NPR 2010-11-11

British police say a mail bomb intercepted¹ last month at an English airport could have exploded in flight over the US East Coast. Scotland Yard says in a statement that the bomb could have gone off on Friday, October 29th, if it had not been found and removed from a cargo² plane. Police say forensic³ evidence shows the bomb was sent from Yemen. British and US officials say terrorists hid bombs inside printer parts and addressed them to locations in Chicago.
Palestinians are requesting an urgent UN Security Council meeting to address the issue of settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank in East Jerusalem. NPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro reports from Jerusalem that the move is a response to Israel's announcement this week that it's approved building 1,300 new Jewish housing units in Arab East Jerusalem.
Despite American and Palestinian condemnation⁴ of the plans for the new housing in East Jerusalem, Israel is defending the move. A statement by the prime minister's office released today said that Israel will continue to build in what it considers its capital city, and that Jerusalem is not a settlement. In response, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has requested that the Security Council become involved, demanding an urgent session be convened⁵. Peace talks are at a standstill. Palestinians say they won't return to the negotiating table until Israel stops Jewish building on lands they want for a future state. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tomorrow to discuss moving the negotiations⁶ forward. Those talks are expected to be tense. Lourdes Garcia-Navarro, NPR News, Jerusalem.
The Pew Environment Group says the US should pay close attention to the prospect⁷ of oil drilling in the Arctic Ocean off the Alaska Coast. Oil companies want to explore there, but in a new report out today, Pew says the safety and environmental challenges in the Arctic are even more daunting⁸ than in the Gulf⁹ of Mexico, which was the site of the giant Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Marilyn Heiman directs Pew's US Arctic Program and she joins us now. Thanks.
"Hi.""The Deepwater Horizon spill revealed some big challenges in responding to a well blowout. What do you believe makes the situation in the Arctic even more challenging?""Well, the Arctic Ocean in Alaska is extremely remote. The closest Coast Guard station is a thousand miles away. And, you know, the ocean has moving sea ice, subzero temperatures, brutal¹⁰ storms, um, seas reaching 30 feet at times."“And with this very hostile weather briefly¹¹, what do you think needs to happen, if underwater Arctic drilling is approved?”
"Well, we believe there's still much to do to ensure that there's enough equipment and trained personnel to be available to respond to a worst-case spill in these conditions."Thank you very much. That’s Marilyn Heiman of the Pew Environment Group.
From Washington, this is NPR News.
President Obama is focusing on jobs and trade ahead of the G20 economic summit in South Korea that starts tomorrow. He appears to refer to China when he calls on countries to let their currency values adjust naturally in world markets.
"You're seeing some countries run up very big surpluses and intervening significantly in the currency markets to maintain their advantage when it comes to their currency."Some countries are now objecting to US plans to pour more money into its economy to spur job growth. They say that will artificially lower the value of the dollar and make their exports to the US more expensive.
The government says the number of Americans without health insurance is now nearly 47 million. That's up about 7% from 2006 in a new study.
Tina Fey, the star of NBC's "30 Rock" series, is the winner of this year's Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. NPR's Neda Ulaby reports, Fey is the only the third woman to win the prestigious¹² award.
In a speech at the Kennedy Center, Tina Fey expressed her gratitude¹³.
"I would be a liar¹⁴ and an idiot if I didn't thank Sarah Palin for helping¹⁵ get me here tonight. My partial resemblance and her crazy voice are the two luckiest things that have ever happened to me."Fey is the youngest person to receive the Mark Twain Prize. She is 40 years old and she is the third woman after Lily Tomlin and Whoopi Goldberg. Still, the former head writer for "Saturday Night Live" and the creator of the show "30 Rock" joked that she wasn't worthy¹⁶, that her win came only because of Betty White’s disqualification for steroid use. Neda Ulaby, NPR News.

1 intercepted   

拦截( intercept的过去式和过去分词 )； 截住； 截击； 拦阻

参考例句：

• Reporters intercepted him as he tried to leave the hotel. 他正要离开旅馆，记者们把他拦截住了。
• Reporters intercepted him as he tried to leave by the rear entrance. 他想从后门溜走，记者把他截住了。

2 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

3 forensic   

adj.法庭的，雄辩的

参考例句：

• The report included his interpretation of the forensic evidence.该报告包括他对法庭证据的诠释。
• The judge concluded the proceeding on 10:30 Am after one hour of forensic debate.经过近一个小时的法庭辩论后，法官于10时30分宣布休庭。

4 condemnation   

n.谴责; 定罪

参考例句：

• There was widespread condemnation of the invasion. 那次侵略遭到了人们普遍的谴责。
• The jury's condemnation was a shock to the suspect. 陪审团宣告有罪使嫌疑犯大为震惊。

5 convened   

召开( convene的过去式 )； 召集； （为正式会议而）聚集； 集合

参考例句：

• The chairman convened the committee to put the issue to a vote. 主席召集委员们开会对这个问题进行表决。
• The governor convened his troops to put down the revolt. 总督召集他的部队去镇压叛乱。

6 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

7 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

8 daunting   

adj.使人畏缩的

参考例句：

• They were faced with the daunting task of restoring the house.他们面临着修复房子的艰巨任务。
• Starting a new job can be a daunting prospect.开始一项新工作有时会让人望而却步。

9 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

10 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

11 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

12 prestigious   

adj.有威望的，有声望的，受尊敬的

参考例句：

• The young man graduated from a prestigious university.这个年轻人毕业于一所名牌大学。
• You may even join a prestigious magazine as a contributing editor.甚至可能会加入一个知名杂志做编辑。

13 gratitude   

adj.感激，感谢

参考例句：

• I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
• She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。

14 liar   

n.说谎的人

参考例句：

• I know you for a thief and a liar!我算认识你了，一个又偷又骗的家伙！
• She was wrongly labelled a liar.她被错误地扣上说谎者的帽子。

15 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

16 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。