NPR 2008-04-18

Pope Benedict XVI has met privately¹ with victims of clergy² sex abuse. The Vatican confirming the closed-door meeting followed today's open-air Mass at Washington's new nationals baseball stadium. The pontiff is said to have told the small group of victims he would pray for them and their families. Speaking to tens of thousands of worshipers of the Mass, the Pope again raised the issue of clergy sex abuse scandal, saying words are inadequate³ to detail the suffering of the victims. "No words of mine could describe the pain and harm inflicted⁴ by such abuse; it is important that those who have suffered be given loving pastoral attention. " Pope is also meeting with Catholic educators and with representatives of other religious faiths today. Tomorrow the pontiff travels to New York where he will address the United Nations General Assembly.

 President Bush and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown have met at the White House today where they discussed a variety of topics including terrorism, the global economy and the threat posed by Iran. On that subject both men agreed Iran has not been telling the truth about its nuclear program. President Bush said anyone who believes Tehran's nuclear enrichment program would not be utilized⁵ for military purposes is naive⁶. Brown pledged to extend sanctions against Iran wherever possible. "I make no apology for saying that we will extend sanctions where possible on Iran. Iran is in breach⁷ of a Non-Proliferation Treaty. Iran has not told the truth to the international community about what its plans are. " Brown is making a second trip to the US since becoming prime minister. He and his wife Sarah will be at the White House for a private dinner tonight.

The American Civil Liberties Union went to a court today to force the Defense⁸ Department to release all records relating to deaths and suicide attempts at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. NPR's Nina Totenberg reports.

 There have been five deaths at Guantanamo, four of them apparent suicides and 41 more reported suicide attempts. In 2006, the camp commander Admiral Harry⁹ Harris disparaged¹⁰ the suicides as "Not an act of desperation, but an act of asymmetrical¹¹ warfare¹² against us. " And today the Defense Department has refused to release documents about the deaths including suicide notes. Nearly a year after first filing a Freedom of Information Act request, the ACLU today filed a suit seeking to force release of the material. The lawsuit¹³ comes the same day that the government under pressure from the ACLU did release documents relating to interrogation tactics in Afghanistan. An investigation¹⁴ followed the death of an Afghan detainee after 18 days in custody¹⁵. The investigation concluded that detainees had been assaulted, that there had been misconduct, but the detainees had not been abused. Nina Totenberg, NPR News, Washington.

 On Wall Street the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained a point to close at 12, 620 today; the NASDAQ was down 8 points; the S&P 500 gained a fraction to close at 1365.

This is NPR.

A suicide bombing in a mosque¹⁶ in southwest Afghanistan is reported to have claimed the lives of at least 16 people today. According to the provincial¹⁷ governor, the bomber¹⁸ attacked a group of men who were preparing for evening prayers in a bazaar¹⁹. He says the district police chief and a border reserve police commander were among the dead. Dozens of others were reportedly wounded in the assault. Officials say they expect the death toll²⁰ may rise.

More than 3, 500 present and former students of Connecticut State University system had their personal information exposed in a data theft. State officials say it took the contractor²¹ involved nearly a month to report the theft of the laptop containing the information. From member station WNPR Harriet Jones reports.

 The laptop belonged to an employee of a company that provides software to the university system. It was stolen in mid-March, but university officials weren't notified until April 9th. It contained the names and social security numbers of thousands of students as well as other personal information. Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal says he wants the company to provide two years of credit monitoring for all affected²² students as well as insurance for any victim of identity theft. "This information is like cash; it literately²³ is a highly valuable asset and we should provide same safeguard and potential penalty for deterring²⁴ any careless or incautious use of this information. " There has been no indication as yet that any of the information has been used illegally. For NPR News, I am Harriet Jones in Harvard.

A forward-looking gauge²⁵ of economic activity was up slightly. The Conference Board says its index of leading economic indicators²⁶ rose a tenth of a percent. The index is designed to predict the direction of the economy 3 to 6 months down the road.

1 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

2 clergy   

n.[总称]牧师，神职人员

参考例句：

• I could heartily wish that more of our country clergy would follow this example.我衷心希望，我国有更多的牧师效法这个榜样。
• All the local clergy attended the ceremony.当地所有的牧师出席了仪式。

3 inadequate   

adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的

参考例句：

• The supply is inadequate to meet the demand.供不应求。
• She was inadequate to the demands that were made on her.她还无力满足对她提出的各项要求。

4 inflicted   

把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They inflicted a humiliating defeat on the home team. 他们使主队吃了一场很没面子的败仗。
• Zoya heroically bore the torture that the Fascists inflicted upon her. 卓娅英勇地承受法西斯匪徒加在她身上的酷刑。

5 utilized   

v.利用，使用( utilize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• In the19th century waterpower was widely utilized to generate electricity. 在19世纪人们大规模使用水力来发电。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The empty building can be utilized for city storage. 可以利用那栋空建筑物作城市的仓库。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 naive   

adj.幼稚的，轻信的；天真的

参考例句：

• It's naive of you to believe he'll do what he says.相信他会言行一致，你未免太单纯了。
• Don't be naive.The matter is not so simple.你别傻乎乎的。事情没有那么简单。

7 breach   

n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破

参考例句：

• We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
• He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。

8 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

9 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

10 disparaged   

v.轻视( disparage的过去式和过去分词 )；贬低；批评；非难

参考例句：

• French-Canadian fur trappers and Sioux disparaged such country as "bad lands. " 法语的加拿大毛皮捕兽器和苏人的贬低国家作为“坏土地”。 来自互联网
• She disparaged her student's efforts. 她轻视她的学生做出的努力。 来自互联网

11 asymmetrical   

adj.不均匀的，不对称的

参考例句：

• Most people's faces are asymmetrical.多数人的脸并不对称。
• Folds may be gentle and symmetrical,or sharp and asymmetrical.褶皱可以是平缓而对称的，也可以是陡峭而非对称的。

12 warfare   

n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突

参考例句：

• He addressed the audience on the subject of atomic warfare.他向听众演讲有关原子战争的问题。
• Their struggle consists mainly in peasant guerrilla warfare.他们的斗争主要是农民游击战。

13 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

14 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

15 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

16 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。

17 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

18 bomber   

n.轰炸机，投弹手，投掷炸弹者

参考例句：

• He flew a bomber during the war.他在战时驾驶轰炸机。
• Detectives hunting the London bombers will be keen to interview him.追查伦敦爆炸案凶犯的侦探们急于对他进行讯问。

19 bazaar   

n.集市，商店集中区

参考例句：

• Chickens,goats and rabbits were offered for barter at the bazaar.在集市上，鸡、山羊和兔子被摆出来作物物交换之用。
• We bargained for a beautiful rug in the bazaar.我们在集市通过讨价还价买到了一条很漂亮的地毯。

20 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

21 contractor   

n.订约人，承包人，收缩肌

参考例句：

• The Tokyo contractor was asked to kick $ 6000 back as commission.那个东京的承包商被要求退还6000美元作为佣金。
• The style of house the contractor builds depends partly on the lay of the land.承包商所建房屋的式样，有几分要看地势而定。

22 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

23 literately   

有读写能力的； 有文化修养的

参考例句：

• Only a few of the nation's peasants are literate. 这个国家的农民中只有少数人能识字。
• He is the most literate of the whole family. 他是全家最有文化的一个。

24 deterring   

v.阻止，制止( deter的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• However, investors say are a number of issues deterring business. 然而，投资者表示，有很多问题让他们却步。 来自互联网
• It's an effective way of deterring potential does online, the logic goes. 逻辑上这是抑制潜在线上威胁的有效方法。 来自互联网

25 gauge   

v.精确计量；估计；n.标准度量；计量器

参考例句：

• Can you gauge what her reaction is likely to be?你能揣测她的反应可能是什么吗？
• It's difficult to gauge one's character.要判断一个人的品格是很困难的。

26 indicators   

（仪器上显示温度、压力、耗油量等的）指针( indicator的名词复数 )； 指示物； （车辆上的）转弯指示灯； 指示信号

参考例句：

• The economic indicators are better than expected. 经济指标比预期的好。
• It is still difficult to develop indicators for many concepts used in social science. 为社会科学领域的许多概念确立一个指标仍然很难。