NPR 2010-01-06

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Barbara Klein.

The US Intelligence Community in Afghanistan has been sharply criticized by one of its own. Major General Michael Flynn, a Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence for the US and NATO in Afghanistan, says American spy agencies there are ignorant of the Afghan people, hazy¹ about how they are influenced, and have been of little use to the US mission there for the past eight years. Flynn says counterinsurgency has required a different focus and the US Intelligence Community has failed to adapt to it.

Meanwhile, family and colleagues of the Jordanian suicide bomber² who carried out the deadly attack against the CIA in Afghanistan last week said they thought he was on his way to continue his medical studies when they heard the news. Dell Gavlack reports from Zarqa, Jordan.

A close relative of Humonn Abu-Mulal al-Balawi described the doctor as a devout³ Muslim, brilliant, having the best of quality, someone who cared for the poor, but was a bit aloof⁴. He said his family was shocked to learn that al-Balawi was a bomber in Afghanistan that killed seven American agents and a Jordanian intelligence officer who was a distant member of Jordan's royal family. The relative who refused to be identified because Jordanian authorities instructed the family not to speak to the press, said al-Balawi had worked in an UN-run Palestinian refugee clinic in Zarqa, the hometown of slain⁵ al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarquwi. Al-Balawi turned down his Jordanian intelligence handlers who had recruited the doctor after he tried to go to Gaza on a medical team following Israel's military invasion a year ago. For NPR News, I'm Dell Gavlack in Zarqa.

President Obama is meeting this hour with leaders of the nation’s intelligence agencies to review the lapses⁶ that allowed a would-be terrorist bomber aboard a US bound flight from Amsterdam Christmas Day. The President is expected to present new airline security measures to the nation in an address about an hour from now.

Cold weather has a tight grip on the eastern portion of the US including areas that produce major winter crops. WDET's Amy Miller⁷ has details.

Blasts of cold air moving counterclockwise from Canada's East Coast, combined with arctic air being funneled⁸ from the West Coast are winding⁹ past the Middle West into the Ohio River Valley then southward. The fronts are keeping Michigan's temperatures below freezing with snow flurries while creating the longest cold snap in five years from West Virginia to South Florida. Temperatures are averaging 15 to 20 degrees below normal for much of the South. Officials across the south are warning homeowners to take precautions against frozen pipes. Hard freeze warnings have strawberry- and tomato-farmers worried that prolonged cold weather could destroy crops. Forecasters say it would be the weekend before it starts to warm up. For NPR News, I'm Amy Miller in Detroit.

On Wall Street an hour before the close the Dow was down 36. The NASDAQ is off four.

This is NPR News.

The World Food Program has suspended deliveries of food aid to southern Somalia. The UN agency says attacks on humanitarian¹⁰ workers are making it virtually impossible to reach people in need. The State Department blames the Somali militia¹¹ group Al Shabaab for the violence, saying some 900,000 people don't have access to critical assistance.

The influential¹² feminist¹³ Scholar Mary Daly has died after a long illness. She was 81. NPR's Neda Ulaby reports.

Mary Daly was a radical¹⁴ feminist theologian who challenged sexisms at Catholic Church and championed a female centric world view. For over three decades, she taught at Boston College, a Jesuit school where she sometimes clashed with administrators¹⁵ and male students she barred from her classes. In 1999, Daly told NPR, when men are in class, women behave differently.

"Women in classes with young men, they shut up all the time and laughed out if they have unusual ideas. They have to be sexy and they can't really think."

Daly's policy led to her lawsuits¹⁶ settled out of court and her retirement¹⁷. The professor’s fiery¹⁸ brand of feminism has long been considered unfashionable. But she remains¹⁹ a provocative²⁰ element in American feminist discourse²¹. Neda Ulaby, NPR News.

The IRS is imposing²² new rules on tax preparers. Tens of millions of people rely on them to file tax returns every year; but until now, no federal standards have been set for independent tax preparers or companies like H&R Block. Now the IRS will require them to pass a competency exam, and do 15 hours a year of coursework. But the plan won’t be in effect by the time 2009 taxes are due in April.

I'm Barbara Klein, NPR News in Washington.

 

1 hazy   

adj.有薄雾的，朦胧的；不肯定的，模糊的

参考例句：

• We couldn't see far because it was so hazy.雾气蒙蒙妨碍了我们的视线。
• I have a hazy memory of those early years.对那些早先的岁月我有着朦胧的记忆。

2 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。

3 devout   

adj.虔诚的，虔敬的，衷心的 (n.devoutness)

参考例句：

• His devout Catholicism appeals to ordinary people.他对天主教的虔诚信仰感染了普通民众。
• The devout man prayed daily.那位虔诚的男士每天都祈祷。

4 aloof   

adj.远离的；冷淡的，漠不关心的

参考例句：

• Never stand aloof from the masses.千万不可脱离群众。
• On the evening the girl kept herself timidly aloof from the crowd.这小女孩在晚会上一直胆怯地远离人群。

5 slain   

杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词)

参考例句：

• The soldiers slain in the battle were burried that night. 在那天夜晚埋葬了在战斗中牺牲了的战士。
• His boy was dead, slain by the hand of the false Amulius. 他的儿子被奸诈的阿缪利乌斯杀死了。

6 lapses   

n.失误，过失( lapse的名词复数 )；小毛病；行为失检；偏离正道v.退步( lapse的第三人称单数 )；陷入；倒退；丧失

参考例句：

• He sometimes lapses from good behavior. 他有时行为失检。 来自辞典例句
• He could forgive attacks of nerves, panic, bad unexplainable actions, all sorts of lapses. 他可以宽恕突然发作的歇斯底里，惊慌失措，恶劣的莫名其妙的动作，各种各样的失误。 来自辞典例句

7 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

8 funneled   

漏斗状的

参考例句：

• The crowd funneled through the hall. 群众从走廊中鱼贯而过。
• The large crowd funneled out of the gates after the football match. 足球赛后大群人从各个门中涌出。

9 winding   

n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈

参考例句：

• A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
• The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。

10 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。

11 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

12 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

13 feminist   

adj.主张男女平等的，女权主义的

参考例句：

• She followed the feminist movement.她支持女权运动。
• From then on,feminist studies on literature boomed.从那时起，男女平等受教育的现象开始迅速兴起。

14 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

15 administrators   

n.管理者( administrator的名词复数 )；有管理（或行政）才能的人；（由遗嘱检验法庭指定的）遗产管理人；奉派暂管主教教区的牧师

参考例句：

• He had administrators under him but took the crucial decisions himself. 他手下有管理人员，但重要的决策仍由他自己来做。 来自辞典例句
• Administrators have their own methods of social intercourse. 办行政的人有他们的社交方式。 来自汉英文学 - 围城

16 lawsuits   

n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权，耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
• I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多，赢的也多，输的也多。 来自辞典例句

17 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

18 fiery   

adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的

参考例句：

• She has fiery red hair.她有一头火红的头发。
• His fiery speech agitated the crowd.他热情洋溢的讲话激动了群众。

19 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

20 provocative   

adj.挑衅的，煽动的，刺激的，挑逗的

参考例句：

• She wore a very provocative dress.她穿了一件非常性感的裙子。
• His provocative words only fueled the argument further.他的挑衅性讲话只能使争论进一步激化。

21 discourse   

n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述

参考例句：

• We'll discourse on the subject tonight.我们今晚要谈论这个问题。
• He fell into discourse with the customers who were drinking at the counter.他和站在柜台旁的酒客谈了起来。

22 imposing   

adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的

参考例句：

• The fortress is an imposing building.这座城堡是一座宏伟的建筑。
• He has lost his imposing appearance.他已失去堂堂仪表。