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The Last Stand of ISIS; GMC`s Last Cruze

CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR: Hi. I`m Carl Azuz. It`s always great to have you watching CNN 10 as we get you up to speed on world events.

This March 7th, we`re following up on a story we reported on February 12th. It concerns what`s being called the last stand of the ISIS terrorist group

in the Middle Eastern nation of Syria. ISIS, an acronym for Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, once controlled a large amount of territory in those two

countries. But fighting by those nations` militaries, local militias and international teams including a coalition led by the U.S. have almost
 

militia [mɪˋlɪʃə] n. 民兵部队，义勇军；国民军

completely driven ISIS out of its strongholds.

The battle in the eastern Syrian village of Baghouz has been raging since mid-February. There are signs it`s coming to an end. Within the past

couple days, hundreds of ISIS fighters have surrendered to Syrian Democratic Forces, a group supported by the United States, and it`s

fighting ISIS on the ground.

The ISIS terrorists were part of a wave of thousands of people who are fleeing Baghouz when the village was finally recaptured from ISIS. And a

commander says that could happen within a few days. It`ll signal the end of ISIS`s territorial control, which once included 7.5 million people over

an area the size of Portugal.

Still, even with civilians and terrorists flowing out of Baghouz, a United Nations committee estimates that tens of thousands of ISIS members are

still scattered across Iraq and Syria; though, they`re not part of this battle.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The final battle to take that last slice of territory occupied by ISIS. Now, what you`re seeing behind me right now is trucks

with ISIS members, and their families and others who are leaving that encampment, that last encampment. Those are men in the back of that truck,
 

encampment [ɪnˋkæmpmənt] n. 扎营；营地

according to officials at the Syrian -- with the Syrian Democratic Forces, since this morning alone more than 800 people have left that area. That

includes ISIS fighters and others. And anyone left behind is going to be coming -- or has been, in fact, under constant bombardment.

Air strikes, artillery and mortar rounds rained down upon the so-called Islamic State`s miserable realm, reduced to a ragged cluster of tents,
 

artillery [ɑrˋtɪlərɪ] n. 火炮；大炮；炮兵，炮队

mortar [ˋmɔrtɚ] n. 【军】迫击炮

round [raʊnd] n.（子彈）一發

reduce [rɪˋdjus] v. 使变为[（+to）]

wrecked cars and trucks, perhaps just a half square mile. Despite the onslaught, people -- men, it appears -- can be seen walking along the
 

onslaught [ˋɑn͵slɑt] n. 突击，猛攻

tents. The U.S.-baked Syrian Democratic Forces have given up trying to estimate how many people, all fighters they say, are still there. The pounding

pounding [ˋpaʊndɪŋ] n. 彻底击败；连遭轰击

carries on around the clock. There is no rest for the last holdouts.
 

holdout [ˋhold͵aʊt] n. 抵抗；坚持

Midnight, and the earth shakes. Night into day, the onslaught continues. ISIS lived by the bullet and the bomb, and bite the bullet and the bomb it is dying.
 

live by 住在...边

bite the bullet 咬紧牙关应付，硬着头皮应付; 勇敢地面对

And that`s been 800 people since this morning. But now we`re seeing truck after truck of people. It does appear, and many of them, in fact, we saw

from the trucks they`re -- many of men are inside. So it does appear that there are far more, far more civilians inside that little speck of land,
 

speck [spɛk] n.（常用于否定句）一点点，少量[S][（+of）]

that half square mile, than anybody thought.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ: It`s been almost exactly five years since Malaysian Airline`s Flight 370 vanished. And international investigators don`t look like they`re any

closer to solving what`s become one of aviation`s greatest mysteries. Malaysia`s prime minister says his country plans to continue searching for

the plane.

And the families of the missing continue to meet, as they did recently, to support each other and to keep international attention focused on the

disappearance. There were 239 people aboard the flight from Malaysia`s capital to China`s. Those two countries plus Australia spent an estimated

$150 million in their official search for the plane, they didn`t find it. And a second attempt to locate MH370, carried out by a U.S. company called

Ocean Infinity wrapped up last year, also without answers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The missing airliner that disappeared on March the 8th, 2014, after the flight left Kuala Lumpur bound for Beijing then dropped off
 

drop off (逐个地)走开, 消失

radar an hour after takeoff. Later, satellite data showed investigators that the plane had continued to fly for up to eight hours and finally

crashed in the Indian Ocean off the Australian coast. The experts narrowed the crash site to around 120,000 square kilometer search zone. An

extensive an exhaustive effort including a deep ocean search found no sign of the aircraft.

Then over several years, debris confirmed to be from MH370 has washed up along the eastern African coast. Still, the main body section, the fuselage of the plane, remains missing.

fuselage [ˋfjuz!ɪdʒ] n.【空】飞机机身；飞机的骨架

(END VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ten-second trivia. Which of these automobile brands is not manufactured by General Motors: Buick, Chevrolet, Saturn or GMC? This

is a bit tricky. The answer is Saturn. It used to be part of G.M. but it was shutdown in 2010.

AZUZ: The last Chevy Cruze has rolled off the line in a G.M. plant in Lordstown, Ohio. It`s a community located between Cleveland and Pittsburgh

and its economy benefited from having a General Motors plant there. But the company closed the factory this week. Its CEO says Americans aren`t

buying as many sedans like the Cruze. So G.M., like other U.S. car companies, is shifting toward making more trucks and SUVs, which are also

more profitable.

The landscape for American autoworkers has been changing for decades. There`s been increased competition from Japanese carmakers. Some U.S.

companies have outsourced jobs to Mexico. Whether G.M. will use its Lordstown facility to make another vehicle or give it up all together is a

highly important question for both the workers and the local economy itself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It would be a shame for them to shut it down after 52 years. I would love to see my daughter or one of my other kids get in out

there and follow their grandfather`s footsteps, their mother`s footsteps, their uncle`s footsteps.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m out here protesting the pending closure of this plant. God bless you and empower you. And here, these workers that are honking their horns know what`s at stake.
 

pending [ˋpɛndɪŋ] adj. 悬而未决的；未定的；待定的；迫近的

honk [hɔŋk] v. 揿喇叭表示；鸣（汽车喇叭）

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There`s no doubt, G.M. has been really important to the overall economy for the past 40 years. Their potential loss is devastating

to the economy. A bigger impact is associated with the fact that it`s estimated as many as three to four jobs are directly dependent on each job

at an auto manufacturer. That`s the equivalent of a four to five percent increase in unemployment in a relatively short period of time.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As each day goes by, it`s more of a reality check, knowing that we`re almost done. I`ve been wearing that badge for 18 years.

I am in the trim department. I do left-side carpet retainers. We do build quality cars. It is a pride thing.
 

trim [trɪm] n. 装饰，装璜

retainer [rɪˋtenɚ] n.【机】护圈；定位器

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s hard to just get retrained in a new set of skills to be able to work in other industries that -- that are hiring. And

oftentimes, those jobs involve less pay and worse benefits.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don`t have a problem going back to school, although I`m a lot older than -- kind of old. If that`s what it`s going to take,

then so be it. You know, I`ll -- I got to do what I got to do to survive and to -- to support my kids.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ: There are a lot of things that robots are learning to do these days. Take, for instance, watering a plant, watering a cup, giving a fist bump
 

fist bump 挥拳庆祝（胜利或成功）

and making it blowup. One of the more impressive feats of this machine that was recently revealed by a Chinese technology company is its ability

to thread a needle. It`s part of an effort to show that robots are getting more dexterous and more effective at interacting with people.
 

thread [θrɛd] v. 穿（针，线等）

dexterous [ˋdɛkstərəs] adj. 敏捷的；灵巧的；用惯右手的

What comes next? We`re hanging by a thread. If robots become tailors, what will tailors do instead? In the garment world, things aren`t always

as they seem. You just can`t replace an expert`s eye with that of a machine. It`s not keen. It`s too green. It can`t drape the perfect jean.

Artificial sense isn`t fashion sense when sensing how to preen (ph). So if you`re into tailoring and placing perfect stitched, don`t be needled or be

threadened (ph) by something that`s got glitches. Azuz on the loose, sewing things up for CNN 10.