NPR美国国家公共电台 NPR 2013-12-24

 Extreme weather is continuing to re-havoc across the US. Higher than normal temperatures have been recorded in several cities as a tornado¹ touched down in Arkansas, and 4 people were killed in a flood in Kentucky. NPR’s Martin Kaste reports snow and ice storm have left hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses without electricity. 

The National Weather Service calls this storm system multifaceted. That put in mildly and the ice storm is bearing down on northern New York State from Vermont to New Hampshire, while Michigan is coping with power outages due to a frozen rain. At the same time, New York City, Philadelphiaand Washington D.C. are experiencing a heat wave with a height in the 70c. Pre-Christmas travellers may need to change their plans as hundreds of flights have been cancelled at airport hubs in Chicago, Dallas and Huston. Martin Kaste, NPR News.

 

The International Monetary² Fund is predicting the US economy will expand at a fast pace in next year. IMF manager director Christine Lagarde told the NBC Meet the Press today that positive economic data and some signs of compromising Congress are the driving factors. 

“Seeing a budget deal, seeing tapering³ by the Fed, which is a sign of confidence in the real economy, should lead them to invest, to hire and to be more confident.”

Lagarde also praised the US Federal Reserve’s communication up its decision last week to start scale back its massive monetary stimulus⁴. 

 

The average US price of gasoline has dipped 0.2 a gallon in the past 2 weeks after a monthly increase, the latest Lambert Survey says the average price for a gallon at regular is now $3.26. 

 

Israeli politicians say they’re surprised by documents released by Edward Snowden, showing that US spied on Israel. As NPR’s Emily Harris reports, much reaction in Israel is focusing on a spy in a US prison. 

New documents released by Snowden showed the UK and US spy agencies targeted at certain E-mails used by top Israeli leaders between 2008 and 2011. Several Israeli ministers are demanding that spy stop, but others said they have long assumed that their communications are intercepted⁵. Many here say this new leaks strengthen Israel government that a spy in US prison should be freed. Jonathan Pollard was sentenced to life in prison in 1987 for passing Americans secretly to Israel. He has become an Israel cause as successive Israeli government has lobbied for his freedom. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his cabinet Sunday he constantly raises Pollard’s case with the White House. Emily Harris, NPR News, Jerusalem.

 

President Obama says he may take a further military action to protect Americans in violence-plagued South Sudan. US troops have safely evacuated⁶ Americans from the area. 

 

This is NPR. 

 

Authorities in Bangladesh have charged the owner of a garment factory that caught fire in last year with homicide. 112 workers were killed, 11 others employees also face charges. Police say when the fire alarm sounded, the managers and security guards told workers that was a routine fire drill and they went back to work. The factory also has no emergence⁷ access. Those charges could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted. 

 

Former Russian oil tycoon⁸ Mikhail Khodorkovsky says he would stand off politics as he’s free. He was released last week after serving 10 years in prison. NPR’s Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson reports from Berlin where he met today with reporters. 

Unemotional Khodorkovsky thanked German Chancellor⁹ Angela Merkel and others for his release Friday. He didn’t include Russian leader Vladimir Putin, who pardoned him. Khodorkovsky told reporters that he will continue to work to bring attention to other Russian political prisoners. But he said through an interpreter that he will not return to Russia for now because he fears he’ll be arrested again.

“I thought that doubtable president Putin said in @@ his press conferences. The third case against me would disappear but sadly not everybody in Russia in view of Russian security. I probably believe that.”

He was convicted twice before a financial crime which many observers see were political motivated cases. Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson, NPR News, Berlin.

 

Several people were injured after a freight train derailment in the Nairobi slum of Kibera, Kenya officials say many people were not in their homes at the time of the crash. The train was on its way to Uganda. 

1 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。

2 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

3 tapering   

adj.尖端细的

参考例句：

• Interest in the scandal seems to be tapering off. 人们对那件丑闻的兴趣似乎越来越小了。
• Nonproductive expenditures keep tapering down. 非生产性开支一直在下降。

4 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

5 intercepted   

拦截( intercept的过去式和过去分词 )； 截住； 截击； 拦阻

参考例句：

• Reporters intercepted him as he tried to leave the hotel. 他正要离开旅馆，记者们把他拦截住了。
• Reporters intercepted him as he tried to leave by the rear entrance. 他想从后门溜走，记者把他截住了。

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 emergence   

n.浮现，显现，出现，（植物）突出体

参考例句：

• The last decade saw the emergence of a dynamic economy.最近10年见证了经济增长的姿态。
• Language emerges and develops with the emergence and development of society.语言是随着社会的产生而产生，随着社会的发展而发展的。

8 tycoon   

n.有钱有势的企业家，大亨

参考例句：

• The tycoon is on the verge of bankruptcy.那名大亨濒临破产的边缘。
• The tycoon has many servants to minister to his needs.那位大亨有很多人服侍他。

9 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。