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U.S. House Passes A Health Care Plan; Trump Signs a New Executive Order; Britain`s Prince Phillip Announces Retirement from Public Life

CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR: We tend to favor the fifth day of the workweek with Saturday fast approaching. In other words, Fridays are awesome!

 

workweek [ˋwɝk͵wik] n. 一星期工作时间

I`m Carl Azuz for CNN 10. Glad to have you watching the Cinco de Mayo.

We`re starting in Washington, D.C. Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act also

 

repeal [rɪˋpil] v. 撤销（决议等）；废除（法令等）；取消

known as Obamacare. The health reform law was considered former President Barack Obama`s biggest domestic achievement. Yesterday`s House vote to

repeal is considered a major victor for President Donald Trump.

Since Obamacare was signed into law in 2010, Republicans have tried to get it repealed. Yesterday, with the House vote of 217-213, they took a step

closer to getting that done. Their plan is called the American Health Care Act. And while President Trump supports it, it still has to be approved by

the Senate before it can reach his desk for signature. Though the president says he`s confident it will, Senate Democrats are demanding and

promising it will be defeated.

Health care in America is a controversial and costly subject. Yesterday`s vote was largely along party lines, with all Democrats and a handful of

Republicans voting against it. When Obamacare was passed in 2010, all Republicans and a handful of Democrats voted against it.

In the midterm elections that followed, Democrats lost control of the House. In the next midterms, they`re predicting Republicans will lose

control of the House. No matter what happened, debate over health care isn`t going anywhere, especially with the Senate vote ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ (voice-over): Ten-second trivia:

Where in the U.S. Constitution would you find the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause?

 

Establishment Clause 政教分离条款; 指美国宪法第一条修正案，该款规定：「国会不得制定关于确立某种宗教为国教或禁止自由信仰宗教的法律。」它禁止联邦或州政府设立教堂、通过扶持宗教的法律、授予某一宗教特权或强制公民信仰或不信仰某一宗教。

Free Exercise Clause 宗教活动自由条款; 美国宪法第一条修正案规定，政府不得干涉人们的宗教或宗教信仰形式

The Preamble, Article I, Section 2, Amendment I or Amendment IV?

The First Amendment contains these clauses in the words "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free

exercise thereof."

 

thereof [ðɛrˋɑv] adv. 关于那

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ: Yesterday, on the National Day of Prayer, President Trump signed a new executive order. It`s named Promoting Free Speech and Religious

Liberty. The president says, under his administration, free speech does end at the steps of a cathedral, a synagogue, or any other house of worship.

 

cathedral [kəˋθidrəl] n. 大教堂

synagogue [ˋsɪnəgɔg] n. 犹太教堂

And what his executive order could do is give churches and other religious organizations more flexibility to endorse or oppose political candidates.

That`s been banned by a law called the Johnson Amendment since 1954, but it hasn`t been enforced that much.

Another part of the executive order could allow businesses to avoid providing certain health services to their employees, if the companies

object to doing it for religious reasons.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We will not allow people of faith to be targeted, bullied, or silenced anymore.

And we will never ever stand for religious discrimination, never ever.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ: Some religious leaders who oppose the order say political endorsements shouldn`t be made from the pulpit. They say it could turn

 

pulpit [ˋpʊlpɪt] n. 讲道坛

religious groups into political organizations.

And the American Civil Liberties Union plans to sue the Trump administration. It says the executive order would allow companies to use

religion to discriminate.

Next, a report concerning the South China Sea. Its disputed territory almost a third of the entire world`s trade passes through here. The waters

are believed to cover large oil and gas deposits and several countries across Southeast Asia say the territory should be theirs. But China has

been the most aggressive about claiming it. That`s created a challenge for the U.S.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Trump administration wants to get along with China, and that has led to a major change for U.S. policy in the South China Sea for now.

 

get along 和睦相处

During the Obama administration, the U.S. Navy occasionally sailed within 12 nautical miles of Chinese made artificial islands in the South China

 

nautical [ˋnɔtək!] adj. 海上的；船员的；船舶的；航海的

Sea. The so-called Freedom of Navigation Operations were designed to challenge the Chinese territorial claims as illegitimate. Each operation prompted an angry response from Beijing, which argues these islands are legal.
 

prompt [prɑmpt] v. 引起，激起

In the last 18 months, there were three such operations, all under President Obama. A senior U.S. defense official told CNN the military requested to conduct another after President Trump took office,

 

request [rɪˋkwɛst] v. 要求，请求；请求给予

but the request was denied, as first reported by "The New York Times". The

official said several reasons were behind the lack of action, including an effort inside the Pentagon to turn down the temperature of operations that

 

turn down 关小, 调低

could be viewed as antagonizing China or North Korea. That official also said there will be a broader review of all Freedom of Navigation exercises.

 

antagonize [ænˋtægə͵naɪz] v. 引起…的反感; 引起…的敌意

The change in policy is a stark departure for the administration, but not the first such about-face. During his confirmation hearings, Secretary of

 

stark [stɑrk] adj. 完全的，十足的

about-face [əˋbaʊt͵fes] n.（立场、观点等的）彻底改变；变卦

State Rex Tillerson even proposed preventing the Chinese from accessing the artificial islands.

REX TILLERSON, SECRETARY OF STATE: In my view, building islands and then putting military assets on those islands is akin to Russia`s taking of Crimea.

RIVERS (on camera): The change in policy is a part of a number of things that President Trump promised to do in regards to China, but hasn`t so far.

He has backed off on threats over things like currency manipulation, tariffs on Chinese imports and on reevaluating the One China policy. It`s

 

back off 放弃

a new approach that appears to center on the biggest joint issue of them all, North Korea.

TRUMP: We have a very big problem in North Korea. And as I said, I really think that China is going to try very hard and has already started.

RIVERS (voice-over): The president wants to prod China to use its economic influence to force Pyongyang to end its nuclear weapons program. The

 

prod [prɑd] v. 刺激；敦促；惹起

administration seems to believe that provoking the Chinese on issues like South China Sea island building or perceived unfair trade practices might

 

provoke [prəˋvok] v. 煽动；激怒；激起

make that harder. So, for now, it looks like they`re on the back burner, while the Chinese continue to militarize those artificial islands and

 

on the back burner 先搁置一边； If something is on the back burner, it is temporarily not being dealt with or considered, especially because it is not urgent or important

increase their strategic capabilities far beyond its shores.

As of now, the United States won`t challenge them.

Matt Rivers, CNN, Beijing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: For decades, Philip, duke of Edinburgh, has shared the public life of Britain`s Queen Elizabeth II. They were married in 1947, and since

February 6th, 1952 when she ascended the throne, the prince has participated in hundreds of public events with her each year. But an

announcement was made yesterday that the public see a lot less of the prince.

CNN`s Max Foster explains why from outside Buckingham Palace in London.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In the early hours of the morning, news leaked of an emergency meeting here at Buckingham Palace. It

turns out that senior staff were called in for a special announcement. That announcement was in effect that Prince Philip is stepping back from

public life.

He`s not unwell, but he is about to turn 96 years old and he`s made his own decision, we`re told. He just pretty much doesn`t want to do it anymore.

 

unwell [ʌnˋwɛl] adj. 不舒服的，有病的

So, the queen will carry on with her role in public life. We just won`t see Prince Philip alongside her in a way that we used to. Occasionally,

he`ll turn up in public. It means that other members of the royal family will have to step up.

We know that Prince William and the duchess of Cambridge are moving down here to London. We`ll see more of them. We`ll see more Prince Charles as

well.

So, this is part of a gradual transition process. Buckingham Palace stage-managing how things move on.

 

stage-managing 舞台监督；幕后监督

The next king, Prince Charles, will have a higher presence. Prince Philip will have almost no presence. And the queen probably will have a bit of a

smaller presence as well.

He`ll be missed in public life. He`s known for his gaffes. He`s said some pretty extraordinary things over the years. But clearly, he wants to sit back. It`s time for him to take a backseat and we`re not going to see him in public life. And that`s pretty big moment in British and royal history.

 

gaffe [gæf] n.【法】失礼，失态（尤指社交、外交上的出丑）

sit back 坐下来休息; 不采取行动


From Buckingham Palace, I`m Max Foster.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: A shop in Los Angeles is throwing shade on ice cream. Behold the creation of Little Damage ice cream shop in Los Angeles, California. It

 

throw shade on 使…黯然失色

may look like a far cry from the nerds and worms with caramel and sprinkle sundae you enjoyed as a little kid and it tastes like one, too.

 

a far cry from【口】与...大不相同

caramel [ˋkærəm!] n.（供食物著色用的）焦糖

sprinkle [ˋsprɪŋk!] n. 撒在面上的屑状物

It`s almond charcoal flavored, as in activated charcoal. That`s what gives it its dark color. It`s served on a moody-looking waffle cone, and

 

almond [ˋɑmənd] n. 杏仁

moody [ˋmudɪ] adj. 闷闷不乐的，郁郁寡欢的

customers say it tastes pretty good.

Sure, it may look kind of charred, but as long as it`s served coal, it`s anything but almundane. And you can see easily why some folks just got to

 

charred [tʃɑrd] adj. 烧黑了的

have more.

I`m Carl Azuz, and Haagen-Dazs all folks for CNN 10.

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