the struggling U.S. economy needs rescue emerged on Thursday as the powerful Federal Reserve chairman backed the idea and President Bush urged a quick and temporary fiscal package.
③ The government requested providers of public utility services to freeze their service charges in the first half of the year as an effort to help curb rising consumer prices.
* freeze: 얼다, 얼리다 (문맥에서) 동결하다
* curb: 억제하다, 조절하다
④ Oil giant Total was ordered to pay a 375,000 euro fine after a Paris court found the company responsible for one of Europe's worst-ever oil disasters in 1999.
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Today's News Articles
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Freedom falls behind in 2007
In its annual human rights report, the independent Freedom House organization announced on Wednesday that overall political freedom around the world took a step backwards in the last year. The results, which the organization's director of research called "profoundly disturbing," indicate reversals in political rights and civil liberties in one-fifth of the world's countries, including nations like Russia and Pakistan. The report noted that governments in countries like Russia and China "are trying to harness the power of the market place while maintaining closed political systems." Many got their hopes up that the upcoming 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing would trigger freedom reforms in China. However, in many cases the reverse has happened: the Chinese government has tightened up on political protest and forcibly moved millions from their homes to make room for Olympic facilities.
* take a step backwards: 후진하다, 후퇴하다
= to ebb
* profoundly: 깊이, 심각하게
(profound: originating far down)
= deeply, seriously
* to harness the power of: ~의 힘을 이용하다
(harness: 마국를 채우다, 이용하다)
= to utilize, to exploit
* to get one's hopes up: (희망적으로) 기대하다
= to keep one's fingers crossed
* to trigger: 발사하다, 일을 유발하다
= to spur, to initiate
Time capsule found in Mexican church
Researchers reported on Tuesday that workers restoring Mexico City's Metropolitan Cathedral made a big-time find last October. A time capsule dating back to 1791 was found encapsulated in stone on top of the church's 60-meter high southern bell tower. The capsule stood the test of time for 217 years and contained religious artifacts, coins, and parchments, which have since been removed from the capsule and preserved. Among the artifacts were a wax case that had been blessed by the Pope and an engraving of Saint Barbara, both of which were to protect the church. The church could have used all the protection it could get, as time has not been kind to it. It has endured damage from floods, fights, and sinking soil under its foundation.
* big-time: 대단한, (대박)
반대말: small-time
= high-profile, major
* time-capsule: container for preserving historical records to be discovered at some future time.
*stand the test of time: 오랫동안 변함없이 지속되다
= marked in the pages of history
* artifacts: 인공물, 유물
an object produced or shaped by human craft, especially a tool, or ornament of archaeological or historical interest.
* time has not been kind: 세월은 가혹했다
= it went through tough times
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Today's Closing Tip
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The world is my oyster.
- 내 세상이야!