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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
The sound of heavy anti-aircraft fire booms in the Libyan capital Tripoli, where forces loyal to leader Muammar Gaddafi are defiantly1 responding to US-allied air strikes. NPR's David Greene is in Tripoli, where he says Gaddafi backers are out despite fears of dangerous conditions.
There appears to be mostly government supporters who are out honking2 their horns and driving around to sort of act defiantly in the face of it. We know that a lot of people in Tripoli have, especially after dark, been going into their homes and hunkering down. This is about the same time that the air strikes have begun the last two nights that are usually just before 9 pm. This is the third night in a row. It happened around that time, and then they also had to go later on until the evening.
NPR's David Greene in Tripoli.
As coalition3 air strikes in Libya intensify4, questions linger over who should be in charge of enforcing the UN-backed no-fly zone. Eleanor Beardsley reports that specifically allies are divided over the role NATO should play.
Italy warned that it would review the use of its air bases by coalition forces if NATO does not take over, and Norway says its fighter jets will not participate until a clear command structure is in place. There is some coordination5 of French, British and American manoeuvers out of US air bases in Ramstein, Germany and Naples, Italy. The US says it will soon scale back its role and has hinted that it would like to see NATO take charge, but France disagrees. It says the coalition needs Arab support and believes NATO's reputation is damaged in the Arab world because of Afghanistan. NATO's participation6 in any military action against Libya would also require approval by all 28 members. For NPR News, I'm Eleanor Beardsley in Paris.
All six reactors8 at the damaged nuclear plant in Japan are reconnected to external power, but Tokyo Electric Power Company, which operates the plant, says it still has a lot of work to do before the site's controlling cooling systems are fully9 operational again. NPR's Larry Abramson reports that there're still a lot that's not known about the conditions of the reactors.
The power company says it has restored lighting10 to the control room to reactor7 No.3, which has been a source of major concern since the March 11th earthquake and tsunami11. The head of Japan's nuclear safety agency says recent progress means that a full scale meltdown is now unlikely. The International Atomic Energy Agency says the plant continues to emit radiation, but the source remains12 unclear. Japanese officials say they have detected higher-than-normal radiation levels in seawater near the plant and in food grown nearby, but they say there should be no immediate13 impact on human health. Larry Abramson, NPR News.
And today, the Japanese government says more than 9,000 people are confirmed dead from the earthquake-triggered tsunami. As many as 13,000 people are believed to be missing.
At last check on Wall Street, the Dow was down nearly 20 points at 12,019.
This is NPR.
Justice Department leaders met with police chiefs today about the rising number of deaths in law enforcement. Attorney General Eric Holder14:
"In 2010, we mourned the loss of 162 officers, and we saw firearms fatalities15 surge by nearly 25%."
Holder is directing 93 US attorney offices to work more closely with state and local police departments on this matter.
Well, we're seeing a population boom in cities in the South and West. It's just the opposite in the Midwestern US, where a lot of cities are actually losing residents. By far, the worst hit is Detroit. NPR's Alex Kellogg says census16 data released today reveal that in the last decade Detroit's population plunged17 25% to the lowest level in that city in a century.
The city of Detroit now has just over 713,000 people. That's the smallest number of people it has had since 1910. That's before Henry Ford18, who founded Ford Motor Company, offered $5 a day to auto19 workers. That helped spark a boom that led Detroit's population to explode in the first half of the 20th century. Detroit had nearly two million people in 1950. It had just over 950,000 people as of 2000. That makes Detroit one of the fastest shrinking cities in US history. In fact, according to an analysis by the Detroit Free Press, the city lost a resident every 22 minutes in the past decade. Alex Kellogg, NPR News, Washington.
Losses in US stocks today: At last check, the Dow was down 18 points at 12,019 in trading of four billion shares; the NASDAQ Composite Index off eight points at 2,684; S&P 500 down five at 1,294.
![收听单词发音](/images/play.gif)
1
defiantly
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adv.挑战地,大胆对抗地 | |
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2
honking
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v.(使)发出雁叫似的声音,鸣(喇叭),按(喇叭)( honk的现在分词 ) | |
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3
coalition
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n.结合体,同盟,结合,联合 | |
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4
intensify
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vt.加强;变强;加剧 | |
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coordination
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n.协调,协作 | |
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participation
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n.参与,参加,分享 | |
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7
reactor
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n.反应器;反应堆 | |
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reactors
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起反应的人( reactor的名词复数 ); 反应装置; 原子炉; 核反应堆 | |
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9
fully
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adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地 | |
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lighting
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n.照明,光线的明暗,舞台灯光 | |
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11
tsunami
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n.海啸 | |
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12
remains
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n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹 | |
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13
immediate
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adj.立即的;直接的,最接近的;紧靠的 | |
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14
holder
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n.持有者,占有者;(台,架等)支持物 | |
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fatalities
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n.恶性事故( fatality的名词复数 );死亡;致命性;命运 | |
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16
census
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n.(官方的)人口调查,人口普查 | |
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17
plunged
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v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 );暴跌;骤降;突降 | |
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Ford
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n.浅滩,水浅可涉处;v.涉水,涉过 | |
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19
auto
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n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车 | |
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