NPR 2010-03-20

Congress’s top Democrats¹ will head to the White House tomorrow, the eve of a crucial healthcare vote. As NPR’s Audie Cornish reports, the fight for votes is coming down to the wire.

 

House Democrats need 216 votes in order to approve the health overhaul² bill. Over the last few days, Democrats who have been wavering have announced here and there whether they support the legislation, while some anti-abortion³ Democrats are still raising concerns about the abortion language in the bill. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says there will be no more changes to the legislation and the speaker says she is confident that health overhaul will pass.

 

“We’re, again, one day closer to passing historic legislation which will make history, of course, but progress for the American people.”

 

Meanwhile, Republican Minority leader John Boehner says the American people do not want the healthcare bill, and that it will haunt Democrats come November during midterm elections. Audie Cornish, NPR News, the Capitol.

 

The Middle East Quartet is criticizing Israel for expanding settlements in East Jerusalem despite warnings that the project would undermine peace talks with the Palestinians. The group including the US, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia released a statement today after meeting in Moscow, said everyone needs to focus on peace negotiations⁴ that would include a final deal on creating an independent Palestinian state within two years. Meanwhile, more violence is reported out of the Middle East. Some Palestinians clashing with Israeli army in the West Bank town of Hebron today.

 

Overland flooding is already cutting off rural homes in Minnesota and North Dakota where the Red River is expected to crest⁵ on Sunday. We have this update from Minnesota Public Radio’s Rupa Shenoy.

 

National Guard troops are working with city crews in Fargo, Moorhead to guard earthen levees and sandbag dikes put in place over the last few days. Police say they’ve had to chase national media crews off the fragile structures. As temperatures dip to freezing, officials are warning flooded roads may become icy sheets, but they also hope the lower temperatures slow the rush of melting snow and ice. Meanwhile, city and county officials from Minnesota and North Dakota have approved a 1.3-billion-dollar Flood-Diversion Plan. The plan calls for a 35-mile long channel that would route part of the Red River around Fargo during a flood. It will take a decade to complete the project. For NPR News, I’m Rupa Shenoy.

 

British Airways⁶ employees are expected to go on strike within hours and that could affect thousands of travelers. The cabin crews will be off the job for three days. They decided⁷ to walk out after labor⁸ talks over pay and working conditions collapse⁹.

 

After eight winning sessions, that streak¹⁰ comes to a halt today. The Dow was down 40 points at 10,739.

 

This is NPR.

 

After months of bickering¹¹ that threatens to bring down Zimbabwe’s fragile coalition¹² government, there’re some possible signs of progress. South African President Jacob Zuma, the chief mediator¹³ in the dispute, says rival political leaders have agreed on measures to move forward with political reforms demanded by Western donors¹⁴. Vicky O’Hara has the story.

 

Zuma helped broker¹⁵ a power-sharing agreement last year between Zimbabwe’s two political rivals—President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, but Zimbabwe has made little progress toward the reforms promised under that agreement. So this week, Zuma was back in Harare, trying to move the process forward. International aid groups, meanwhile, are pleading with donors to provide more food aid to Zimbabwe’s impoverished¹⁶ people. Zuma says the two rivals now have agreed on measures that will allow political and media reforms to proceed. He says Mugabe and Tsvangirai are supposed to report back to him on progress by the end of the month. One positive sign is that after three months of inaction, a commission charged with media reforms says it’s held its first meeting. For NPR News, I’m Vicky O’Hara in Johannesburg.

 

As many as 200 people may be dead from a landslide¹⁷ in Sierra Leone today. According to various reports, authorities are saying the people were killed when a trench¹⁸ collapsed¹⁹ at an unsanctioned gold mine.

 

The sex abuse scandal surrounding the Roman Catholic Church appears to be expanding in Munich, Pope Benedict XVI’s former diocese. A sex abuse task force says it’s now investigating 120 cases of abuse, most of them involving a monastery²⁰ boarding school.

 

I’m Lakshmi Singh, NPR News, Washington.
 

1 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》

2 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。

3 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

4 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。

5 crest   

n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖

参考例句：

• The rooster bristled his crest.公鸡竖起了鸡冠。
• He reached the crest of the hill before dawn.他于黎明前到达山顶。

6 AIRWAYS   

航空公司

参考例句：

• The giant jets that increasingly dominate the world's airways. 越来越称雄于世界航线的巨型喷气机。
• At one point the company bought from Nippon Airways a 727 jet. 有一次公司从日本航空公司买了一架727型喷气机。

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

8 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

9 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

10 streak   

n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动

参考例句：

• The Indians used to streak their faces with paint.印第安人过去常用颜料在脸上涂条纹。
• Why did you streak the tree?你为什么在树上刻条纹？

11 bickering   

v.争吵( bicker的现在分词 )；口角；（水等）作潺潺声；闪烁

参考例句：

• The children are always bickering about something or other. 孩子们有事没事总是在争吵。
• The two children were always bickering with each other over small matters. 这两个孩子总是为些小事斗嘴。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

12 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

13 mediator   

n.调解人，中介人

参考例句：

• He always takes the role of a mediator in any dispute.他总是在争论中充当调停人的角色。
• He will appear in the role of mediator.他将出演调停者。

14 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 broker   

n.中间人，经纪人；v.作为中间人来安排

参考例句：

• He baited the broker by promises of higher commissions.他答应给更高的佣金来引诱那位经纪人。
• I'm a real estate broker.我是不动产经纪人。

16 impoverished   

adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化

参考例句：

• the impoverished areas of the city 这个城市的贫民区
• They were impoverished by a prolonged spell of unemployment. 他们因长期失业而一贫如洗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 landslide   

n.(竞选中)压倒多数的选票；一面倒的胜利

参考例句：

• Our candidate is predicated to win by a landslide.我们的候选人被预言将以绝对优势取胜。
• An electoral landslide put the Labour Party into power in 1945.1945年工党以压倒多数的胜利当选执政。

18 trench   

n./v.(挖)沟，(挖)战壕

参考例句：

• The soldiers recaptured their trench.兵士夺回了战壕。
• The troops received orders to trench the outpost.部队接到命令在前哨周围筑壕加强防卫。

19 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

20 monastery   

n.修道院，僧院，寺院

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• She was appointed the superior of the monastery two years ago.两年前她被任命为这个修道院的院长。