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Russian Strikes In Ukraine; President Biden`s State Of The Union Speech; The Republican Response; An Interstellar Collision.

CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR: I`m Carl Azuz for CNN 10. Grateful to have you watching.

We have clips for you from last night`s State of the Union Address and the response. Those are coming up in less than two minutes.
 

clip [klɪp] n. 片段; 剪下来的东西（如胶片的一段）

But we want to bring you up to speed first on the ongoing war in Ukraine. Experts say Russia appears to be stepping up its attacks in the country,
 

step up 加快; 增加; 促进

increasingly launching air and artillery strikes in Ukrainian cities. Rockets hit near a TV tower and a Holocaust memorial in the Ukrainian
 

artillery [ɑrˋtɪlərɪ] n. 火炮；大炮

capital on Tuesday. Experts say assaults like this increase the danger that more civilians will be killed.

The United Nations says over 100 have lost their lives so far in the conflict though Russia says its high precision strikes have targeted only

Ukrainian military and government facilities.

Earlier this week, a huge Russian convoy, a three-mile-long column of tanks, infantry and fuel trucks, large caliber guns, it was headed toward
 

convoy [ˋkɑnvɔɪ] n. 护送部队

infantry [ˋɪnfəntrɪ] n. 步兵（部队）；步兵团

caliber [ˋkæləbɚ] n. 口径；直径

the Ukrainian capital. British officials said the convoy was less than 20 miles from the city on Tuesday, and making slow progress.

They also said Russian forces had surrounded three other important Ukrainian cities, though the nation`s military was fighting to keep control

of them.

In an interview on Tuesday with CNN and the "Reuters" news agency, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged U.S. President Joe Biden to

deliver a strong and useful message about the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The American leader`s address took place at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Tuesday night. That was 4:00 a.m. Wednesday in Ukraine, the time when shelling and
 

shelling [ˋʃɛlɪŋ] n. 炮击

rocket strikes have been starting in the war.

Highlighting achievements and laying out goals for the months ahead, these are the priorities of U.S. presidents during their annual State of the

Union speeches. In keeping with tradition last night, President Biden`s address was delivered in front of both chambers of Congress, a number of

their guests, members of the U.S. Supreme Court, presidential cabinet members. It was a fuller house than last year when masks and social

distancing were required because of the COVID pandemic. And progress in the fight against that virus was something the president was expected to talk

about.

A $1.9 trillion COVID relief law was considered one of his early accomplishments last year, along with a $1 trillion infrastructure law that

was passed later on.

But President Biden was unable to get enough support to pass a larger social spending bill he wanted or a package to overhaul election laws in
 

overhaul [͵ovɚˋhɔl] v. 拆开检修，大修

America, two of his other priorities. The troubled withdrawal of the U.S. military from Afghanistan was something the president was widely criticized

for and the dramatic rise of inflation over the past year, which hit its highest rate in decades before Russia invaded Ukraine. That`s also become a

major challenge for the Biden administration.

One goal the president met was the fulfillment of a campaign promise to nominate the first Black woman to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Senate will
 

fulfillment [fʊlˋfɪlmənt] n. 完成，履行；实现

review and decide that outcome in the months ahead. And last night was a chance for him to shore up support for his vision for America`s future.
 

shore up 支撑；支持

vision [ˋvɪʒən] n. 远见卓识

Here are some highlights of what the president had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

JOSEPH R. BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: My fellow Americans. Last year, COVID-19 kept us apart. This year we`re finally

together again.

Tonight --

(APPLAUSE)

Tonight, we meet as Democrats, Republicans, Independents, but most importantly as Americans.

Six days ago, Russia`s Vladimir Putin sought to shake the very foundations of the free world, thinking he could make it bend to his menacing ways. But
 

bend [bɛnd] v. 屈从

menacing [ˋmɛnɪsɪŋ] adj. 威胁的；险恶的

he badly miscalculated. The Russian economy is reeling and Putin alone is the one to blame.
 

reel [ril] v. 使摇晃

Together with our allies, we`re providing support to the Ukrainians in their fight for freedom -- military assistance, economic assistance,

humanitarian assistance. We`re giving more than a billion dollars of direct assistance Ukraine and will continue to aid Ukrainian people as they defend

their country and help ease their suffering.

(APPLAUSE)

But let me be clear our forces are not engaged and will not engage in the conflict with Russian forces in Ukraine. Our forces are not going to Europe

to fight Ukraine, but to defend our NATO allies in the event that Putin decides to keep moving west.

We created jobs, lots of jobs. In fact, our economy created over 6.5 million new jobs just last year -- more jobs in one year than ever before

in the history of the United States of America. And with all the bright spots in our economy, record job growth higher wages, too many families are
 

bright spot 亮点, 高兴的事

struggling to keep up with their bills. Inflation is robbing them of gains they thought otherwise they would be able to feel. I get it.
 

rob [rɑb] v. 使丧失[（+of）]

And tonight, I`m announcing that this year we will start fixing over 65,000 miles of highway and 1,500 bridges in disrepair.
 

disrepair [͵dɪsrɪˋpɛr] n. 失修；破损；荒废

(APPLAUSE)

When we use taxpayers` dollars to rebuild America, we`re going to do it by buying America.

(APPLAUSE)

Buy American products, support American jobs.

For more than two years, COVID has impacted every decision in our lives and the life of this nation and I know you`re tired, frustrated.

Because of the progress we`ve made, because of your resilience and the tools that we have been provided by this Congress, tonight, I can say we`re

moving forward safely back to more normal routines.

And thanks to the progress we`ve made in the past year, COVID no longer need control our lives. I can`t promise a new variant won`t come, but I can

-- I can promise you, we`ll do everything within our power to be ready if it does.

So, on this night, on our 245th year as a nation, I`ve come to report on the state of the nation, the state of the Union, and my report is this: The

state of the Union is strong because you, the American people, are strong.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ: The opposing political party`s response is another tradition associated with the State of the Union Address. This practice started in

the 1960s. It`s a speech given by Democrats when there`s a Republican president and Republicans when there`s a Democratic president.

So last night, Republican Governor Kim Reynolds of Iowa gave the rebuttal after President Biden`s speech concluded. Reynolds became Iowa`s first
 

rebuttal [rɪˋbʌt!] n. 举反例；反驳；抗辩

female governor in 2018.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. KIM REYNOLDS (R-IA): We`re now one year into him presidency and instead of moving America forward, it feels like President Biden and his

party have sent us back in time to the late `70s and early `80s when runaway inflation was hammering families, a violent crime wave was crashing
 

runaway [ˋrʌnə͵we] adj. 控制不住的；发展迅猛的；（物价）飞涨的

hammer [ˋhæmɚ] v. 将（对手）彻底击败

our cities, and the Soviet Army was trying to redraw the world map.

Now all Americans must stand united in solidarity with the brave people of Ukraine as they courageously defend their country against Putin`s tyranny
 

solidarity [͵sɑləˋdærətɪ] n. 团结；团结一致

tyranny [ˋtɪrənɪ] n. 暴政；专制

as they fight for their freedom.

But we shouldn`t ignore what happened in the run-up to Putin`s invasion. Waiving sanctions on Russian pipelines, while eliminating oil production
 

run-up 提高; 升起；匆匆或不坚实地竖起

waive [wev] v. 放弃；撤回；不强求执行（规则等）；搁置；推迟

here at home. Focusing on political correctness rather than military readiness. Reacting to world events instead of driving them.

Americans are tired of a political class trying to remake this country into a place where an elite few tell everyone else what they can and cannot say,

what they can and cannot believe.

You`ve shown that the soul of America isn`t about who lives in the White House. It`s men and women like you in every corner of this nation, who are

willing to step up and take responsibility for your communities, for your neighbors, and ultimately for yourselves.

By that most important measure, at least, the state of our Union is indeed strong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

The prefix NGC, which stands for New General Catalog, is used to organize what?
 

prefix [priˋfɪks] n.【文】字首，前缀

Library books, elements, feature films, or galaxies?

Since the 1700s, the New General Catalog has organized space objects like galaxies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ: So, when NASA says that NGC 2444 and NGC 2445 are engaged in a cosmic tug of war, it means that scientists believe the two galaxies are

interacting, possibly passing through each other and they think the galaxy on the left is pulling gas from the one on the right forming this distorted

triangle of new stars.

Researchers say studying colorized head-on collisions like this helps them better understand how stars and galaxies form in rings.

If galaxies are going to risk playing games, cosmic tug-of-war kind of boggles the mind. It scrabbles the imagination. They need to get a clue

before they tic-tac-toetally go bonkers and wind up in some sorry, troubled, trivial pursuit of a Star Wars monopoly from which they can`t get

backgammon. Board game puns, you know they`re part cheesy.

I`m Carl Azuz.

Bath County High School is watching today from Owingsville, Kentucky. Thank you for your request on our YouTube channel. The only place we look for

your shout-out schools.

END