NPR 2008-06-15

Clean water is now a major concern in Cedar¹ Rapids, Iowa where the downtown area is submerged under murky² flood waters that have contaminated several collection wells. City officials say supplies of drinking water may last only three or four days unless people conserve³. More than 24, 000 people were forced to flee their homes, including Marjorie Freese who was reluctant to leave. “My house burnt a year and a half ago and I just got it all put back together. Everything new and everything..and then they tell me  I have to leave and I just want to stay until the very last, until I, until I had to leave.”

Flood waters breached⁴ a levee in a neighborhood of Des Moines this morning and officials are concerned that a mile-long wall of sandbags and dirt in that area may also be overrun. But the voluntary evacuation elsewhere in Des Moines is being lifted at this hour. Iowa Public Radio's Pat Blank has more.

The wall was built after the river punched a hole in the levee, allowing water to stream into a neighborhood in the northern part of the city. Several homes and businesses had already been voluntarily evacuated⁵, but a mandatory⁶ evacuation has now been ordered for another 300 homes. Other levees are holding and the downtown is not threatened. In all, nine rivers in Iowa are at record levels, and 83 of the state's 99 counties have been declared disaster areas. For NPR News, I'm Pat Blank in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

Iran has again ruled out suspending uranium enrichment activities, despite a new offer from the United States and five other nations for trade and other incentives⁷ if it does so. President Bush criticized Iran's failure to accept the proposal which was presented by European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana. But Teri Schultz reports from Brussels that Solana remains⁸ hopeful.

Solana is expressing an unusual level of optimism: there may soon be talks between Tehran and the countries calling on it to suspend its uranium enrichment program. “I think we are in front of a win-win situation. Iran gets cooperation from international community and we get reassurances⁹ that we need that the program is for peaceful purposes.” Solana says he hopes to get an official response soon on whether Teheran is willing to sit down with the U. S. , Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia based on the package he presented. He also asserts there's common ground between this offer and a proposal from Tehran. However, Solana's upbeat summary did not resolve the obstacle that major powers still insist Iran suspend uranium enrichment, and Iran still says that's out of the question. For NPR News, I'm Teri Schultz in Brussels.

 With twin sonic booms announcing its arrival, the space shuttle Discovery landed safely at the Kennedy Space Center today. NASA's Rob Navias described the touchdown. “Discovery rolling out on runway 15 of the Kennedy Space Center, wrapping up a 5. 7-million-mile mission to further expand the global city in space. " Discovery completing a two-week mission to the International Space Station.

This is NPR News from Washington.

Treasury¹⁰ Secretary Henry Paulson and other finance officials from the world's major industrial nations, the G8, have wrapped up talks in Japan with a statement warning that soaring oil and food costs pose a serious threat to global economic growth. They urged oil-producing nations to boost output and they called for assistance to address food shortages in developing nations. Steve Beckner of Market News International has the story.

 In a communique, the G8 finance ministers said the world economy is facing headwinds and downside risks. They warned further declines in home prices and greater financial turmoil¹¹ could hurt economic growth. They said elevated oil and food prices not only threaten growth but boost inflation pressures. They vowed¹² to take appropriate actions individually and collectively to secure economic stability. The G8 policy makers¹³ said financial markets have improved somewhat, but said strains remain, and agreed to take steps to strengthen the resilience of the financial system. Since Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and the other top central bankers were not there, the G8 communique did not address the weak dollar. But it was discussed. And Paulson reiterated¹⁴ that a strong dollar is in the U. S. interest. For NPR News, I'm Steve Beckner.

 Democrats chose a middle school teacher from New York State to give the party's radio address today to underline the financial pinch being felt by many Americans. Jeff Alberici says just putting food on the table has become a challenge. “We used to spend about ($) 125 a week at the supermarket. Now, it's at least ($) 200. And our kids are definitely not eating twice as much.” Alberici says he will vote Democratic in the fall because he believes the party understands better than the GOP the problems faced by American families.

1 cedar   

n.雪松，香柏(木)

参考例句：

• The cedar was about five feet high and very shapely.那棵雪松约有五尺高,风姿优美。
• She struck the snow from the branches of an old cedar with gray lichen.她把长有灰色地衣的老雪松树枝上的雪打了下来。

2 murky   

adj.黑暗的，朦胧的；adv.阴暗地，混浊地；n.阴暗；昏暗

参考例句：

• She threw it into the river's murky depths.她把它扔进了混浊的河水深处。
• She had a decidedly murky past.她的历史背景令人捉摸不透。

3 conserve   

vt.保存，保护，节约，节省，守恒，不灭

参考例句：

• He writes on both sides of the sheet to conserve paper.他在纸张的两面都写字以节省用纸。
• Conserve your energy,you'll need it!保存你的精力，你会用得着的！

4 breached   

攻破( breach的现在分词 )； 破坏，违反

参考例句：

• These commitments have already been breached. 这些承诺已遭背弃。
• Our tanks have breached the enemy defences. 我方坦克车突破了敌人的防线。

5 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。

6 mandatory   

adj.命令的；强制的；义务的；n.受托者

参考例句：

• It's mandatory to pay taxes.缴税是义务性的。
• There is no mandatory paid annual leave in the U.S.美国没有强制带薪年假。

7 incentives   

激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 )； 刺激； 诱因； 动机

参考例句：

• tax incentives to encourage savings 鼓励储蓄的税收措施
• Furthermore, subsidies provide incentives only for investments in equipment. 更有甚者，提供津贴仅是为鼓励增添设备的投资。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

8 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。

9 reassurances   

n.消除恐惧或疑虑( reassurance的名词复数 )；恢复信心；使人消除恐惧或疑虑的事物；使人恢复信心的事物

参考例句：

• We have had some reassurances from the council that the building will be saved. 理事会保证会保留那座建筑，这使我们得到了些许安慰。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Everybody's reassurances have encouraged me. 大家的勉励鼓舞了我。 来自辞典例句

10 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

11 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。

12 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

13 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 reiterated   

反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• "Well, I want to know about it,'she reiterated. “嗯，我一定要知道你的休假日期，"她重复说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Some twenty-two years later President Polk reiterated and elaborated upon these principles. 大约二十二年之后，波尔克总统重申这些原则并且刻意阐释一番。