美国国家电台 NPR 2012-08-21

 The US military's commander in Afghanistan says the campaign remains¹ on track. General John Allen's comments after the chairman of the Joint² Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey paid a visit to the war-torn country to address the rising number of attacks on American troops by Afghan soldiers and police in the last two weeks. The latest attack occurred yesterday in Kandahar, when two police officers turned their weapons on US forces, killing³ one of them. The number of such attacks is more than double what it was in 2011. In Washington, President Obama was asked about the rising number of attacks on coalition⁴ troops. He says in order to train Afghan forces effectively, both sides have to remain in close proximity⁵ cautiously. 

 

“Part of what we've got to do is to make sure that this model works, but it doesn't make our guys more vulnerable. In the long term, we will see fewer US causalities and coalition casualties by sticking to our transition plan and making sure that we've got the most effective Afghan security force possible. But we've got to do it in a way that doesn't leave our guys vulnerable.”

 

The president made an unannounced appearance at the daily White House briefing today after facing growing criticism that he wasn't making himself more available to reporters for questioning. 

 

Republicans Mitt⁶ Romney and Paul Ryan reunited on the campaign trail today in New Hampshire. NPR's Ari Shapiro reports it was the running mate’s first appearance together since Ryan joined the ticket more than a week ago.

 

The Romney campaign originally wanted to announce Paul Ryan's addition to the ticket here in New Hampshire. The scheduling didn't work out. But the sweeping⁷ uptakes of this town hall meeting suggested what a VP rollout might have looked like here. The setting was made for campaign ads with thousands of people on a grassy⁸ college campus and a massive banner saying America's combat team hanging on an ivy-covered red brick building. 

 

“I know you're not here just because I'm your best buddy⁹ or Paul is, or you're just die-hard Republicans, you're concerned about the country.”

 

This is Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney's first unscripted moment answering questions from voters together. Romney insisted that Ryan take a crack at every answer. Now they split off again, Ryan to campaign in Pennsylvania and Romney to fundraise in New Orleans. Ari Shapiro, NPR News, traveling with the Romney campaign.

 

The Augusta National Golf Club is allowing entry to female members for the first time in its 80-year history. It's welcoming former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and South Carolina financier Darla Moore.

 

The 62-year-old attempting a record 103-mile swim from Florida to Cuba is set to be back on track after having a pretty tough night. Diana Nyad endured jellyfish stings as well as a storm. Her support team tweeted that all hell broke loose last night as the storm temporarily blew Nyad off course.

 

At last check on Wall Street, Dow was down ten points at 13,265; NASDAQ off four points. 

 

This is NPR News.

 

The Taylor Bridge fire in Washington state still not contained. We have the latest from Sara Lerner of member station KOUW.

 

The fire has spread over 35 square miles. Mick Mueller is a spokesperson at the fire command center. He says he’s optimistic about current efforts, but he’s very nervous about how dry the forest is.

 

“We have six more weeks of fire season, and we have the Labor¹⁰ Day weekend coming up where everybody is gonna wide go out in the woods one last time. The woods are so timber dry, and they’re gonna want to have their campfire to set fire rings. And if you want to go out on motorcycle, people have to be so careful in the woods.”

 

More than 1,000 firefighters are on the Taylor Bridge fire. And Mueller says no one can be pulled off to fight new ones. For NPR News, I'm Sara Lerner in Seattle. 

 

While speaking of, firefighters across the Western US are continuing to battle a series of raging blazes. And of course the latest round of fires were sparked mostly by lightning strikes. Crews in Northern California are trying to gain control of that rapidly growing fire that has destroyed at least seven homes and forced thousands of people to flee.

 

An autopsy¹¹ report says the death of a man who was shot in the head while his hands were cuffed¹² behind him in an Arkansas patrol car was a suicide. Police have said officers had frisked Chavis Carter twice after traffic stop without finding a gun before he was fatally shot last month.

 

Tributes are pouring in for Hollywood director Tony Scott who reportedly killed himself over the weekend in California. Scott's movies included “Top Gun,” “Crimson Tide” and “Unstoppable.” They kept audiences at the edge of their seats with pulse-pounding action that had come to characterize his films.

 

This is NPR.

1 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

2 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

3 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

4 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。

5 proximity   

n.接近，邻近

参考例句：

• Marriages in proximity of blood are forbidden by the law.法律规定禁止近亲结婚。
• Their house is in close proximity to ours.他们的房子很接近我们的。

6 mitt   

n.棒球手套，拳击手套，无指手套；vt.铐住，握手

参考例句：

• I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日，我送给他一只棒球手套。
• Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。

7 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

8 grassy   

adj.盖满草的；长满草的

参考例句：

• They sat and had their lunch on a grassy hillside.他们坐在长满草的山坡上吃午饭。
• Cattle move freely across the grassy plain.牛群自由自在地走过草原。

9 buddy   

n.（美口）密友，伙伴

参考例句：

• Calm down,buddy.What's the trouble?压压气，老兄。有什么麻烦吗？
• Get out of my way,buddy!别挡道了，你这家伙！

10 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。

11 autopsy   

n.尸体解剖；尸检

参考例句：

• They're carrying out an autopsy on the victim.他们正在给受害者验尸。
• A hemorrhagic gut was the predominant lesion at autopsy.尸检的主要发现是肠出血。

12 cuffed   

v.掌打，拳打( cuff的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She cuffed the boy on the side of the head. 她向这男孩的头上轻轻打了一巴掌。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mother cuffed the dog when she found it asleep on a chair. 妈妈发现狗睡在椅子上就用手把狗打跑了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》