NPR 2011-02-01

Opposition¹ against Egypt's long-ruling President Hosni Mubarak appears to be growing. Tens of thousands of people are staging a seventh day of demonstrations³ across the country. NPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro is in Cairo where she says a large cross-section of demonstrators is collectively defying government orders.

We've seen a whole desperate group of people here in the square today. We've seen numbers of the banned Muslim Brotherhood⁴. They are participating in the march. We've seen young activists⁵. We've seen older members of faculty⁶ of universities, dentists, doctors, laborers⁷. This is, there's a real cross-section of society here that has converged⁸ on the square from different backgrounds. The one unifying⁹ idea is that they want Hosni Mubarak out.

NPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro in Cairo. With a massive national demonstration² possibly involving millions of people expected sometime Tuesday or Wednesday, thousands of foreigners are getting out. The State Department says that so far about 2,400 Americans have requested help to leave the country. The situation at Egypt's airports is described as chaotic¹⁰ with many tourists trying to escape further unrest. Reporter Joanna Kakissis is monitoring developments in Athens, where she says hundreds of foreigners have been arriving from Egypt in a scramble¹¹ to get home.

After hours of delay, the first flight from Cairo arrived just before 3 p.m. Marsel Samuel was one of the passengers. She lives in New York City and arrived in Egypt on Wednesday for what would've been a week-long tour of the pyramids and the Red Sea. This visit was special for her. She was born in Cairo.

"Fifty-three years, I waited to go visit to where I was born. Forget it. I left in a turmoil¹³ in Cairo and I come back. It's peaceful. It's beautiful. And 24 hours later, we are in another problem. So I'm not the happy camper. I didn't feel safe."

She says she and her husband Samuel had no idea the country would explode like it did.

"My husband is American."

"And so many years, she's been ..."

Toning optimistic ...

Chrysler has not turned a quarterly profit since leaving bankruptcy¹⁴. But for most of 2010, the company saw its losses get smaller, that is until the fourth quarter when Chrysler's losses doubled. Leaders of the company say much of the loss came from increased advertising¹⁵ costs. In its bid for a comeback, Chrysler lost 11 new models. It also lost money as it retooled¹⁶ factories to switch from older models to newer ones. Chrysler officials say with those costs out of the way, the company could make as much as half a billion dollars this year. And that, they say, would set the stage for a stock offering which could allow the company to pay back the more than 12 billion dollars it borrowed from tax payers. Sonari Glinton, NPR News, Detroit.

The Dow's up 40 points at 11,864.

This is NPR.

Niger is voting for a new president after a year under military rule. NPR's Ofeibea Quist-Arcton reports the junta¹⁷ leaders in the Sahara Desert nation promised to hold an election after they ousted¹⁸ a democratically elected president who became widely unpopular in Niger.

Long lines outside polling stations in Niger indicate that voting is going smoothly¹⁹ amid tight security. Ten candidates are running for president, campaigning on platforms including economic and political reform and poverty reduction. Niger has made recent headlines after the abduction and murder of two Frenchmen linked to al-Qaeda's northwest African affiliate²⁰. The White House will be closely watching the elections in Niger after criticizing last year's military coup²¹. In its war against terror, the US has made it clear it needs the continued cooperation of regional partners in the lawless and poorly policed Saharan region, straddling the Sahara Desert and beyond. Ofeibea Quist-Arcton, NPR News, Abidjan.

Consumer spending is still moving higher. Last month's spending increased 0.7% in the US, more than what the Commerce Department had expected.

The five-time Oscar-winning composer who wrote scores for a long string of movies including the Bond films has died. John Barry was 77 years old. The English-born composer, born John Barry Prendergast, won two Oscars for Born Free in 1966 and a third a couple years later for The Lion in Winter. He earned a fourth statuette in the mid¹² 80s for his music in Out of Africa and another for Dances With Wolves in 1990. Relatives say Barry died yesterday in New York. Cause of death was not officially disclosed.

1 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

2 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

3 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

4 brotherhood   

n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊

参考例句：

• They broke up the brotherhood.他们断绝了兄弟关系。
• They live and work together in complete equality and brotherhood.他们完全平等和兄弟般地在一起生活和工作。

5 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》

6 faculty   

n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员

参考例句：

• He has a great faculty for learning foreign languages.他有学习外语的天赋。
• He has the faculty of saying the right thing at the right time.他有在恰当的时候说恰当的话的才智。

7 laborers   

n.体力劳动者，工人( laborer的名词复数 )；（熟练工人的）辅助工

参考例句：

• Laborers were trained to handle 50-ton compactors and giant cranes. 工人们接受操作五十吨压土机和巨型起重机的训练。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Wage-labour rests exclusively on competition between the laborers. 雇佣劳动完全是建立在工人的自相竞争之上的。 来自英汉非文学 - 共产党宣言

8 converged   

v.（线条、运动的物体等）会于一点( converge的过去式 )；（趋于）相似或相同；人或车辆汇集；聚集

参考例句：

• Thousands of supporters converged on London for the rally. 成千上万的支持者从四面八方汇聚伦敦举行集会。
• People converged on the political meeting from all parts of the city. 人们从城市的四面八方涌向这次政治集会。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 unifying   

使联合( unify的现在分词 )； 使相同； 使一致； 统一

参考例句：

• In addition, there were certain religious bonds of a unifying kind. 此外，他们还有某种具有一种统一性质的宗教上的结合。
• There is a unifying theme, and that is the theme of information flow within biological systems. 我们可以用一个总的命题，把生物学系统内的信息流来作为这一研究主题。

10 chaotic   

adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的

参考例句：

• Things have been getting chaotic in the office recently.最近办公室的情况越来越乱了。
• The traffic in the city was chaotic.这城市的交通糟透了。

11 scramble   

v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料

参考例句：

• He broke his leg in his scramble down the wall.他爬墙摔断了腿。
• It was a long scramble to the top of the hill.到山顶须要爬登一段长路。

12 mid   

adj.中央的，中间的

参考例句：

• Our mid-term exam is pending.我们就要期中考试了。
• He switched over to teaching in mid-career.他在而立之年转入教学工作。

13 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。

14 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

15 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

16 retooled   

v.（给…）更换工具， （给…）更换机械设备( retool的过去式和过去分词 )；改组，革新

参考例句：

• The company will be retooled after the incorporation. 合并之后的公司要进行重组。 来自辞典例句
• Each time the product changes, the machines have to be retooled. 每次更换产品，就得重新装备机器。 来自辞典例句

17 junta   

n.团体；政务审议会

参考例句：

• The junta reacted violently to the perceived threat to its authority.军政府感到自身权力受威胁而进行了激烈反击。
• A military junta took control of the country.一个军政权控制了国家。

18 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。

19 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

20 affiliate   

vt.使隶(附)属于；n.附属机构，分公司

参考例句：

• Our New York company has an affiliate in Los Angeles.我们的纽约公司在洛杉矶有一个下属企业。
• What is the difference between affiliate and regular membership?固定会员和附属会员之间的区别是什么？

21 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。