NPR 2008-06-17

Rain-soaked residents of the Midwest experiencing some of the worst flooding there in 15 years are getting little relief. In the town of Cedar¹ Rapids, Iowa, people have been out of their homes, in some cases, since last week, after the Cedar River overflowed² its banks. Mike Newcomb says he wants to return home but also says in some ways, he feels fortunate.  "What can I do, I mean, I am powerless over doing any of this right now. So, you represent yourself, it could have been worse, you know, you could have been injured."

Downstream in Iowa City, Iowa, things are a bit better while some 400 homes there have suffered damage and a number of buildings on University of Iowa campus were flooded. The town's levees appear to be holding. NPR's Martin Kaste is there and reports on the conditions.

Right now, you can't even get off via aiding into town on one of the main exits. Because of that, basically, we just belch³ a street into a big lake. So, it's hard to get around town right now, you probably get some traffic in the background, that is why the cars waited to get across the Burlington Street Bridge, it's one of the few bridges still open right now. So, there are obstacles, there is standing⁴ water and people have to, sort of, pick their way around the city very carefully right now. NPR's Martin Kaste. The flooding in the Midwest has been blamed for a number of deaths and caused millions of dollars in damage to homes and crops. In some areas, floodwaters have also created a noxious⁵ stew⁶ of farm chemicals and sewage.

Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama says he is expecting to visit Afghanistan and Iraq before the election. He spoke⁷ by phone with Iraq's foreign minister. As NPR's Michele Kelemen reports.

Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari says Obama reassured⁸ him in their phone conversation that there wouldn't be, as the Iraqi official put it, reckless decisions to pull out US troops. "We agreed that the main challenge is to continue this progress of buildup of the Iraqi security forces to be self-sufficent, and this really would mean that there would be less reliance on US troops or forces when they come, come home." He told NPR that he updated Obama on the negotiations⁹ over the future US presence in Iraq. Zebari also met with Republican John McCain, who again criticized Obama's talk about the need for a time-table for withdrawal¹⁰. Michele Kelemen, NPR News, Washington.

Presidential hopeful John McCain again called for an end to a federal moratorium¹¹ on offshore¹² oil and gas drilling as a means to bring down energy prices. Speaking in Arlington, McCain said that states should be given incentives¹³ including a greater share of the royalties¹⁴ paid by companies if they agree to open their waters to drilling. " There are areas off our coasts, that, that should be open to exploration and exploitation, and I hope we can take the first step by lifting a moratorium in order to do so." Presumptive Republican nominee¹⁵ John McCain.

 On Wall Street, the Dow was down 38 points.

This is NPR.

Investment bank Lehman Brothers today revealed a quarterly loss number that was pretty much in line with analysts¹⁶' estimates. The nation's fourth largest investment bank says for its latest quarter, it lost 2. 8 billion dollars, primarily as a result of massive losses on its trading and hedging positions. Lehman says for the quarter ending May 31th, it lost $5. 14 a share, that's compared with net income of 1. 27 billion dollars, the same period a year ago.

Four-time Academy Award winner Stan Winston has died, Winston was the special effects pioneer behind such cinematic spectacles as "Jurassic Park", "Aliens" and "The Terminator". He succumbed¹⁷ to cancer, he was 62 years old. NPR's Nay¹⁸ Demail has more.

Stan Winston is being remembered today as a legend who created legends: The dinosaurs¹⁹ in "Jurassic Park", the aliens in "Aliens", the terminator in "The Terminator", the predator²⁰ in "The Predator", Edwards Scissorhands in that movie. All were brought from the script to the screen by Winston. The Virginia native arrived in California in the late 60s with dreams of making him as an actor. However, it was a makeup²¹ apprenticeship²² at Walt Disney Studios that launched his Hollywood career. By the early 70s, he had started his own makeup and effects company. Television gigs led to Emmy nominations²³ which led to film gigs and to ten Oscar nominations. Winston won four of them. He was diagnosed with multiple myeloma seven years ago, but kept creating until very near the end. The costume for Iron Man, this summer's blockbuster, is a Stan Winston design. Nay Demail, NPR News.

It went into a sudden death, but Tiger Woods pulled out a victory today at the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, Woods defeated Rocco Mediate²⁴ after making birdie on the final hole to push the tournament into sudden death. It was Woods' third US Open victory.

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 overflowed   

溢出的

参考例句：

• Plates overflowed with party food. 聚会上的食物碟满盘盈。
• A great throng packed out the theater and overflowed into the corridors. 一大群人坐满剧院并且还有人涌到了走廊上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 belch   

v.打嗝，喷出

参考例句：

• Cucumber makes me belch.黃瓜吃得我打嗝。
• Plant chimneys belch out dense smoke.工厂的烟囱冒出滚滚浓烟。

4 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

5 noxious   

adj.有害的，有毒的；使道德败坏的，讨厌的

参考例句：

• Heavy industry pollutes our rivers with noxious chemicals.重工业产生的有毒化学品会污染我们的河流。
• Many household products give off noxious fumes.很多家用产品散发有害气体。

6 stew   

n.炖汤，焖，烦恼；v.炖汤，焖，忧虑

参考例句：

• The stew must be boiled up before serving.炖肉必须煮熟才能上桌。
• There's no need to get in a stew.没有必要烦恼。

7 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

8 reassured   

adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The captain's confidence during the storm reassured the passengers. 在风暴中船长的信念使旅客们恢复了信心。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The doctor reassured the old lady. 医生叫那位老妇人放心。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

10 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

11 moratorium   

n.(行动、活动的)暂停(期)，延期偿付

参考例句：

• The government has called for a moratorium on weapons testing.政府已要求暂停武器试验。
• We recommended a moratorium on two particular kinds of experiments.我们建议暂禁两种特殊的实验。

12 offshore   

adj.海面的，吹向海面的；adv.向海面

参考例句：

• A big program of oil exploration has begun offshore.一个大规模的石油勘探计划正在近海展开。
• A gentle current carried them slowly offshore.和缓的潮流慢慢地把他们带离了海岸。

13 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

14 royalties   

特许权使用费

参考例句：

• I lived on about £3,000 a year from the royalties on my book. 我靠着写书得来的每年约3，000英镑的版税生活。 来自辞典例句
• Payments shall generally be made in the form of royalties. 一般应采取提成方式支付。 来自经济法规部分

15 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

16 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。

17 succumbed   

不再抵抗（诱惑、疾病、攻击等）( succumb的过去式和过去分词 )； 屈从； 被压垮； 死

参考例句：

• The town succumbed after a short siege. 该城被围困不久即告失守。
• After an artillery bombardment lasting several days the town finally succumbed. 在持续炮轰数日后，该城终于屈服了。

18 nay   

adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者

参考例句：

• He was grateful for and proud of his son's remarkable,nay,unique performance.他为儿子出色的，不，应该是独一无二的表演心怀感激和骄傲。
• Long essays,nay,whole books have been written on this.许多长篇大论的文章，不，应该说是整部整部的书都是关于这件事的。

19 dinosaurs   

n.恐龙( dinosaur的名词复数 )；守旧落伍的人，过时落后的东西

参考例句：

• The brontosaurus was one of the largest of all dinosaurs. 雷龙是所有恐龙中最大的一种。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years. 恐龙绝种已有几百万年了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 predator   

n.捕食其它动物的动物；捕食者

参考例句：

• The final part of this chapter was devoted to a brief summary of predator species.本章最后部分简要总结了食肉动物。
• Komodo dragon is the largest living lizard and a fearsome predator.科摩多龙是目前存在的最大蜥蜴，它是一种令人恐惧的捕食性动物。

21 makeup   

n.组织；性格；化装品

参考例句：

• Those who failed the exam take a makeup exam.这次考试不及格的人必须参加补考。
• Do you think her beauty could makeup for her stupidity?你认为她的美丽能弥补她的愚蠢吗？

22 apprenticeship   

n.学徒身份；学徒期

参考例句：

• She was in the second year of her apprenticeship as a carpenter. 她当木工学徒已是第二年了。
• He served his apprenticeship with Bob. 他跟鲍勃当学徒。

23 nominations   

n.提名，任命( nomination的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Nominations are invited for the post of party chairman. 为党主席职位征集候选人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Much coverage surrounded his abortive bids for the 1960,1964, and 1968 Republican Presidential nominations. 许多消息报道都围绕着1960年、1964年和1968年他为争取提名为共和党总统候选人所做努力的失败。 来自辞典例句

24 mediate   

vi.调解，斡旋；vt.经调解解决；经斡旋促成

参考例句：

• The state must mediate the struggle for water resources.政府必须通过调解来解决对水资源的争夺。
• They may be able to mediate between parties with different interests.他们也许能在不同利益政党之间进行斡旋。