NPR 2008-05-11

It’s been a week since a cyclone¹ struck Myanmar, killing² an estimated 100,000 people and leaving more than a million survivors³ in need. The UN’s World Food Program says that it will resume aid flights today despite the seizure⁴ of food shipments by the military junta⁵ there. Meanwhile, the United Nations has launched a 187-million-dollar appeal for international aid to help Myanmar. Linda Fasulo has more from New York.

 UN Emergency Relief Coordinator⁶ John Holmes said the funding would help ten UN organizations and nine NGOs address the needs of a minimum of 1.5 million persons for at least three months. Most of the appeal would be spent on providing food, water, sanitation⁷, logistics, health and shelter. Meanwhile, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon calls on Myanmar’s military leaders to allow aid and humanitarian⁸ workers into the country without hindrance⁹, stressing that their people’s survival is at stake. The United States has been given the green light by Myanmar to send in relief flights this Monday. But so far, a US aid team has not been granted visas to enter the country. For NPR News, I’m Linda Fasulo in New York.

 The military leaders of Myanmar are going ahead today with a referendum on a new constitution that would likely strengthen their hold on power. It would guarantee the military 25% of parliamentary seats and allow the president to turn over power to the military in a state of emergency. The proposed constitution would also bar democracy activist¹⁰ Aung San Sun Kyi from public office.

 The Zimbabwe opposition¹¹ leader said today he will participate in a run-off against President Robert Mugabe if certain conditions are met. Morgan Tsvangirai has said that there was no need for a second election, that he had won outright¹² in the first round in March. The BBC’s Peter Greste reports from South Africa.

 According to Morgan Tsvangirai, his supporters would feel betrayed if he didn’t face President Robert Mugabe in the second round of the election which he said must now take place by the 23rd of May. That would be three weeks from the day the electoral commission announced that there would, indeed, need to be a run-off between the opposition leader and the incumbent¹³ President Robert Mugabe. But at a news conference in Pretoria, Mr. Tsvangirai said his participation¹⁴ was not unconditional¹⁵. There would need to be what he described as “unfettered access” for international observers as well as international media. He also called for an end to the violence which human rights groups have blamed on the ruling ZANU-PF Party in an attempt to intimidate¹⁶ opposition supporters ahead of the polls. The BBC’s Peter Greste. 

 A Sri Lankan navy ship sank in the eastern port in Sri Lanka today early after being bombed by Tamil-Tiger rebels. No one was aboard the ship at the time. The rebels are suspected in a bombing yesterday in a restaurant in which eleven people were killed.

 This is NPR News from Washington.

 Wall Street ended the week with a loss. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 120 points to close at 12,745. Broader stock indicators¹⁷ also declined. The S&P 500 dropped nine points to end the day at 1388. And the NASDAQ closed at 2445, down 5.5 points. Analysts¹⁸ say traders were unsettled by a report that American International Group lost 7.8 billion dollars in the first quarter, a bigger loss than expected. AIG is the largest insurance company in the world.

 The cost of gasoline continues to climb. Bob Hensley of member station KXJZ reports California has reached yet another record high.

 The American Automobile¹⁹ Association reports the state-wide average price for a gallon of regular unleaded is $3.93. In the San Francisco Bay Area, prices are at or above the four-dollar mark. The Central Valley had the largest jump in prices over the past week. In Fresno, the region’s largest city, the average price is ($)3.97. The tens of thousands of long-distance commuters in the region are getting hit hard by the higher prices. Judy Dugan of Consumer Watch says mass transit²⁰ is not an option for most commuters. “There are a lot of people who just cannot use public transit, because in general, California’s public transit is pretty pathetic.” A spokesman for AAA says by summer, there are going to be a number of California cities where the average price of gasoline surpasses four dollars. For NPR News, I’m Bob Hensley, in Modesto, California.

 Jury selection got under way in Chicago yesterday in the trial of R Kelly. The singer is charged with child pornography that he videotaped himself having sex with a girl who may have been as young as 13.

1 cyclone   

n.旋风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• An exceptionally violent cyclone hit the town last night.昨晚异常猛烈的旋风吹袭了那个小镇。
• The cyclone brought misery to thousands of people.旋风给成千上万的人带来苦难。

2 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

3 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

4 seizure   

n.没收；占有；抵押

参考例句：

• The seizure of contraband is made by customs.那些走私品是被海关没收的。
• The courts ordered the seizure of all her property.法院下令查封她所有的财产。

5 junta   

n.团体；政务审议会

参考例句：

• The junta reacted violently to the perceived threat to its authority.军政府感到自身权力受威胁而进行了激烈反击。
• A military junta took control of the country.一个军政权控制了国家。

6 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

7 sanitation   

n.公共卫生，环境卫生，卫生设备

参考例句：

• The location is exceptionally poor,viewed from the sanitation point.从卫生角度来看，这个地段非常糟糕。
• Many illnesses are the result,f inadequate sanitation.许多疾病都来源于不健全的卫生设施。

8 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

9 hindrance   

n.妨碍，障碍

参考例句：

• Now they can construct tunnel systems without hindrance.现在他们可以顺利地建造隧道系统了。
• The heavy baggage was a great hindrance to me.那件行李成了我的大累赘。

10 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

11 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

12 outright   

adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的

参考例句：

• If you have a complaint you should tell me outright.如果你有不满意的事，你应该直率地对我说。
• You should persuade her to marry you outright.你应该彻底劝服她嫁给你。

13 incumbent   

adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的

参考例句：

• He defeated the incumbent governor by a large plurality.他以压倒多数票击败了现任州长。
• It is incumbent upon you to warn them.你有责任警告他们。

14 participation   

n.参与，参加，分享

参考例句：

• Some of the magic tricks called for audience participation.有些魔术要求有观众的参与。
• The scheme aims to encourage increased participation in sporting activities.这个方案旨在鼓励大众更多地参与体育活动。

15 unconditional   

adj.无条件的，无限制的，绝对的

参考例句：

• The victorious army demanded unconditional surrender.胜方要求敌人无条件投降。
• My love for all my children is unconditional.我对自己所有孩子的爱都是无条件的。

16 intimidate   

vt.恐吓，威胁

参考例句：

• You think you can intimidate people into doing what you want?你以为你可以威胁别人做任何事？
• The first strike capacity is intended mainly to intimidate adversary.第一次攻击的武力主要是用来吓阻敌方的。

17 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。

18 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

19 automobile   

n.汽车，机动车

参考例句：

• He is repairing the brake lever of an automobile.他正在修理汽车的刹车杆。
• The automobile slowed down to go around the curves in the road.汽车在路上转弯时放慢了速度。

20 transit   

n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过

参考例句：

• His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
• The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。