NPR 2011-12-08

 Illinois’ ousted¹ Governor Rod Blagojevich is sentenced to 14 years in prison for political corruption². After learning his fate today, Rod Blagojevich told reporters he was going home to speak with his family about the road ahead.

 

“If you can meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two impostors just the same, Patti and I and especially me, this is a time to be strong, this is a time to fight through adversity.”

 

Blagojevich was convicted on 18 counts of corruption, including attempts to sell or trade the Senate seat vacated by President Obama.

 

Jerry Sandusky’s facing new charges of child sexual abuse. The former Penn State assisting coach was arrested and arraigned³ today to face charges brought by two new accusers.

 

A Virginia man accused of failing to disclose his ties to Pakistan's government has pleaded guilty to conspiracy⁴ and tax charges. Prosecutors⁵ say Syed Fai received nearly four million dollars to influence Congress and Executive Branch. NPR's  Carrie Johnson reports the money helped pay for conferences and donations to lawmakers.

 

Fai lived a quiet life in northern Virginia, working for two decades as the director of the Kashmiri American Council. The group lobbied for more freedom for people in Kashmiri along contested territory between India and Pakistan, but prosecutors say Fai never told the US government he got money from the Pakistan intelligence service. Neil MacBride is the US attorney in Virginia.

 

“That is a big deal whenever a foreign government attempts to influence policy-making within Washington, without being transparent⁶ and open about what they’re doing.”

 

Fai will be sentenced early next year. Carrie Johnson, NPR News, Washington.

 

Protests over alleged⁷ vote fraud in Russia's parliamentary elections are raging for a third night in two of the largest cities. Police have arrested large numbers of demonstrators. Jessica Gallaher reports from Moscow that activists⁸ plan to keep up the pressure for Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his party to be held accountable.

 

There’s a huge protest that is planned for Saturday. About 5,000 people on Facebook said that they would attend. People are still optimistic. Some people say that they hope things will change. Maybe this is a bad night as one lady said to me. So we will see more protests are also planned for tomorrow night at 7:00 on Triumphal Square. 

 

Jessica Gallaher reporting from Moscow where police had clashed with demonstrators who accused Putin's party of rigging the vote to retain the majority of seats.

 

Former Soviet⁹ leader Mikhail Gorbachev, meanwhile, has called on officials to scrap¹⁰ the results of that vote and hold new elections.

 

At last check on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down three points at 12,146 in trading of about two billion shares; NASDAQ Composite Index down 16 points or more than 0.5% now at 2,633; and the S&P 500 is down five points; it's at 1,254.

 

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A Philadelphia jury reportedly is ordering pharmaceutical¹¹ giant Pfizer to pay 72 million dollars in compensatory damages linked to a hormone¹² replacement¹³ drug. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports the three women who sued claimed that the drug Prempro gave them breast cancer. Punitive¹⁴ damages have yet to be determined¹⁵. A spokesman tells Inquirer that Pfizer will examine its options after the verdict is final.

 

Today marks the 70th anniversary of Japan's attacks on Pearl Harbor, a day in which Franklin Roosevelt called a date of infamy¹⁶. As NPR's Brakkton Booker reports, a Hawaii senator remembers how ordinary that day began.

 

US Senator Dan Inouye still remembers how routine that Sunday morning was in 1941. He was getting ready for church.

 

“I was just putting on my necktie.” 

 

He knew something was wrong when the DJ on the radio started to panic. Here’s Inouye speaking on NPR's Tell Me More.

 

“All of a sudden the disc jockey stopped the music and started screaming. The Japanese are bombing Pearl Harbor.”

 

Inouye was a teenager at the time of the attacks. He eventually would go on to enlist¹⁷ in the army. And later, he lost his right arm, fighting in World War II. But looking back, he says he wouldn't change a thing.

 

“It's been a long time, but all I can say is if it happened again, I will do it again. Brakkton Booker, NPR News, Washington.

 

A ceremony was held today at Pearl Harbor that included a moment of silence.

 

US stocks are losing ground. So far at last check, Dow was down four points at 12,146.

 

I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News in Washington.

1 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

2 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

3 arraigned   

v.告发( arraign的过去式和过去分词 )；控告；传讯；指责

参考例句：

• He was arraigned for murder. 他因谋杀罪而被提讯。
• She was arraigned for high treason. 她被控叛国罪。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

5 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

6 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

7 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

8 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

10 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。

11 pharmaceutical   

adj.药学的，药物的；药用的，药剂师的

参考例句：

• She has donated money to establish a pharmaceutical laboratory.她捐款成立了一个药剂实验室。
• We are engaged in a legal tussle with a large pharmaceutical company.我们正同一家大制药公司闹法律纠纷。

12 hormone   

n.荷尔蒙，激素，内分泌

参考例句：

• Hormone implants are used as growth boosters.激素植入物被用作生长辅助剂。
• This hormone interacts closely with other hormones in the body.这种荷尔蒙与体內其他荷尔蒙紧密地相互作用。

13 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。

14 punitive   

adj.惩罚的，刑罚的

参考例句：

• They took punitive measures against the whole gang.他们对整帮人采取惩罚性措施。
• The punitive tariff was imposed to discourage tire imports from China.该惩罚性关税的征收是用以限制中国轮胎进口的措施。

15 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

16 infamy   

n.声名狼藉，出丑，恶行

参考例句：

• They may grant you power,honour,and riches but afflict you with servitude,infamy,and poverty.他们可以给你权力、荣誉和财富，但却用奴役、耻辱和贫穷来折磨你。
• Traitors are held in infamy.叛徒为人所不齿。

17 enlist   

vt.谋取(支持等)，赢得；征募；vi.入伍

参考例句：

• They come here to enlist men for the army.他们来这儿是为了召兵。
• The conference will make further efforts to enlist the support of the international community for their just struggle. 会议必将进一步动员国际社会，支持他们的正义斗争。