NPR 2010-07-04

A United Nations spokesman says at least 220 people are dead in the Democratic Republic of Congo after a fuel tanker¹ overturned and exploded. Another 110 people were injured. The BBC's Tom Fessy reports from Kinshasa.

The number of casualties may rise as local and UN rescue teams are evacuating² victims to medical centers. A fuel truck toppled over in the village called Sange about 70 kilometers south of the provincial³ capital Bukavu. The leaking fuel then caught fire and the truck exploded. Many people died as they had gathered around the truck to collect fuel. Several houses were burnt to ashes in a village home to many Congolese soldiers and their families. The origin of the fire is still unclear.

The BBC's Tom Fessy reporting from Kinshasa.

Workers in the Gulf⁴ of Mexico began testing a new skimmer today in their efforts to stop oil from a gushing⁵ well that exploded April 20th. Jeff Brady just got back from viewing the vessel⁶ from the air.

The Coast Guard there is gonna spend the next two days, just seeing how the ship works, how much oil it can take in. But the admiral, who we're traveling with, says there are some concerns because this oil is not out there and mounts big flake⁷. It's actually a little finger in the water.

The owners of the vessel claim it's the largest oil skimmer in the world.

General David Petraeus has made his first public statements after arriving in Kabul to take command of US forces. NPR's Quil Lawrence reports the general encouraged cooperation between the US military and State Department.

General Petraeus flew into Kabul Friday on the same plane as US Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry in an attempt to show that poor relations between the military and the embassy are over. At a Fourth of July celebration at the US Embassy, Petraeus preached teamwork.

"I'm reminded that this is an effort in which we must achieve unity⁸ of effort and common purpose. Civilian⁹ and military, Afghan and international, we are part of one team with one mission."

Petraeus offered the counterinsurgency strategy being applied¹¹ by his predecessor¹², but the general arrives in Afghanistan after almost nine years of US military action has failed to neutralize¹³ the Taliban insurgency¹⁰. He'll take command in an official handover ceremony on Sunday. Quil Lawrence, NPR News Kabul.

Vice¹⁴ President Joe Biden landed in Baghdad today to visit troops over the Fourth of July holiday. President Obama had a special message for the troops in his weekly address.

"I wish every American a safe and happy Fourth of July. And to all our troops serving in harm's way, I want you to know you have the support of a grateful nation and a proud commander-in-chief."

The president also announced his administration is providing two billion dollars in loan guarantees to two solar companies. Senator Saxby Chambliss of Georgia delivered the Republican address and criticized the Democrats¹⁵ for out-of-control spending.

This is NPR News.

Authorities say they've made an arrest in connection with several attacks against police officers in the California city of Hemet. Since December 31st, there have been seven such attacks with booby traps and arson¹⁶, directed against city law enforcement officials. Most recently, a fire was set Monday at a police evidence storage facility. No one has been injured in any of the attacks. The Press-Enterprise reports detectives have made at least one arrest and planned to announce significant developments in the case later today.

Germany rolled over Argentina in today's quarterfinal of the 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa. Vicky O'Hara reports from Johannesburg.

Argentina came to South Africa, looking for revenge. The Argentines lost to Germany on penalties in the last World Cup, also in the quarterfinals. Argentine coach Diego Maradona was quoted as saying that it was the will of God that his team defeat Germany this time around. It was not to be. The German team took control of the match just three minutes in when Thomas Muller scored. The favorite South American team never regained¹⁷ its momentum¹⁸. After that, the Germans were unstoppable. Miroslav Klose and Arne Friedrich added three more points in the second half to send Maradona's team home. The semifinals begin on Tuesday when the Netherlands team takes on Uruguay. For NPR News, I'm Vicky O'Hara in Johannesburg. 

The other quarterfinal match today is underway in Johannesburg between Paraguay and Spain. There's still no score after 78 minutes of play.

And in women's tennis, Serena Williams won the title at Wimbledon today. She beat Vera Zvonareva 6-3, 6-2. This was her fourth single Wimbledon championship

I'm Nora Raum, NPR News in Washington

1 tanker   

n.油轮

参考例句：

• The tanker took on 200,000 barrels of crude oil.油轮装载了二十万桶原油。
• Heavy seas had pounded the tanker into three parts.汹涌的巨浪把油轮撞成三载。

2 evacuating   

撤离，疏散( evacuate的现在分词 )； 排空（胃肠），排泄（粪便）； （从危险的地方）撤出，搬出，撤空

参考例句：

• The solution is degassed by alternately freezing, evacuating and thawing. 通过交替的冻结、抽空和溶化来使溶液除气。
• Are we evacuating these potential targets? 能够在这些目标地域内进行疏散吗？

3 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

4 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

5 gushing   

adj.迸出的；涌出的；喷出的；过分热情的v.喷，涌( gush的现在分词 )；滔滔不绝地说话

参考例句：

• blood gushing from a wound 从伤口冒出的血
• The young mother was gushing over a baby. 那位年轻的母亲正喋喋不休地和婴儿说话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

7 flake   

v.使成薄片；雪片般落下；n.薄片

参考例句：

• Drain the salmon,discard the skin,crush the bones and flake the salmon with a fork.将鲑鱼沥干，去表皮，粉碎鱼骨并用餐叉子将鱼肉切成小薄片状。
• The paint's beginning to flake.油漆开始剥落了。

8 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

9 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

10 insurgency   

n.起义；暴动；叛变

参考例句：

• And as in China, unrest and even insurgency are widespread. 而在中国，动乱甚至暴乱都普遍存在。 来自互联网
• Dr Zyphur is part an insurgency against this idea. 塞弗博士是这一观点逆流的一部分。 来自互联网

11 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

12 predecessor   

n.前辈，前任

参考例句：

• It will share the fate of its predecessor.它将遭受与前者同样的命运。
• The new ambassador is more mature than his predecessor.新大使比他的前任更成熟一些。

13 neutralize   

v.使失效、抵消，使中和

参考例句：

• Nothing could neutralize its good effects.没有什么能抵消它所产生的好影响。
• Acids neutralize alkalis and vice versa.酸能使碱中和碱，亦能使酸中和。

14 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

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 arson   

n.纵火，放火

参考例句：

• He was serving a ten spot for arson.他因纵火罪在服十年徒刑。
• He was arraigned on a charge of arson.他因被指控犯纵火罪而被传讯。

17 regained   

复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地

参考例句：

• The majority of the people in the world have regained their liberty. 世界上大多数人已重获自由。
• She hesitated briefly but quickly regained her poise. 她犹豫片刻，但很快恢复了镇静。

18 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。