CNN news 2011-02-16 加文本

1）And the Iranian government slowed down the internet in what seems like an attempt to limit how much information gets out. 伊朗政府降低了国内网速，好像是要限制类似消息外泄。

get out这里指消息的泄露。例如：
If the news gets out, there'll be trouble.
如果消息泄漏出去,就会有麻烦。

in an attempt to do…是固定搭配，意为“试图做某事，尝试做某事，企图做某事”，也可说in an attempt at doing…。例如：
They made no attempt to escape/at escaping. 他们并未图谋逃跑.
* My early attempts at learning to drive were unsuccessful. 我曾经几次打算学开车, 却都没有学成.
* They failed in all their attempts to climb the mountain. 他们攀登那座山的一切尝试都失败了.

2）This is a north African nation that's home to nearly 35 million people. 这是个拥有将近3500万人口北非国家。

be home to是固定搭配，意为“是……所在地”，这里表示人口。