NPR 2010-10-03

There's been another setback¹ to US-sponsored peace talks in the Middle East. After a three-hour meeting, senior Palestinian leaders have decided² that unless Israel halts Jewish construction in the occupied West Bank, Palestinians will withdraw from the negotiations³. NPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro reports from Jerusalem.

This isn't a final decision. So far, the Palestinian leadership headed by President Mahmoud Abbas have not definitively⁴ said they will withdraw from the talks. But today's announcement from the Palestine Liberation Organization and members of the Abbas’s Fatah party is another indication that the talks may collapse⁵ only a month after they began. The United States has been trying to stop that from happening, with US Middle East envoy⁶ George Mitchell engaged here in furious shuttle diplomacy⁷. Palestinians want Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to extend a settlement freeze that expired last week. So far, the Israeli leader has been unwilling⁸ to do so amid fears that his largely right-wing pro-settler coalition⁹ will collapse. The Palestinians say they can't negotiate for peace while land they want for a future state is illegally annexed¹⁰. Lourdes Garcia-Navarro, NPR News, Jerusalem.

US drone missile attacks continue in northwest Pakistan. Intelligence officials say a pair of strikes this morning killed at least 16 suspected militants¹¹. Tensions have been building between the US and Pakistan over recent NATO border incursions and Pakistan has cut off a NATO supply line along the border in retaliation¹².

Last month, Glenn Beck held his “Restoring Honor” rally in Washington. Now, organized labor¹³, civil rights and other groups are trying to energize¹⁴ supporters with a rally at the Lincoln Memorial. NPR's Allison Keyes is in the middle of the crowd.

There are a lot of organizations here. I'm looking at people wearing SEIU. That’s a union. The CWA Union is here. There are military folks here. There are teachers here. A lot of the people said that they came partly because they wanted to show that there's a coalition. They say this is the real America, not the people that have been showing up at the Tea Party and Republican rallies that have been being held across the nation. And they say that they gather strength from being here with so many people from different organizations because they're reminding each other that this is the coalition, they say, that got President Obama elected and this is the same coalition. They say that they're going to keep Democrats¹⁵ in power in the House and Senate in the midterm election.

Organizers call today's event the One Nation Working Together rally.

President Obama says investing in clean energy is essential for the nation's economic security and will create jobs. In his weekly address, Mr. Obama says Republicans are trying to scrap¹⁶ incentives¹⁷ for such projects. He says he wants to spur innovation and help make our economy more competitive.

In the GOP response, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell took aim at government spending and accused the Democrats of maxing out the national credit card on a failed stimulus¹⁹ bill and a government-run health care bill.

This is NPR News from Washington.

Despite a pending¹⁸ legal case from the European Union over discriminatory behavior, France has intensified²⁰ its campaign against the Roma. It started a new policy of fingerprinting²¹ deportees. Frank Browning has more.

French authorities say they will immediately begin fingerprinting any residents here who have received more than 300 euros in public support after they have been expelled from France. Officials say that some 15,000 immigrants received payments last year after being expelled, costing France nine million euros. By fingerprinting the deportees, the government says it can prevent them from returning to collect child aid payments. Human rights groups say that fingerprinting raises new concerns about targeted minorities. For NPR News, I'm Frank Browning.

There was a moment of silence today before the Rutgers football game against Tulane. It was a tribute to Rutgers freshman²² Tyler Clementi, who committed suicide last week after a video of a sexual encounter he had with a man was posted online by fellow students. It's an issue that hits close to home for Judy Shepard. Her son Matthew was tortured and killed in 1998 after being targeted for being gay. Mrs. Shepard talked with NPR's Scott Simon on today's Weekend Edition.

"Bullying²³ has become a phenomena²⁴ that we did not face, or at least I didn’t, in my youth. And now we have the advent²⁵ of the Internet and cyber-bullying and text messaging, and those things which are, which give a feel of anonymity²⁶ that you would do things that you would never do to someone's face."

Judy Shepard co-founded the Matthew Shepard Foundation which promotes tolerance²⁷. She was interviewed by NPR's Scott Simon on today's Weekend Edition.
 

1 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 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。

4 definitively   

adv.决定性地，最后地

参考例句：

• None of the three super-states could be definitively conquered even by the other two in combination. 三个超级国家中的任何一国都不可能被任何两国的联盟所绝对打败。 来自英汉文学
• Therefore, nothing can ever be definitively proved with a photograph. 因此，没有什么可以明确了一张照片。 来自互联网

5 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

6 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

7 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

8 unwilling   

adj.不情愿的

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。

9 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

10 annexed   

[法] 附加的，附属的

参考例句：

• Germany annexed Austria in 1938. 1938年德国吞并了奥地利。
• The outlying villages were formally annexed by the town last year. 那些偏远的村庄于去年正式被并入该镇。

11 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

12 retaliation   

n.报复，反击

参考例句：

• retaliation against UN workers 对联合国工作人员的报复
• He never said a single word in retaliation. 他从未说过一句反击的话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

14 energize   

vt.给予(某人或某物)精力、能量

参考例句：

• It is used to energize the city.它的作用是为城市供给能量。
• This is a great way to energize yourself and give yourself more power!这种方法非常棒，可以激活你的能量，让你有更多的活力！

15 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 scrap   

n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废

参考例句：

• A man comes round regularly collecting scrap.有个男人定时来收废品。
• Sell that car for scrap.把那辆汽车当残品卖了吧。

17 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

18 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。

19 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。

20 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 fingerprinting   

v.指纹( fingerprint的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Institutions from banks to pawnshops are fingerprinting to authenticate transactions. 从银行到当铺，都在使用指纹识别对交易进行验证。 来自互联网
• In addition, a digital fingerprinting algorithm based on binary codes is described. 介绍了一种二进制指纹编码方案。 来自互联网

22 freshman   

n.大学一年级学生(可兼指男女)

参考例句：

• Jack decided to live in during his freshman year at college.杰克决定大一时住校。
• He is a freshman in the show business.他在演艺界是一名新手。

23 bullying   

v.恐吓，威逼( bully的现在分词 )；豪；跋扈

参考例句：

• Many cases of bullying go unreported . 很多恐吓案件都没有人告发。
• All cases of bullying will be severely dealt with. 所有以大欺小的情况都将受到严肃处理。 来自《简明英汉词典》

24 phenomena   

n.现象

参考例句：

• Ade couldn't relate the phenomena with any theory he knew.艾德无法用他所知道的任何理论来解释这种现象。
• The object of these experiments was to find the connection,if any,between the two phenomena.这些实验的目的就是探索这两种现象之间的联系，如果存在着任何联系的话。

25 advent   

n.(重要事件等的)到来，来临

参考例句：

• Swallows come by groups at the advent of spring. 春天来临时燕子成群飞来。
• The advent of the Euro will redefine Europe.欧元的出现将重新定义欧洲。

26 anonymity   

n.the condition of being anonymous

参考例句：

• Names of people in the book were changed to preserve anonymity. 为了姓名保密，书中的人用的都是化名。
• Our company promises to preserve the anonymity of all its clients. 我们公司承诺不公开客户的姓名。

27 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。