NPR 2010-04-06

The White House is strongly condemning¹ today’s attack by extremists on the US Consulate² in Pakistan. Suicide bombers³ and gunmen tried to breach⁴ the perimeter⁵ of the heavily fortified⁶ compound. Sound of explosions and weapons fire sent people scrambling⁷ for cover. The BBC’s Alastair Leithead reports at least four Pakistanis were killed.

 

Police said four heavily armed men in two cars had tried to smash their way into the US Consulate. A gun battle broke out. They threw grenades into the compound, but did not breach their target. In all, there were three large explosions. Guards at the consular⁸ checkpost were killed, as were the attackers. The first on a US facility in Pakistan in five years. And it comes after a statement from militants⁹ linked to the Taliban and al-Qaeda said they’d focus more on military and foreign targets.

 

The BBC’s Alastair Leithead.

 

Rescuers in China are working to pull the remaining three dozen or so workers out of a flooded coal mine. So far today, 115 miners have been rescued after spending more than a week underground. NPR’s Louisa Lim says the miners ate sawdust and bark to stay alive during the ordeal¹⁰.

 

They drank the murky¹¹ black water which flooded the mine and kept alive by hooking their belts to the shaft¹² walls to stop themselves from drowning. Doctors said the miners were suffering hypothermia, severe dehydration¹³, and ulcerated skin after spending eight days soaked through. It was some rare good news in China’s mining industry, which is still the world’s deadliest. But questions remained about why the mine management had sent so many men underground, despite knowing that water was leaking into the mine. Louisa Lim, NPR News, Shanghai.

 

Golfer Tiger Woods says he's surprised by the positive reaction he’s been getting during his practice round at the Masters.

 

“Over the past few months, it really put things in perspective for me, and how much I have appreciated or underappreciated the fans in the game of golf.”

 

Woods acknowledged again that he made what he called some “incredibly poor decisions” in his personal life, but he believes he can still win the Masters even after a five-month layoff¹⁴ from competitive golf.

 

The number of contracts for home sales is up sharply, up more than 8% in February. Walter Molony is a spokesman for the National Association of Realtors. He says this month’s numbers are also looking good as buyers scramble¹⁵ to qualify for a tax credit.

 

“We’ve been hearing about a rise in home shopping activity over recent weeks. We have more reports now on multiple offers in additional areas, so the March data could really demonstrate that we’ll be seeing additional improvements for home buyers responding to the tax credit.”

 

Also today, a new report shows the service sector¹⁶ of the economy expanding at its fastest pace in two years. Those economic numbers have been helping¹⁷ boost stock prices. Today before the closing bell, the Dow industrials are up 46 points at 10,973. The NASDAQ is up 24.

 

This is NPR News.

 

Parts of Southern California are being shaken by scores of aftershocks today from Sunday’s strong earthquake centered across the border in Mexico. NPR’s Mandalit del Barco is in Calexico, California. She says there are a lot of broken windows and other damage in the business district.

 

Most of the businesses here that windows are knocked out, shelves are toppled over, all the merchandise is toppled over. Actually this whole block, full of stores, just that nobody will go in and it's possible to get hurt cuz it's still some aftershock that we can feel here. Basically, the whole downtown area is shut down for business. NPR’s Mandalit del Barco reporting from Calexico, California.

 

On Easter Monday in Washington, the place to be is the White House Easter Egg Roll. The Marine¹⁸ Band set the mood as thousands of children and their parents went swarming¹⁹ over the sun-drenched South Lawn of the executive mansion²⁰ where they were welcomed by the president.

 

“Happy Easter, everybody. We are thrilled that all of you could come.”

 

Greeting was echoed by First Lady Michelle Obama.

 

“Is this not the most perfect day for the Easter Egg Roll? You guys, we’re so excited to have you. Welcome to the 2010 Easter Egg Roll. The theme for this year’s event is Ready, Set, what? Go!”

 

And then the races began as the children catapulted colored eggs across the White House lawn. The winner's got specially²¹ autographed eggs by the president and first lady. The Easter Egg Roll dates back to 1878 when Rutherford B. Hayes was president.

 

1 condemning   

v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的现在分词 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地

参考例句：

• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。
• I concur with the speaker in condemning what has been done. 我同意发言者对所做的事加以谴责。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

2 consulate   

n.领事馆

参考例句：

• The Spanish consulate is the large white building opposite the bank.西班牙领事馆是银行对面的那栋高大的白色建筑物。
• The American consulate was a magnificent edifice in the centre of Bordeaux.美国领事馆是位于波尔多市中心的一座宏伟的大厦。

3 bombers   

n.轰炸机( bomber的名词复数 )；投弹手；安非他明胶囊；大麻叶香烟

参考例句：

• Enemy bombers carried out a blitz on the city. 敌军轰炸机对这座城市进行了突袭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Royal Airforce sill remained dangerously short of bombers. 英国皇家空军仍未脱离极为缺乏轰炸机的危境。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 breach   

n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破

参考例句：

• We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
• He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。

5 perimeter   

n.周边，周长，周界

参考例句：

• The river marks the eastern perimeter of our land.这条河标示我们的土地东面的边界。
• Drinks in hands,they wandered around the perimeter of the ball field.他们手里拿着饮料在球场周围漫不经心地遛跶。

6 fortified   

adj. 加强的

参考例句：

• He fortified himself against the cold with a hot drink. 他喝了一杯热饮御寒。
• The enemy drew back into a few fortified points. 敌人收缩到几个据点里。

7 scrambling   

v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Scrambling up her hair, she darted out of the house. 她匆忙扎起头发，冲出房去。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• She is scrambling eggs. 她正在炒蛋。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 consular   

a.领事的

参考例句：

• He has rounded out twenty years in the consular service. 他在领事馆工作已整整20年了。
• Consular invoices are declarations made at the consulate of the importing country. 领事发票是进口国领事馆签发的一种申报书。

9 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

10 ordeal   

n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验

参考例句：

• She managed to keep her sanity throughout the ordeal.在那场磨难中她始终保持神志正常。
• Being lost in the wilderness for a week was an ordeal for me.在荒野里迷路一星期对我来说真是一场磨难。

11 murky   

adj.黑暗的，朦胧的；adv.阴暗地，混浊地；n.阴暗；昏暗

参考例句：

• She threw it into the river's murky depths.她把它扔进了混浊的河水深处。
• She had a decidedly murky past.她的历史背景令人捉摸不透。

12 shaft   

n.(工具的)柄，杆状物

参考例句：

• He was wounded by a shaft.他被箭击中受伤。
• This is the shaft of a steam engine.这是一个蒸汽机主轴。

13 dehydration   

n.脱水，干燥

参考例句：

• He died from severe dehydration.他死于严重脱水。
• The eyes are often retracted from dehydration.眼睛常因脱水而凹陷。

14 layoff   

n.临时解雇，操作停止，活动停止期间，失业期

参考例句：

• Finally, prepare an explanation about what led to your layoff.最后，要准备好一套说辞来解释你被解雇的原因。
• Workers were re-employed after the layoff.在暂时解雇不久后工人们又被再度雇用了。

15 scramble   

v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料

参考例句：

• He broke his leg in his scramble down the wall.他爬墙摔断了腿。
• It was a long scramble to the top of the hill.到山顶须要爬登一段长路。

16 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

17 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。

18 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

19 swarming   

密集( swarm的现在分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去

参考例句：

• The sacks of rice were swarming with bugs. 一袋袋的米里长满了虫子。
• The beach is swarming with bathers. 海滩满是海水浴的人。

20 mansion   

n.大厦，大楼；宅第

参考例句：

• The old mansion was built in 1850.这座古宅建于1850年。
• The mansion has extensive grounds.这大厦四周的庭园广阔。

21 specially   

adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地

参考例句：

• They are specially packaged so that they stack easily.它们经过特别包装以便于堆放。
• The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings.这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。