NPR 2009-11-23

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Craig Windham.

Some of the moderate Senators who cast crucial votes to move a sweeping¹ health care overhaul² bill to the Senate floor for debate say the legislation will have to be changed before they would support letting it come up for a final vote. More from NPR's David Welna.

Despite having voted to let the health care bill debate proceed, Connecticut independent Joe Lieberman still opposes the public insurance option in that bill. He told NBC’s “Meet the Press” he may join a GOP filibuster⁴ to block a final vote on the bill. "If the public option is still in there, the only resort we have is to say ‘no’ at the end to reporting the bill off the floor." Nebraska Democrat⁵ Ben Nelson told ABC’s “This Week” he too might take such action. "It depends on what the public option is. I'm opposed to the public option of where the states have to opt³ out. I said I would look at a public option where states could opt in." Ohio Democrat Sherrod Brown scolded his holdout colleagues on CNN’s “State of the Union”. "I don’t want four Democratic Senators dictating⁶ to the other 56 of us and to the country when the public option has this much support. That is not gonna be in it." David Welna, NPR News, the Capitol.

The lawyer for one of the codefendants who will be tried in New York for their alleged⁸ roles in the 9/11 attacks says all five intend to plead not guilty, so they can express their viewpoints during the hearings. NPR's Dina Temple-Raston has the story.

One of the criticisms leveled against the decision to try the 9/11 suspects in a US criminal court is that it would give the defendants⁷ a world stage for their views. Now one of the defendant's lawyers say that while the men would not deny their role in the 2001 attacks, they would plead not guilty, so they can explain what happened and why they did it. Scott Fenstermaker is defending one of the five men. He met with his client Ali al-Aziz Ali last week in Guantanamo Bay and said Ali told them the defendants would use their trial to explain their negative views on American foreign policy. News of the pleas first appeared in the New York Times. Dina Temple-Raston, NPR News, New York.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is sending investigators⁹ to the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania after a small amount of radiation was found there. Beth Archer¹⁰ is a spokeswoman for Exelon Nuclear which runs the plant. “No contamination was found outside of the containment¹¹ building. There is no threat to public health and safety. And radiological surveys showed that the contamination was confined to surfaces inside the containment building.” About 150 employees were sent home yesterday as a precaution. In 1979 there was a partial meltdown in one of the reactors¹² at Three Mile Island.

Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak is urging his Israeli counterpart Shimon Peres to reconsider Israeli plans to build 900 new apartments in a Jewish neighborhood of East Jerusalem. Mubarak said the plans are another impediment to a final of Middle East peace accord. Palestinians have refused to restart peace talks unless there is a total halt in Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

This is NPR News from Washington.

A pack of bulls broke through a security barrier on a movie set in Spain today, triggering panic in streets. Two people were injured. Jerome Socolovsky has more.

The Bull Run was being rehearsed in Cadiz for a scene in an upcoming action film starring Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz. After a bull knocked over the barrier, the pack went charging through the narrow alleys¹³ of the ancient port city. Crowds that had gathered to watch the filming found themselves caught in an impromptu¹⁴ no-holds-barred running of the bulls. After 40 minutes of panic, the thousand-pound animals were finally rounded up on the beach. One local councilman is accusing the city government of overlooking safety measures in its effort to please Hollywood filmmakers. The city has suspended the shoot. For NPR News, I'm Jerome Socolovsky in Madrid.

The astronauts on the Space Shuttle Atlantis had most of the day off as they gear up for another spacewalk outside the International Space Station tomorrow. Astronaut Randy Bresnik today announced that his wife had finally given birth to their second child back in Houston, 220 miles below where Atlantis was orbiting. The baby had been due on Friday night. “I want to take this opportunity to report some good news. At 11: 04 last night Abigail Mae Bresnik joined the NASA family, and mama and baby are doing very well.” The baby's birth occurred after the Atlantis crew had gone to sleep last night. Bresnik's wife Rebecca is an attorney specializing in international law at the Johnson's Space Center in Houston. Atlantis is scheduled to return to earth on Friday.

I'm Craig Windham, NPR News in Washington.

 

1 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

2 overhaul   

v./n.大修，仔细检查

参考例句：

• Master Worker Wang is responsible for the overhaul of this grinder.王师傅主修这台磨床。
• It is generally appreciated that the rail network needs a complete overhaul.众所周知，铁路系统需要大检修。

3 opt   

vi.选择，决定做某事

参考例句：

• They opt for more holiday instead of more pay.他们选择了延长假期而不是增加工资。
• Will individual schools be given the right to opt out of the local school authority?各个学校可能有权选择退出地方教育局吗？

4 filibuster   

n.妨碍议事，阻挠；v.阻挠

参考例句：

• A senator dragged the subject in as a filibuster.一个参议员硬把这个题目拉扯进来，作为一种阻碍议事的手法。
• The democrats organized a filibuster in the senate.民主党党员在参议院上组织了阻挠议事。

5 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

6 dictating   

v.大声讲或读( dictate的现在分词 )；口授；支配；摆布

参考例句：

• The manager was dictating a letter to the secretary. 经理在向秘书口授信稿。 来自辞典例句
• Her face is impassive as she listens to Miller dictating the warrant for her arrest. 她毫无表情地在听米勒口述拘留她的证书。 来自辞典例句

7 defendants   

被告( defendant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The courts heard that the six defendants had been coerced into making a confession. 法官审判时发现6位被告人曾被迫承认罪行。
• As in courts, the defendants are represented by legal counsel. 与法院相同，被告有辩护律师作为代表。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

8 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

9 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 archer   

n.射手，弓箭手

参考例句：

• The archer strung his bow and aimed an arrow at the target.弓箭手拉紧弓弦将箭瞄准靶子。
• The archer's shot was a perfect bull's-eye.射手的那一箭正中靶心。

11 containment   

n.阻止，遏制；容量

参考例句：

• Your list might include such things as cost containment,quality,or customer satisfaction.你的清单上应列有诸如成本控制、产品质量、客户满意程度等内容。
• Insularity and self-containment,it is argued,go hand in hand.他们争论说，心胸狭窄和自我封闭是并存的。

12 reactors   

起反应的人( reactor的名词复数 )； 反应装置； 原子炉； 核反应堆

参考例句：

• The TMI nuclear facility has two reactors. 三哩岛核设施有两个反应堆。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• The earliest production reactors necessarily used normal uranium as fuel. 最早为生产用的反应堆，必须使用普通铀作为燃料。

13 alleys   

胡同，小巷( alley的名词复数 )； 小径

参考例句：

• I followed him through a maze of narrow alleys. 我紧随他穿过一条条迂迴曲折的窄巷。
• The children lead me through the maze of alleys to the edge of the city. 孩子们领我穿过迷宫一般的街巷，来到城边。

14 impromptu   

adj.即席的，即兴的；adv.即兴的(地)，无准备的(地)

参考例句：

• The announcement was made in an impromptu press conference at the airport.这一宣布是在机场举行的临时新闻发布会上作出的。
• The children put on an impromptu concert for the visitors.孩子们为来访者即兴献上了一场音乐会。