1. Efforts to reach six Utah coal miners trapped more than 1500 feet underground will take at least three days. That's according to one of the mine's owners who says rescuers aren't sure the men survived the cave-in. There has been no word from them since they became trapped yesterday.

2. Hot, humid air is blanketing much of the nation this week. Officials have declared a heat emergency in parts of Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. The heat index topped 100 degrees in Tennessee where officials predict the hot weather will continue through Thursday.

3. In court today the two men charged in the Connecticut home invasion that left a mother and her two daughters dead. Joshua Komisarjevsky and Steven Hayes didn't enter pleas and uttered only a "yes" or a "no" to questions. Prosecutors will seek the death penalty if the men are convicted.

4. The famously liberal Dutch are heading towards the right. They are campaigning to ban "magic" mushrooms sold legally as long as they are fresh. The crackdown comes after the death of a 17-year-old French girl who ate the psychedelic fungi and jumped from a building.

WORDS IN THE NEWS


1. word: [singular, U]
a piece of news or a message

2. humid: adj
used to talk about the weather or the air when it is slightly wet and makes you feel uncomfortable

3. blanket: verb
to cover something with a thick layer

4. index: noun
a standard by which the level of something can be judged or measured

5. top: verb
to be higher than a particular amount

6. plea: noun
a statement by someone in a court of law saying whether they are guilty or not

7. utter: verb
to say something

8. crackdown: noun
action that is taken to deal more strictly with crime, a problem, protests etc

9. psychedelic: adj
致幻的，产生迷幻效果的

10. fungi: noun
fungus的复数形式，真菌