NPR美国国家公共电台 NPR 2013-11-26

 On Capitol Hill, skepticism towards the agreement with Iran on curbing¹ its nuclear activities. Tehran has agreed to stop enriching weapons grade uranium for six months in return for some sanctions relief. But Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss says Iran can’t be trusted. 

 

They continue to hide their development of these weapons and you know, in spite of their agreement here to reduce the enrichment, the 20 percent stockpile they have enriched, they can go to North Korea and buy that from them in a heartbeat. 

 

Secretary of State John Kerry insisted the agreement includes verification of Iran’s activities. 

 

Afghan President Hamid Karzai now says he will sign a security agreement with the U.S. until there’s peace in Afghanistan. NPR’s Sean Carberry reports Karzai issued his latest position while addressing the closing session of the Loya Jirga or Grand Assembly in Kabul today. 

 

The Loya Jirga that Karzai convened² to debate the proposed security agreement overwhelmingly approved the deal that will allow thousands of U.S. troops to remain in Afghanistan after 2014. And they called on the president to sign as soon as possible. Karzai said several days ago he would not sign until after the presidential election next spring. But his latest statements create even more uncertainty³. Karzai claims that if the U.S. is sincere and brings peace to Afghanistan, he will sign the security agreement. The U.S. embassy in Kabul says it’s still studying Karzai’s latest speech and says the deal should be signed quickly. Sean Carberry, NPR News, Kabul.

 

Egypt’s interim⁴ president is banning public gatherings⁵ of more than 10 people without prior approval. Violators face hefty fines and prison. President  Adli Mansour signed the law today as thousands of protestors were in the streets of Cairo. 

 

Voters in Honduras went to the polls today to choose a new president. The election comes four years after a coup⁶. Hondurans have a lot of stake. The country has the world’s highest murder rate, drug trafficking and corruptions⁷ are rampant⁸. And as NPR’s Carrie Kahn tells us from Hondurans, the economy is on the brink⁹ of collapse¹⁰.  

 

What they are going to take care of, most definitely the economy. It’s in shambles¹¹. And both of the two major contenders those are at the top of the polls say that they need to reengage with the IMF which is most important they lost IMF funding, a cooperation with the IMF after the coup. And they need that money. Honduras is in incredible debt. It can’t pay its workers, it can’t pay its doctors, teachers. It’s borrowing on the international market. Both have said they will engage with the IMF. But that’s a very difficult thing that implies a lot of austerity measures in that country where there is underemployment and unemployment of 2/3 of the people. It’s going to be very difficult to implement¹² all that. So going forward, it’s going to be challenging whoever wins this election. NPR’s Carrie Kahn in Honduras. 

 

This is NPR.

 

The winter storm that’s caused flooding, snow and hundreds of accidents and has linked to at least eight deaths in the western U.S. is now moving south and east. NPR’s Sarah Varney reports .

 

As the storm moves out of the west, it’s expected to create more hazardous¹³ conditions on roads and could cause delays for air travel. And according to Brian Cordy of the National Weather Service, the problem with this storm is its timing¹⁴, right around the busy Thanksgiving holiday travel. 

 

People traveling in the southeastern U.S. on Tuesday and into early Wednesday are going to be affected¹⁵ significantly, and then people in the northeast, basically on Wednesday and then into Thursday are going to be affected. 

 

Among them, many accidents caused as a result of the storm so far, was one that injured three members of country singer William Nilson's band in Sulphur Springs Texas. Sara Wintry , NPR News.

 

The average price for a gallon of gas across the country is reversing course and edging up. Analyst¹⁶ Trilby Lundberg says it’s the first price hike since September 6th.

 

In these two weeks, the price of regular grade is up 3% to $3.25 and just prior to now they had crashed by 37 cents per gallon over nine weeks.

 

Lundberg says crude oil has become more expensive and refiners can’t cut prices any more.

 

The new Hunger Game sequel  Catching¹⁷ Fire is setting a record at the box office.  It’s taking in more than $161 million. The most for a November opening. And Catching Fire is doing far better in overseas than the 2012 original, taking in more than $146 million internationally.

 

I’m Barbara Klein, NPR News, in Washington.

 

1 curbing   

n.边石，边石的材料v.限制，克制，抑制( curb的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Progress has been made in curbing inflation. 在控制通货膨胀方面已取得了进展。
• A range of policies have been introduced aimed at curbing inflation. 为了抑制通货膨胀实施了一系列的政策。

2 convened   

召开( convene的过去式 )； 召集； （为正式会议而）聚集； 集合

参考例句：

• The chairman convened the committee to put the issue to a vote. 主席召集委员们开会对这个问题进行表决。
• The governor convened his troops to put down the revolt. 总督召集他的部队去镇压叛乱。

3 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

4 interim   

adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间

参考例句：

• The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
• It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。

5 gatherings   

聚集( gathering的名词复数 )； 收集； 采集； 搜集

参考例句：

• His conduct at social gatherings created a lot of comment. 他在社交聚会上的表现引起许多闲话。
• During one of these gatherings a pupil caught stealing. 有一次，其中一名弟子偷窃被抓住。

6 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

7 corruptions   

n.堕落( corruption的名词复数 )；腐化；腐败；贿赂

参考例句：

• He stressed the corruptions of sin. 他强调了罪恶的腐朽。 来自互联网

8 rampant   

adj.(植物)蔓生的；狂暴的，无约束的

参考例句：

• Sickness was rampant in the area.该地区疾病蔓延。
• You cannot allow children to rampant through the museum.你不能任由小孩子在博物馆里乱跑。

9 brink   

n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿

参考例句：

• The tree grew on the brink of the cliff.那棵树生长在峭壁的边缘。
• The two countries were poised on the brink of war.这两个国家处于交战的边缘。

10 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。

11 shambles   

n.混乱之处；废墟

参考例句：

• My room is a shambles.我房间里乱七八糟。
• The fighting reduced the city to a shambles.这场战斗使这座城市成了一片废墟。

12 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

13 hazardous   

adj.(有)危险的，冒险的；碰运气的

参考例句：

• These conditions are very hazardous for shipping.这些情况对航海非常不利。
• Everybody said that it was a hazardous investment.大家都说那是一次危险的投资。

14 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

15 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

16 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

17 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。