NPR 2009-08-02

Iran's state-run television station says three American tourists have been arrested after entering the country from northern Iraq without permission. The State Department is looking into the reports, as NPR's Allison Keyes reports.

 The three were reportedly hiking in mountains in the area and crossed into Iran's Kurdistan Province from northern Iraq. A State Department spokesman says it is seen in Iranian media reports. The U. S. has asked the Swiss to confirm those reports with Iranian authorities and to arrange for diplomatic access to the American citizens if the reports are true. The Swiss represent American interest in Iran. The State Department says the protection of American citizens is its highest priority. Allison Keyes, NPR News, Washington.

 President Obama says a vote by a key House panel on compromised legislation to overhaul¹ the nation's healthcare system is a historic step. The House Energy and Commerce Committee approving last night, a bill that attempts to strike a balance between the different approaches favored by Conservative and Liberal lawmakers. Three House panels have now passed variations of the legislation. But Republican lawmakers are sharply critical of the proposals. NPR's Carol Van Dam has the story.

 In the Republicans' weekly address, Senator John Thune of South Dakota says the Democrats³' plan would cost far too much and wouldn't even improve the delivery of health care in this country.

 "Their plan for government-run health care would disrupt our current system and force millions of Americans who currently enjoy their employer-based coverage⁴ into a new healthcare plan run by government bureaucrats⁵."

 Thune also charges the Democrats' proposal would burden States with fewer people such as his own, because it expands Medicaid coverage without an identified source of funding. He says the money to cover more Medicaid recipients⁶ would have to come from somewhere, and that somewhere would likely be in the form of higher taxes. Carol Van Dam, NPR News, Washington.

 In eastern Pakistan, hundreds of rioting Muslims attacked Christians⁸ today and burned their homes. At least six of the Christians including a child were burned to death and ten others were injured. Dozens of homes have been torched over the past three days after a rumor⁹ spread that Pakistani Christians had desecrated¹⁰ pages from the Koran. The BBC's Shoaib Hasan has more.

 Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani had condemned¹¹ Thursday's violence and ordered an inquiry¹². Saturday's riots have drawn¹³ calls from President Asif Ali Zardari who says it has tarnished¹⁴ Pakistan's international image. He has sent the country's Interior Minister to personally carry out an investigation¹⁵ into the events. Christian⁷ leaders point out that the incident is the second in the Punjab in just over a month. The BBC's Shoaib Hasan.

 Three American troops were killed by roadside bomb explosions in southern Afghanistan today, and a French soldier was killed and two others wounded during a gun battle with insurgents¹⁶ north of Kabul. The latest violence follows a pledge by the Taliban to disrupt the upcoming presidential election in Afghanistan.

 This is NPR News from Washington.

 A bomb scare at New York's busy LaGuardia airport this morning forced terminals to be evacuated¹⁷. But even though the terminals reopened by afternoon, frustrated¹⁸ passengers such as David Clarke of Long Island are trying to cope with dozens of flight cancellations and delays.

 "Society right now, unfortunately, that one person can cause a lot of inconvenience to a lot of people."

 That one person in this case was a homeless man who tried to board a flight with what police say was a fake bomb. The man faces charges including placing a false bomb in a transportation facility and making terroristic threats.

 Democratic Congressman¹⁹ Ed Markey of Massachusetts who chairs the House Committee on global warming says he'll investigate some deceptive²⁰ advocacy letters. They were written in June to lobby against climate change legislation. NPR's Peter Overby has the story.

 The letters are purported²¹ to be from two civic²² groups in Charlottesville, Virginia, the local NAACP and Cresciendo Juntos, an organization to help Latino families and workers. They urged the local Congressman Democrat² Tom Perriello to vote against the climate change bill that he supported. But the NAACP and Cresciendo Juntos had nothing to do with the letters and the people who supposedly signed them don't exist. The forged letters actually came from Bonner and Associates, a Washington firm that specializes in grassroots campaigned for corporate²³ clients. The firm told the NAACP and Cresciendo Juntos about the forgeries²⁴. In a letter to Cresciendo Juntos, it called them a mistake and an error, and it says it fired the person who produced them. Peter Overby, NPR News, Washington.

 Thousands of people marching in Malaysia's largest city were scattered²⁵ by riot police firing tear gas today. The demonstrators were protesting a law that allows indefinite detention²⁶ without trial.

 I'm Craig Windham, NPR News.

1 overhaul   

v./n.大修，仔细检查

参考例句：

• Master Worker Wang is responsible for the overhaul of this grinder.王师傅主修这台磨床。
• It is generally appreciated that the rail network needs a complete overhaul.众所周知，铁路系统需要大检修。

2 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

3 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

5 bureaucrats   

n.官僚( bureaucrat的名词复数 )；官僚主义；官僚主义者；官僚语言

参考例句：

• That is the fate of the bureaucrats, not the inspiration of statesmen. 那是官僚主义者的命运，而不是政治家的灵感。 来自辞典例句
• Big business and dozens of anonymous bureaucrats have as much power as Japan's top elected leaders. 大企业和许多不知名的官僚同日本选举出来的最高层领导者们的权力一样大。 来自辞典例句

6 recipients   

adj.接受的；受领的；容纳的；愿意接受的n.收件人；接受者；受领者；接受器

参考例句：

• The recipients of the prizes had their names printed in the paper. 获奖者的姓名登在报上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The recipients of prizes had their names printed in the paper. 获奖者名单登在报上。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

7 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

8 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

9 rumor   

n.谣言，谣传，传说

参考例句：

• The rumor has been traced back to a bad man.那谣言经追查是个坏人造的。
• The rumor has taken air.谣言流传开了。

10 desecrated   

毁坏或亵渎( desecrate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The invading army desecrated this holy place when they camped here. 侵略军在这块圣地上扎营就是对这块圣地的亵渎。
• She shouldn't have desecrated the picture of a religious leader. 她不该亵渎宗教领袖的画像。

11 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

12 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

13 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

14 tarnished   

（通常指金属）（使）失去光泽，（使）变灰暗( tarnish的过去式和过去分词 )； 玷污，败坏

参考例句：

• The mirrors had tarnished with age. 这些镜子因年深日久而照影不清楚。
• His bad behaviour has tarnished the good name of the school. 他行为不轨，败坏了学校的声誉。

15 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。

16 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

17 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

18 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

20 deceptive   

adj.骗人的，造成假象的，靠不住的

参考例句：

• His appearance was deceptive.他的外表带有欺骗性。
• The storyline is deceptively simple.故事情节看似简单，其实不然。

21 purported   

adj.传说的，谣传的v.声称是…，（装得）像是…的样子( purport的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• the scene of the purported crime 传闻中的罪案发生地点
• The film purported to represent the lives of ordinary people. 这部影片声称旨在表现普通人的生活。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。

23 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

24 forgeries   

伪造( forgery的名词复数 )； 伪造的文件、签名等

参考例句：

• The whole sky was filled with forgeries of the brain. 整个天空充满了头脑里臆造出来的膺品。
• On inspection, the notes proved to be forgeries. 经过检查，那些钞票证明是伪造的。

25 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

26 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。