NPR 2012-06-25

 There is a state of emergency in Louisiana, with Governor Bobby Jindal advising a strengthening tropical storm could flood low-lying coastal¹ areas. Meanwhile, forecasters say Tropical Storm Debby will continue to move slowly through the Gulf² of Mexico. Already Florida is seeing squalls and a possible tornado³, and tropical storm warnings are also posted for Alabama. But as NPR's Russell Lewis reports, Texas may be where the storm ultimately comes ashore⁴.

 

Debby is a bit disorganized, but it's gaining strength in the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico. It's also sending uncharacteristically large waves crashing ashore. Officials in Panama City, Florida and Orange Beach and Gulf Shores Alabama closed their beaches because of the high surf and dangerous rip currents. Under the current track, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana are expected just to get heavy rain. But forecasters believe Debby will strengthen into a hurricane over the next few days and march west to Texas, as always predicting a storm's path and intensity⁵ isn't in exact science. And emergency officials across the Gulf Coast urged people to monitor Debby's progress. Russell Lewis, NPR News.

 

Hot-dry, windy conditions have fed wildfires in the west, with Colorado struggling with one of its most severe seasons in recent memory. As firefighters continue to battle a massive blaze, west of Fort Collins, another one has emerged near Colorado Springs. Joanne Hughs lives in Manitou Springs. She’s among 13,000 residents of the area evacuated⁶ by the Waldo Canyon⁷ fire. She spent the night watching the fire's red gloss⁸ spread across the ridge⁹ tops.

 

“You know, as long as those things really like this is really beautiful, but this is really bad.”

 

The fire now covers more than three square miles.

 

Egypt's first free elections in history have resulted in the election of that nation's first Islamist president, Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood¹⁰. He won just under 52% of the vote to 48% for former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq. As NPR's Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson tells us, Egypt's military is not ready to surrender broad powers.

 

They have issued a kind of what they call a “supplementary constitutional decree,” which will give them all sorts of power, including a sharing in the legislative¹¹ authority, since Parliament was dissolved by a high court here in recent times. And that's one thing that they’re gonna do. They are also going to retain control over themselves and over important issues, like declaring war, you know, key policies. So there's little doubt that this fighting that's been going on between the Brotherhood and the military-led government for power will continue. 

 

NPR's Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson reporting from Cairo.

 

This is NPR News in Washington.

 

Britain's Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron says he plans to push through radical¹² welfare reforms. Larry Miller¹³ reports that some of the moves specifically target young people.

 

Cameron says the British benefits system sends out strange signals to society that it keeps some people in the welfare trapped and discourages them from working, while giving no help to others who he says do the right thing. Speaking to the Mail on Sunday, Cameron outlined plans to scrap¹⁴ housing benefit for 380,000 low or low-income under-25s who receive state aid of around 650 dollars a month. Cameron says this will force them to get a job or live with their parents, saving the government around three billion dollars a year. On top of that, unemployment benefits of nearly 500 dollars a month may also end for those who aren't looking hard enough for a job. For NPR News, I'm Larry Miller in London.

 

The Sacramento Bee is reporting that the California's biggest state workers union has tentatively agreed to a way to address the challenge of government overspending. The Service Employees International Union local has reportedly told Governor Jerry Brown that cover[ed] workers will take 12 unpaid¹⁵ days of leave over 12 months, starting July 1st. The furlough plan calls for a 5% monthly reduction of wages, but gives employees some flexibility¹⁶ to schedule the time off.

 

The US Post Office is struggling to stay alive. But in one New Hampshire town, the consequences are extreme. The Sugar Hill post office hours have now been reduced to 1.5 hour a day. 

 

I'm Louise Schiavone, NPR News, Washington.

1 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

2 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。

3 tornado   

n.飓风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• A tornado whirled into the town last week.龙卷风上周袭击了这座城市。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。

4 ashore   

adv.在(向)岸上，上岸

参考例句：

• The children got ashore before the tide came in.涨潮前，孩子们就上岸了。
• He laid hold of the rope and pulled the boat ashore.他抓住绳子拉船靠岸。

5 intensity   

n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度

参考例句：

• I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings on this issue.我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋。
• The strike is growing in intensity.罢工日益加剧。

6 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

7 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。

8 gloss   

n.光泽，光滑；虚饰；注释；vt.加光泽于；掩饰

参考例句：

• John tried in vain to gloss over his faults.约翰极力想掩饰自己的缺点，但是没有用。
• She rubbed up the silver plates to a high gloss.她把银盘擦得很亮。

9 ridge   

n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭

参考例句：

• We clambered up the hillside to the ridge above.我们沿着山坡费力地爬上了山脊。
• The infantry were advancing to attack the ridge.步兵部队正在向前挺进攻打山脊。

10 brotherhood   

n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊

参考例句：

• They broke up the brotherhood.他们断绝了兄弟关系。
• They live and work together in complete equality and brotherhood.他们完全平等和兄弟般地在一起生活和工作。

11 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

12 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

13 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

14 scrap   

n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废

参考例句：

• A man comes round regularly collecting scrap.有个男人定时来收废品。
• Sell that car for scrap.把那辆汽车当残品卖了吧。

15 unpaid   

adj.未付款的，无报酬的

参考例句：

• Doctors work excessive unpaid overtime.医生过度加班却无报酬。
• He's doing a month's unpaid work experience with an engineering firm.他正在一家工程公司无偿工作一个月以获得工作经验。

16 flexibility   

n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性

参考例句：

• Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。
• The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。