CNN news 2011-02-12 加文本

1) There is no question that we have made many important strides in securing our country from terrorism since 9/11, but the threat continues to evolve and in some ways the threat today may be at its most heightened state since the attacks nearly 10 years ago. 毫无疑问，自“9．11”事件后，我们已经在反恐怖主义、保证国家安全方面取得重大进展，但恐怖主义的威胁也继续深化，甚至在某种程度上已达到空前严峻的程度。

make strides in sth. 在某事上取得重大进展
in some ways 在某些方面；在某种程度上
most heightened state  最严重的程度

2）There's hippos hanging out at a lake in Kenya, where a female apparently felt a boat of tourists was getting just a little too close. 肯尼亚一条河里有很多河马游动，当时正好一名女游客从船上掉进水里，离河马特别近。

hang out 游荡，闲逛。例如：

Where does he hang out these days?
他这些日子里都在什么地方来着？

3）Check her out. 我们来看看。

check sth. out相当于check up on sth.，表示“检查某物”。例如：

The police are checking up on him.
警方正在调查他。