NPR 2011-12-11

 Palestinian officials are angry about comments by Republican Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich. As NPR’s Jeff Brady reports, Gingrich yesterday called Palestinians “an invented people.”

 

Newt Gingrich made the comments in an interview with the cable network called the Jewish Channel.

 

“There was no Palestine as a state. (It was) part of the Ottoman Empire. And I think that we’ve had an invented Palestinian people, who are in fact Arabs, and were historically part of the Arab community.”

 

An aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called Gingrich’s comments “unfortunate” and said they demonstrate his ignorance when it comes to the history of the Middle East and the Palestinian people. A spokesman for Hamas called Gingrich’s comments “shameful and disgraceful” and said they show a genuine hostility¹ toward Palestinians. Jeff Brady, NPR News.

 

The State Department says there’re signs the Syrian government may be preparing an offensive on the city of Homs, a center of major anti-government protests. Both the US and the UN are calling on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to allow outside observers into the country. The UN’s human rights chief says the death toll² in Syria has risen above 4,000.

 

Demonstrators filled the streets of several Russian cities today in what’s described as the country’s largest protest since the collapse³ of the Soviet⁴ Union. From Moscow, Jessica Gallagher reports tens of thousands of people rallied against the outcome of last week’s parliamentary election, which put the party of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin back in power.

 

Freezing cold wind and snow didn’t deter⁵ young and old from standing⁶ side by side to protest against ruling United Russia party’s win and Sunday’s parliamentary elections. They’re alleging⁷ ballot⁸ stuffing and vote rigging.

 

Demonstrators shouted “Russia is free.” They also carried signs that read “Putin’s party is a party of crooks⁹ and thieves” and yelled “Russia without Putin.” Protesters also wore white ribbons to show their solidarity¹⁰. Several parties were present at the rally, including the communist and liberals. While the demonstrators peacefully shouted their demands, hundreds of riot police and interior ministry¹² troops stood watching. Meanwhile, United Russia party denies any cheating. For NPR News, I’m Jessica Gallagher in Moscow.

 

Police in Boston swept through an Occupy movement encampment in a city square early this morning, tearing down tents and arresting dozens of protesters who failed to meet at a mid-night deadline to evacuate¹³. Authorities say the demonstrators who set up the encampment some 10 weeks ago were trespassing¹⁴. At least 46 people are being detained.

 

The UN climate talks in Durban, South Africa are supposed to be over, but the negotiators continue to meet, struggling to find consensus¹⁵ on a course of action for the rest of this decade. They’re reportedly making little over all progress. The Kyoto climate treaty is set to expire next year. 

 

This is NPR News.

 

Federal investigators¹⁶ say a helicopter that was on a twilight¹⁷ tour flight that crashed near Los Vegas Wednesday had undergone routine maintenance the day before. Its engine and mechanisms¹⁸ in the tail, a main rotor were replaced. The NTSB says all five people on board were killed when the chopper made a sudden climb and sharp turns moments before plunging¹⁹ into a canyon²⁰.

 

In the Philippines, at least 13 people are dead after a small cargo²¹ plane crashed near the capital today. From Manila, Simone Orendain reports the plane slammed into a building next to a shanty²² town and sparked a major fire.

 

Officials say most of the dead were residents of a shanty neighborhood in Paranaque City where Manila’s International Airport is located. Authorities say the pilot and co-pilot of the plane died. The Philippines Red Cross reports at least two of the people who died were children. At least 50 shanty homes burned down after the fully¹¹ fueled plane exploded, shooting off a ball of fire, according to Paranaque Mayor Florencio Bernabe. At least 20 other people went to the hospital for injuries. The fire also erased²³ an empty elementary school nearby. Airport authorities say the pilot of the plane reported trouble shortly after taking off from Ninoy Aquino International and tried to turn around. For NPR News, I’m Simone Orendain in Manila.

 

President Obama is attending today’s Army-Navy game at FedEx Field in Maryland. Meanwhile, Republican presidential hopefuls are preparing for a televised debate in Iowa tonight. Less than a month before the Iowa caucuses²⁴, it’ll be their first appearance since Newt Gingrich has taken the lead in most polls. This evening’s debate is due to focus on the federal budget deficit²⁵.

 

I’m Barbara Klein, NPR News in Washington.

1 hostility   

n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争

参考例句：

• There is open hostility between the two leaders.两位领导人表现出公开的敌意。
• His hostility to your plan is well known.他对你的计划所持的敌意是众所周知的。

2 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

3 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。

4 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。

5 deter   

vt.阻止，使不敢，吓住

参考例句：

• Failure did not deter us from trying it again.失败并没有能阻挡我们再次进行试验。
• Dogs can deter unwelcome intruders.狗能够阻拦不受欢迎的闯入者。

6 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

7 alleging   

断言，宣称，辩解( allege的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• His reputation was blemished by a newspaper article alleging he'd evaded his taxes. 由于报上一篇文章声称他曾逃税，他的名誉受到损害。
• This our Peeress declined as unnecessary, alleging that her cousin Thornhill's recommendation would be sufficient. 那位贵人不肯，还说不必，只要有她老表唐希尔保荐就够了。

8 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

9 crooks   

n.骗子( crook的名词复数 )；罪犯；弯曲部分；（牧羊人或主教用的）弯拐杖v.弯成钩形( crook的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The police are getting after the crooks in the city. 警察在城里追捕小偷。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cops got the crooks. 警察捉到了那些罪犯。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 solidarity   

n.团结；休戚相关

参考例句：

• They must preserve their solidarity.他们必须维护他们的团结。
• The solidarity among China's various nationalities is as firm as a rock.中国各族人民之间的团结坚如磐石。

11 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。

12 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

13 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

14 trespassing   

[法]非法入侵

参考例句：

• He told me I was trespassing on private land. 他说我在擅闯私人土地。
• Don't come trespassing on my land again. 别再闯入我的地界了。

15 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

16 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》

17 twilight   

n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期

参考例句：

• Twilight merged into darkness.夕阳的光辉融于黑暗中。
• Twilight was sweet with the smell of lilac and freshly turned earth.薄暮充满紫丁香和新翻耕的泥土的香味。

18 mechanisms   

n.机械( mechanism的名词复数 )；机械装置；[生物学] 机制；机械作用

参考例句：

• The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms. 这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He explained how the two mechanisms worked. 他解释这两台机械装置是如何工作的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 plunging   

adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• War broke out again, plunging the people into misery and suffering. 战祸复发，生灵涂炭。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He is plunging into an abyss of despair. 他陷入了绝望的深渊。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 canyon   

n.峡谷，溪谷

参考例句：

• The Grand Canyon in the USA is 1900 metres deep.美国的大峡谷1900米深。
• The canyon is famous for producing echoes.这个峡谷以回声而闻名。

21 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

22 shanty   

n.小屋，棚屋；船工号子

参考例句：

• His childhood was spent in a shanty.他的童年是在一个简陋小屋里度过的。
• I want to quit this shanty.我想离开这烂房子。

23 erased   

v.擦掉( erase的过去式和过去分词 )；抹去；清除

参考例句：

• He erased the wrong answer and wrote in the right one. 他擦去了错误答案，写上了正确答案。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He removed the dogmatism from politics; he erased the party line. 他根除了政治中的教条主义，消除了政党界限。 来自《简明英汉词典》

24 caucuses   

n.（政党决定政策或推举竞选人的）核心成员( caucus的名词复数 )；决策干部；决策委员会；秘密会议

参考例句：

• Republican caucuses will happen in about 410 towns across Maine. 共和党团会议选举将在缅因州的约410个城镇进行。 来自互联网

25 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。