[page]中英文本[/page]

The end of winter brought a huge snowstorm to one U.S. state, but probably not a state you associate with snow. That story's coming up. I'm Carl Azuz. This is CNN Student News.

First up, voters are casting ballots in Illinois today as that state holds its Republican presidential primary. A lot of experts are describing this as a showdown between former

Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, the front-runner, and former Senator Rick Santorum.

 Governor Romney just enjoyed a win in Puerto Rico on Sunday. He got more than 80 percent of the vote in the primary there, so he won all of Puerto Rico's 20 delegates.

 There are 54 delegates up for grabs in Illinois today, and it takes 1,144 delegates to win the Republican presidential nomination. Here's how things stack up right now.

 The latest estimates from CNN shows Governor Romney with 519 delegates. Senator Santorum has 239, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has 138 and CNN estimates U.S.

Representative Ron Paul has 69 delegates.

 One thing all the candidates, including the president, have been talking about recently -- gas prices. If you or your parents drive, you know they are on the way up. The national average price for a gallon of gasoline has been rising every day for more than a week now.

It's currently $3.84. That's the average. It's actually more expensive in some places, and cheaper in others, because of the cost of oil, taxes and distribution. The record price was $4.11 in July of 2008.

Rick Vincent now show us how gas prices are fueling political fire.

Prices at the pump climbed steadily beginning March 9th after a few days of slight declines. They rose on the back of soaring oil prices. President Obama put a spotlight on the

issue in his weekly address. He outlined his energy policy and knocked Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich for campaigning on a promise of $2.50 gas.

It's easy to promise a quick fix when it comes to gas prices. There just isn't one. Anyone who tells you otherwise, any career politician who promises some three-point plan for $2 gas, they're not looking for a solution. They're just looking for your vote.

Campaigning over the weekend, Rick Santorum said high gas prices are leading to inflation, and he says it's only going to get worse.

It's going to have a ripple effect if $4, and in some places now, $5 a gallon gasoline, and they're talking $5 and maybe even $6 in some areas.

Right now, the highest price nationally is in Hawaii at an average of $4.48 a gallon.

Mitt Romney said the president is not the right person to tackle such problems.

The president learned about the economy by reading about it

Not by living it. Twenty-five years in business taught me how jobs come and how they go.

I'm Rick Vincent reporting.

Today's Shoutout goes out to Coach Streiffert's economics classes at Waccamaw High School in Pawleys Island, South Carolina.

What is the state nickname of Arizona? Here we go. Is it the Land of Enchantment, Desert State, Last Frontier or Grand Canyon State? You've got three seconds, now go.

Arizona gets its nickname from its most famous natural feature, the Grand Canyon. That's your answer, and that's your Shoutout.

You might think of Arizona as the Desert State. Its usually warm weather is a big draw for tourists. Not this past weekend, though. While people all over the central and eastern

U.S. were enjoying early spring temperatures.

Parts of Arizona were dealing with this: massive snowstorms. The city of Flagstaff got 10-14 inches of snow over the weekend. Officials were worried about dangerous driving

conditions, especially in some of Arizona's mountain regions.

Around 180 miles of one major interstate was shut down because of the weather. One resident talked about the major shift in temperature, saying, quote, "The other day it was 65

degrees. Next day it's snowing. It's crazy."[qh]冬天结束的一场巨大暴风雪袭击了美国的一个州,但是可能不是一个你联想起雪的州。我们即将为你带来那个故事。我是卡尔·阿祖兹。这里是CNN学生新闻。
首先, 今天在伊利诺斯州的初选中选民开始投票，很多专家称这是领跑者前麻萨诸塞州州长米特·罗姆尼和前参议员里克·桑托姆之间的一决雌雄。
罗姆尼州长刚刚享受星期天在波多黎各的一场胜利。他得到80%以上的选票,所以他赢得了波多黎各所有的20名代表。
共有54代表参与了今天在伊利诺斯州的竞争,需要1144名代表赢得共和党的总统候选人竞争。现在为您解析选战的来龙去脉。
CNN最新估计显示罗姆尼州长手中握有519名代表。参议员桑托姆有239人,前白宫发言人纽特·金里奇估计有138名代表，而美国代表罗恩·保罗拥有69名代表。
有一件事几乎所有候选人,包括总统,最近一直都在谈论——那就是油价。如果你或你的父母开车,你会清楚油价一直在升高。一个多星期内每一天全国平均价格一直在上涨。
目前价格3.84美元。那是平均水平。其实是在某些地方更昂贵,而且有的地方更便宜,因为油的成本、税收及分布。历史记录2008年7月的价格为4.11美元。
瑞克·文森特现在向我们报道汽油价格如何加速燃烧政治的火焰。
几天略有下降后价格从3月9日稳步攀升。他们纷纷对飚升的油价各抒己见。奥巴马总统在他每周的演讲中把这个问题列为焦点。他概述了他的能源政策，共和党总统候选人提名的纽特·金里奇承诺2.50美元汽油价格。
很容易承诺油价变革。而且不只一种。任何人告诉你,任何职业政治家承诺计划一些2美元的气体,他们并不是要寻找解决办法。他们不过是在要你的选票。
竞选活动在周末,里克·桑托姆称高油价导致通货膨胀,他说这只会变得更糟。
如果4美元的话需要有一个连锁效应,在一些地方,现在的5美元一加仑汽油，他们谈论5美元,甚至在某些地区是6美元。
现在, 全国平均的最高价格是在夏威夷的每加仑4.48美元。
米特·罗姆尼称总统并不适合来解决这样的问题。
总统通过阅读了解经济，而不是生活。经商的25年教会我工作的来来去去。
瑞克·文森特报道。
今天的大喊答题节目环节由南卡罗莱那州普雷斯岛瓦卡姆高中斯特雷福特的经济学班级提出。
亚利桑那州的暱称是什么?现在我们可以开始了。是魔法土地、沙漠之州,最后的边境或大峡谷之州?你有三秒钟时间,3,2,1，现在揭晓答案。
亚利桑那州得到它的昵称最著名的自然环境特征出发,大峡谷。那是你的答案,那就是你Shoutout。
你可能认为亚利桑纳州是沙漠之州。它通常有很温暖的天气并吸引观光客。不过刚过去的周末美国中部和东部的人们享受着早春气温。
亚利桑那州正在解决大规模的暴风雪问题。城市佛拉格斯塔夫这周末的雪有10至14英寸。官员们担心危险的驾驶条件,尤其是亚利桑纳州一些山区。
180英里长的一个主要州际公路由于天气问题而被关闭。一个居民谈到主要温度改变,他说道:“那天是65度。第二天正在下雪。这太疯狂了。”
注：听力文本来源于普特
可可原创，未经许可请勿转载
[page]词语解释[/page]
1. showdown n. 摊牌，最后的胜负对决

If the old man wanted a showdown, he himself was quite willing to have it, here and now.
 如果老头子想摊牌的话，他很愿在此时此地接受。

2. estimate v. 估计，估价

He is highly estimated among his colleagues.
同事们对他的评价很高。
3. candidate n. 候选人，应试者

The defeated candidate demanded a recount.
落选的候选人要求重新计算选票。

4. soar v. 翱翔，高飞
 
Set the bird's wings with gold and it will never again soar in the sky.
鸟翼上系上了黄金，这鸟便永不能再在天上翱翔了。
5. solution n. 解决办法，解答

The analysis showed a few grains of arsenic in the solution.
分析显示溶液中有几格令的砷。