NPR 2011-03-07

In Libya, violent clashes in coastal¹ towns. As NPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro reports, the battles between rebels and pro-government forces have been better.

There's a great deal of anger. There's a great deal of bitter combination. We're seeing the wounded coming back from the front. There's short dripping with blood. We're also seeing [the wounded] towards the frontline saying they will fight till the death.

NPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro in Ras Lanuf, Libya.

There have been clashes across Libya. NPR's David Greene is at the Tunisian-Libyan border with details.

Zawiya is about 30 miles west of the capital Tripoli, and it's on the road from Tunisia which is where I am, my vantage point. And it's been a battleground all weekend that the rebels had seemed to hold it early in this uprising against Colonel Gaddafi. But over the last few days, a lot of conflicting reports: The government saying that they had controlled back of the city, showing a footage on state television of their tanks, government tanks in the main square; but rebel forces today saying that city has been so-called liberated² again after the rebels have control.

NPR's David Greene in Tunisia at the Vatican today.

"We are confident to yell at the city to pray Allah Libya."

Libya was the focus of Pope Benedict's Sunday Angelus prayer . He expressed concern about the deaths and humanitarian³ crisis created by the strife⁴ in Libya. This was Benedict's first public comment on the fighting there.

The White House chief of staff says the president is considering tapping into the nation's strategic oil reserve to offset⁵ high gas prices. NPR's Allison Key tells us this comes days after administration officials had said there was no need to do so.

As recently as Friday, the White House press secretary said it was premature⁶ to talk about whether a specific oil price would prompt the president to tap into the 727-million-barrel stockpile. That can be used if there's a major oil shortage, but Chief of Staff Bill Daley tells NBC's "Meet the Press" that the president is very concerned about the spike⁷ in oil prices caused by unrest in the Middle East. And the tapping of reserve is one of the options being considered.

"The issue of the reserves is one we're considering. It is something that only is done and has been done in very rare occasions."

The current average price of regular gas in the US is 3.50 a gallon, up from 3.12 just a month ago. Allison Keys, NPR News, Washington.

Spring flooding could well be the result of the winter's unrelenting snow. America's heartland is bracing⁸ for it. The National Weather Service says parts of Minnesota and the Dakotas are virtually certain to be inundated⁹, and there's a high likelihood of flooding from northern Montana to St. Louis.

An earthquake early today shook a part of northern Chile - 6.2 magnitude, no injuries or major damages reported.

This is NPR News.

Last week's Irish election saw that nation's ruling party soundly defeated, but there was no clear winner. As Larry Miller¹⁰ reports from London, it appears the two largest parliamentary parties have now agreed to form a coalition¹¹ government.

Talks between center-right Fine Gael and center-left Labor¹² led to the two parties agreeing to form the next Irish government with Fine Gael's Enda Kenny Prime Minister. During the election, both parties said they would try to renegotiate the terms of Ireland's $120 billion international bailout to form a coalition. The parties resolved their differences, including had a balanced tax increases in spending cuts and the time frame for reducing the deficit¹³. The voters punished the previous government for turning Ireland known as the Celtic Tiger into an economic mess requiring an international rescue. For NPR News, I'm Larry Miller in London.

And Greece authorities are investigating the deaths of three people and several injuries on the southern island of Crete. It's believed they were migrant workers who had jumped a ship, caring those evacuated¹⁴ from Libya. The Merchant Marine¹⁵ Ministry¹⁶ says authorities were checking whether the 31 men mainly from Bangladesh had jumped overboard from two ships that docked earlier in the weekend.

A nationwide program that allows fugitives¹⁷ to safely surrender at churches has been eliminated. A US Marshals Service spokesman tells the Cleveland Plain Dealer¹⁸ the program costs about $0.25 million every year and has fallen to the budget acts. More than 34,000 people and 19 cities have turned themselves in through the program.

I'm Louis Schiavone, NPR News, Washington.

1 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

2 liberated   

a.无拘束的，放纵的

参考例句：

• The city was liberated by the advancing army. 军队向前挺进，解放了那座城市。
• The heat brings about a chemical reaction, and oxygen is liberated. 热量引起化学反应，释放出氧气。

3 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

4 strife   

n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争

参考例句：

• We do not intend to be drawn into the internal strife.我们不想卷入内乱之中。
• Money is a major cause of strife in many marriages.金钱是造成很多婚姻不和的一个主要原因。

5 offset   

n.分支，补偿；v.抵消，补偿

参考例句：

• Their wage increases would be offset by higher prices.他们增加的工资会被物价上涨所抵消。
• He put up his prices to offset the increased cost of materials.他提高了售价以补偿材料成本的增加。

6 premature   

adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的

参考例句：

• It is yet premature to predict the possible outcome of the dialogue.预言这次对话可能有什么结果为时尚早。
• The premature baby is doing well.那个早产的婴儿很健康。

7 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

8 bracing   

adj.令人振奋的

参考例句：

• The country is bracing itself for the threatened enemy invasion. 这个国家正准备奋起抵抗敌人的入侵威胁。
• The atmosphere in the new government was bracing. 新政府的气氛是令人振奋的。

9 inundated   

v.淹没( inundate的过去式和过去分词 )；（洪水般地）涌来；充满；给予或交予（太多事物）使难以应付

参考例句：

• We have been inundated with offers of help. 主动援助多得使我们应接不暇。
• We have been inundated with every bit of information imaginable. 凡是想得到的各种各样的信息潮水般地向我们涌来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

11 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

12 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

13 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。

14 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

15 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

16 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。

17 fugitives   

n.亡命者，逃命者( fugitive的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Three fugitives from the prison are still at large. 三名逃犯仍然未被抓获。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Members of the provisional government were prisoners or fugitives. 临时政府的成员或被捕或逃亡。 来自演讲部分

18 dealer   

n.商人，贩子

参考例句：

• The dealer spent hours bargaining for the painting.那个商人为购买那幅画花了几个小时讨价还价。
• The dealer reduced the price for cash down.这家商店对付现金的人减价优惠。