NPR美国国家公共电台 NPR 2014-04-30

 More reports of deadly tornados² across the south today, a day after 17 people died as the result of violence storm in the majority in the Arkansas. There are reports tonight of more deaths in Alabama. But half of dozen deaths have been reportedly at least two of them at mobile home party west of Arkansas. In Mississippi, there were also reports of tornado¹ touchdowns today. Brian Corbett, Mississippi’s emergency management agency’s spokesman, says residents are not out of the wood yet.

 

The entire state is still in risk. People do not need what they guard down. We have several more hours of this before this thing pass.

 

Tornado has flattened⁴ homes and business, swept over vehicles on highways. In some ways, strongest hit Arkansas, tornado cut 80 miles long path of destruction through state.

 

Russian officials are dismissing the latest sanction imposed by the US and the west over the Ukraine crisis. NPR’s Corey Flintoff has more.

 

The United States imposed sanctions on seven top Russian officials in 17 companies linked to President Vladimir Putin in their circle. Among the official’s name is president of giant state oil company Rosneft, the company is included the Volga group which belongs to Kremlin insider Gennay Timchenko who is already on the sanction’s list. The spokesman for the company denounced the sanction as politically motivated. Some Russian analysts⁵ say the sanctions are likely to be inconvenient⁶ for those on the list but would not cost immediate⁷ harm to Russia’s economy. Corey Flintoff, NPR News, Moscow.

 

Pharmaceutical⁸ maker⁹ Pfizer says it wants to acquire its British rival AstraZeneca for nearly 100 billion dollars. NPR’s James Roly reports AstraZeneca is rejecting that offer as it is too low.

 

Pfizer said it made its first offer in January and then try to reinitiate talks few days ago but AstraZeneca has refused to negotiate and says the deal undervalues the company very significantly. A merge³ will greatly increase Pfizer’s pipeline¹⁰ of diabetes¹¹ and cancer drugs and also mean tax and cost savings¹². Pfizer based in New York but will reincorporate the combined company in Britain to save money on taxes. Under British law Pfizer now has until May 26 to persuade its offer or back out. The offer comes at the time when profits are rebounding¹³ in pharmaceutical industry and more and more drug companies are merging¹⁴ or doing deals. James Roly, NPR News, New York.

 

More people were signing contract to buy home in March. The number of signed contracts up the first time since last June as the housing market continues to pick up after fairly sluggish¹⁵ start to the year. National Association of Realtors says its Pending¹⁶ Homes Sales Indexes designed to measure whether the house market is head down the road was up 3.4% last month.

 

On Wall Street, the volatile¹⁷ session but the blue chip ended higher. The DOW was up 87 points, close at 16,448. The NASDAQ fell a point. The S&P 500 rose six points today.

 

You are listening to NPR News in Washington.

 

Microsoft said it is aware of security gap on its Internet explorer browser¹⁸ that could allow somebody to take control of computer by getting user to click on malicious¹⁹ website. According to the software company, the vulnerability affects version six to eleven of its explorer web browser and the company says it is aware what it cause some limited target attacks. The company says it is working on the fix that provides upcoming software update.

 

US and the Philippines formalized the deal today that will see more American troops stopping there. From Manila Simone Orendain reports it will have strong support which is in the heated territorial²⁰ row with China.

 

The ten-year pack will give the US places to store hardware and access that will be ready for deployment²¹. The Philippine constitution does not allow permanent foreign bases but American troops will have temporary facilities at selected Philippines outpost. US ambassador to the Philippines Philip S. Goldberg says the deal contains the numerous benefits to both countries.

 

And the understanding that the United States does not intend to establish a permanent military presence in the Philippines.

 

The Philippines is trying to update its military and it sees the agreement as a boost that will help form its minimum creditable defense²² posture²³. The US is shifting its foreign policy toward Asia where China continues to expand its military. For NPR News, I am Simone Orendain in Manila.

 

First solar eclipse of the year, it set for tomorrow though you apparently²⁴ have to be pretty south of the equator to see it. According to officials, the solar eclipse will be visible in Antarctic, Australia and in the southern Indian Ocean about 2 A.M. Eastern Time Tuesday. In October, a partial solar eclipse will be visible from North America. And two solar eclipses will occur this year when the moon lines up between the earth and the sun.

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 tornados   

n.龙卷风，旋风( tornado的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• And the national weather service reports several tornados touch down. 国家气象中心报告预测龙卷风将来袭。 来自互联网
• They had stock footage of lightning, tornados, and hurricanes. 他们存有关于闪电、龙卷风和飓风的电影胶片。 来自互联网

3 merge   

v.(使)结合，(使)合并，(使)合为一体

参考例句：

• I can merge my two small businesses into a large one.我可以将我的两家小商店合并为一家大商行。
• The directors have decided to merge the two small firms together.董事们已决定把这两家小商号归并起来。

4 flattened   

[医]（水）平扁的，弄平的

参考例句：

• She flattened her nose and lips against the window. 她把鼻子和嘴唇紧贴着窗户。
• I flattened myself against the wall to let them pass. 我身体紧靠着墙让他们通过。

5 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

6 inconvenient   

adj.不方便的，令人感到麻烦的

参考例句：

• You have come at a very inconvenient time.你来得最不适时。
• Will it be inconvenient for him to attend that meeting?他参加那次会议会不方便吗？

7 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

8 pharmaceutical   

adj.药学的，药物的；药用的，药剂师的

参考例句：

• She has donated money to establish a pharmaceutical laboratory.她捐款成立了一个药剂实验室。
• We are engaged in a legal tussle with a large pharmaceutical company.我们正同一家大制药公司闹法律纠纷。

9 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

10 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。

11 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

12 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

13 rebounding   

蹦跳运动

参考例句：

• The strength of negative temperature concrete is tested with supersonic-rebounding method. 本文将超声回弹综合法用于负温混凝土强度检测。
• The fundamental of basketball includes shooting, passing and catching, rebounding, etc. 篮球运动中最基本的东西包括投篮，传接球，篮板球等。

14 merging   

合并（分类）

参考例句：

• Many companies continued to grow by merging with or buying competing firms. 许多公司通过合并或收买竞争对手的公司而不断扩大。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• To sequence by repeated splitting and merging. 用反复分开和合并的方法进行的排序。

15 sluggish   

adj.懒惰的，迟钝的，无精打采的

参考例句：

• This humid heat makes you feel rather sluggish.这种湿热的天气使人感到懒洋洋的。
• Circulation is much more sluggish in the feet than in the hands.脚部的循环比手部的循环缓慢得多。

16 pending   

prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的

参考例句：

• The lawsuit is still pending in the state court.这案子仍在州法庭等待定夺。
• He knew my examination was pending.他知道我就要考试了。

17 volatile   

adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile,investments are at great risk.由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。
• His character was weak and volatile.他这个人意志薄弱，喜怒无常。

18 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

19 malicious   

adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的

参考例句：

• You ought to kick back at such malicious slander. 你应当反击这种恶毒的污蔑。
• Their talk was slightly malicious.他们的谈话有点儿心怀不轨。

20 territorial   

adj.领土的，领地的

参考例句：

• The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
• They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。

21 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

22 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

23 posture   

n.姿势，姿态，心态，态度；v.作出某种姿势

参考例句：

• The government adopted an uncompromising posture on the issue of independence.政府在独立这一问题上采取了毫不妥协的态度。
• He tore off his coat and assumed a fighting posture.他脱掉上衣，摆出一副打架的架势。

24 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。