NPR 2010-01-23

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Lakshmi Singh.

President Obama is predicting a fight over financial regulatory reform at a town hall meeting in Elyria, Ohio today. The president said he knows there will be heavy opposition¹ to his plan to tighten² rules on banks and other firms to reduce risky³ practices that he says led to a financial crisis in the first place. President Obama also addressed growing congressional worries over health care overhaul⁴. He pledged to keep going.

"I'm not gonna walk away just because it's hard. We're gonna keep on working to get this done with Democrats⁵, I hope with Republicans, anybody who’s willing to step up."

Passage of a health care bill was further complicated when the party lost a Senate seat to a Republican. This week, Scott Brown was elected to succeed the late Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy.

Hundreds of thousands of Haitians may relocate out of Port-au-Prince. As NPR's Jason Beaubien reports, officials are working to move people out nearly two weeks after the earthquake struck.

The communications minister did confirm she said that they are looking at, at setting up camps, they are looking at ways of moving large numbers of people out of Port-au-Prince into what basically, the way she described, would be like tent cities on the outskirts⁶ of Port-au-Prince. She confirmed that that is the plan that something they are gonna try to move forward with and it's something that they are still working out the details of right now. But they definitely are gonna attempt to get more people out of this terribly damaged city.

NPR's Jason Beaubien reporting from Port-au-Prince.

An Obama administration task force has finished reviewing the cases of nearly 200 detainees who remain at Guantanamo. The plan calls for about 50 men to be held indefinitely under law of war detention⁷. NPR's Ari Shapiro has details.

For the last year, a task force of officials from the State Department, the Justice Department, the Pentagon and more have been going through the detainee files one by one, deciding what should happen to each man at Guantanamo. According to an administration official, the task force finished its work this week. The team approved about 110 men for transfer either to the detainees' home countries or to a third country. Roughly 35 will be prosecuted⁸ in either military or civilian⁹ court. And about 50 will be held without trial under what the administration is calling "law of war detention.” The Obama administration wants to set up a system of periodic review to evaluate whether those who do not get a trial remain dangerous. President Obama had hoped to close Guantanamo Prison by now, but there are still 196 detainees at the base. Ari Shapiro, NPR News, Washington.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 142 points at 10,249. NASDAQ Composite Index down 42, at 2,223.

From Washington, this is NPR News.

A sixth California county is under a state of emergency because of the damage caused by a week's worth of storms. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger says San Bernardino County storm costs are more than a million rather 11 million dollars, damages, emergency response and debris¹⁰ clean-up.

 

The governor of Arizona has declared a state of emergency in his state after four consecutive¹¹ days of severe winter weather. From member station KNAU in Flagstaff, Gillian Ferris Kohl has details.

From Tucson to the Grand Canyon¹², Arizona residents are enduring another day of heavy rain and snowfall. Widespread flooding, power outages and roof collapses¹³ are being reported across the state. Flagstaff Mayor Sara Presler has called on local residents to help during the crisis.

"This is absolutely a community moment. Make sure you are checking on the elderly in your community, take care of that heavy snow and rain on the roof and asking folks to please remove their cars from the on-street parking. That way I can get our plows¹⁴ to the street in a more effective manner."

Schools, county agencies and at least two major highways in northern Arizona remain closed today. Forecasters predict conditions should worsen across the state over the next 24 hours with another three feet of snow possible at higher elevations¹⁵.

For NPR News I'm Gillian Ferris Kohl in Flagstaff.

International teams in Haiti are getting a clearer picture of the devastation¹⁶ that last week's earthquake caused. An estimated two million people are now homeless and authorities are estimating as many as 200,000 people have died. It has been nearly two weeks since the 7.0 quake struck, increasingly testing the collective fate that survivors¹⁷ will be found.

I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News, Washington.

 

1 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。

2 tighten   

v.(使)变紧；(使)绷紧

参考例句：

• Turn the screw to the right to tighten it.向右转动螺钉把它拧紧。
• Some countries tighten monetary policy to avoid inflation.一些国家实行紧缩银根的货币政策，以避免通货膨胀。

3 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

4 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。

5 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》

6 outskirts   

n.郊外，郊区

参考例句：

• Our car broke down on the outskirts of the city.我们的汽车在市郊出了故障。
• They mostly live on the outskirts of a town.他们大多住在近郊。

7 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。

8 prosecuted   

a.被起诉的

参考例句：

• The editors are being prosecuted for obscenity. 编辑因刊载污秽文字而被起诉。
• The company was prosecuted for breaching the Health and Safety Act. 这家公司被控违反《卫生安全条例》。

9 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

10 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

11 consecutive   

adj.连续的，联贯的，始终一贯的

参考例句：

• It has rained for four consecutive days.已连续下了四天雨。
• The policy of our Party is consecutive.我党的政策始终如一。

12 canyon   

n.峡谷，溪谷

参考例句：

• The Grand Canyon in the USA is 1900 metres deep.美国的大峡谷1900米深。
• The canyon is famous for producing echoes.这个峡谷以回声而闻名。

13 collapses   

折叠( collapse的第三人称单数 )； 倒塌； 崩溃； （尤指工作劳累后）坐下

参考例句：

• This bridge table collapses. 这张桥牌桌子能折叠。
• Once Russia collapses, the last chance to stop Hitler will be gone. 一旦俄国垮台，抑止希特勒的最后机会就没有了。

14 plows   

n.犁( plow的名词复数 )；犁型铲雪机v.耕( plow的第三人称单数 )；犁耕；费力穿过

参考例句：

• Alex and Tony were turning awkward hands to plows and hoe handles. 亚历克斯和托尼在犁耙等农活方面都几乎变成新手了。
• Plows are still pulled by oxen in some countries. 在一些国家犁头仍由牛拖拉。

15 elevations   

（水平或数量）提高( elevation的名词复数 )； 高地； 海拔； 提升

参考例句：

• Weight of the crust changes as elevations are eroded and materials are deposited elsewhere. 当高地受到侵蚀，物质沉积到别的地方时，地壳的重量就改变。
• All deck elevations are on the top of structural beams. 所有甲板标高线均指结构梁顶线。

16 devastation   

n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤

参考例句：

• The bomb caused widespread devastation. 炸弹造成大面积破坏。
• There was devastation on every side. 到处都是破坏的创伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 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