NPR 2010-09-13

At this hour, some of the San Bruno, California residents whose homes were not heavily damaged by Thursday's natural gas pipeline¹ explosion are returning to their homes. Bob Hensley of Capital Public Radio says officials may be shocked at the condition of the neighborhood.

Residents returning to their home will have to provide identification to prove they live in the neighborhood, part of which is leveled. They'll be personally escorted to their home by officials, according to San Bruno City Manager Connie Jackson.

"Residents will go home in stages. Again, this is for our residents' safety and privacy."

Residents whose homes that are heavily damaged or destroyed will meet with officials tomorrow to discuss their situations. At least four residents are confirmed dead. The local coroners are examining the remains³ of other apparent victims. For NPR News, I'm Bob Hensley.

Firefighters from 20 states are making some progress against a ten-square-mile wildfire near Boulder⁴, Colorado. They hope that it'll be fully⁵ contained by tomorrow night.

Hurricane Igor continues to gain strength in the Atlantic Ocean. The National Hurricane Center says it's now a Category-4 storm with maximum sustained winds of 135 mph. Senior Meteorologist Michael Bromwich says Igor has become very strong just a day after forming.

"Igor has strengthened pretty quickly this morning. If we occasionally do see these, you know, storms strengthen very quickly, sometimes by as much as 30 or 40 mph in a day. So, Igor does appear to be undergoing a, you know, what we call 'rapid intensification⁶'."

At this point, Igor is not expected to be a threat to land.

The top Republican in the House says his party has a "great opportunity" to pick up seats in the midterm elections this November. He predicts voters from all parties will support GOP candidates. NPR's Allison Keyes reports.

Ohio Congressman⁷ John Boehner says there's a rebellion among voters like he's never seen. And though he admits it would be an upheaval⁸ battle for Republicans to wrest⁹ control from Democrats¹⁰ in the House, Boehner told CBS's "Face the Nation" he thinks his party's message is resonating with the public.

"There's a lot of Americans that are engaged in this election—the Tea Party folks, Republicans, independents, and for that matter, there are a lot of Democrats that I've talked to over the last several months who are going to show up and vote for Republican (this time).”

…opposition parties. They claim that Erdogan was attempting to politicize the judiciary and undermine Turkey's secular¹¹ institutions. But those arguments failed to persuade the majority of voters and Erdogan is claiming a significant political win with general elections coming up. Analysts¹² say the AK Party will attempt to parlay this victory into a third term in office next year. Peter Kenyon, NPR News, Istanbul.

Weather forecasters are keeping an eye on Hurricane Igor, which continues to gain strength in the Atlantic. It just formed yesterday; already it's a Category-4, the second strongest. Right now, Igor is not expected to be a threat to land.

This is NPR News from Washington.

Police in San Bruno, California say there are still five people missing after Thursday's natural gas pipeline explosion. At least four people are confirmed dead; nearly 60 people were injured. The explosion and fire destroyed dozens of homes in a neighborhood in hills overlooking San Francisco.

A wildfire that destroyed 169 homes in the foothills near Boulder, Colorado is close to being fully contained. Grace Hood² from member station KUNC reports more displaced residents are being allowed to return home.

On Sunday, Boulder fire officials opened some but not all of the Mountain Pines subdivision. So far, about 2,000 people have been allowed to return home. Meanwhile, firefighters are still working to fully contain the ten-square-mile blaze. Right now, it's more than 70% contained and that number is expected to increase with full containment¹³ on or before Monday. The wildfire began almost one week ago and has been labeled "one of the most destructive" in Colorado history. For NPR News, I'm Grace Hood.

In men's tennis, the final in the US Open is about to get underway. Top seed Rafael Nadal is facing third seed Novak Djokovic. Nadal is trying for his first win at the US Open and that would give him a career Grand Slam. And that, says Djokovic, might make him hard to beat.

"It's gonna be definitely a tough one. Rafa is just playing fantastic tennis. He's gonna to be very motivated to win this title because it’s the only title he hasn't won in majors."

Djokovic made it to the finals by a five-set combat victory over Roger Federer. This will be the first US Open men's final since 2003 without Federer.
 

1 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。

2 hood   

n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖

参考例句：

• She is wearing a red cloak with a hood.她穿着一件红色带兜帽的披风。
• The car hood was dented in.汽车的发动机罩已凹了进去。

3 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。

4 boulder   

n.巨砾；卵石，圆石

参考例句：

• We all heaved together and removed the boulder.大家一齐用劲，把大石头搬开了。
• He stepped clear of the boulder.他从大石头后面走了出来。

5 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

6 intensification   

n.激烈化，增强明暗度；加厚

参考例句：

• The intensification of the immunological response represents the body's natural defense. 增强免疫反应代表身体的自然保卫。 来自辞典例句
• Agriculture in the developing nations is not irreversibly committed, to a particular pattern of intensification. 发展中国家的农业并没有完全为某种集约化形式所束缚。 来自辞典例句

7 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

8 upheaval   

n.胀起，(地壳)的隆起；剧变，动乱

参考例句：

• It was faced with the greatest social upheaval since World War Ⅱ.它面临第二次世界大战以来最大的社会动乱。
• The country has been thrown into an upheaval.这个国家已经陷入动乱之中。

9 wrest   

n.扭，拧，猛夺；v.夺取，猛扭，歪曲

参考例句：

• The officer managed to wrest the gun from his grasp.警官最终把枪从他手中夺走了。
• You wrest my words out of their real meaning.你曲解了我话里的真正含义。

10 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》

11 secular   

n.牧师，凡人；adj.世俗的，现世的，不朽的

参考例句：

• We live in an increasingly secular society.我们生活在一个日益非宗教的社会。
• Britain is a plural society in which the secular predominates.英国是个世俗主导的多元社会。

12 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。

13 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。