NPR 2011-03-12

Japanese authorities are considering releasing slightly radioactive vapor¹ to ease pressure at a nuclear reactor² in Fukushima. Lucy Craft from Tokyo reports the safety of Japan's power plants are major concern in the aftermath of the 8.9-magnitude earthquake and the subsequent tsunami³.

They're all supposed to shut down automatically in the case of an earthquake. Apparently⁴, the cooling systems in some of them didn't operate as they were supposed to. And so, there was a lot of alarm about that, but we haven't heard of any radiation leak so far.

Lucy Craft in Tokyo.

The quake triggered a tsunami that sent a torrent⁵ of mud and debris⁶ across northeastern Japan, killing⁷ hundreds of people. NPR's Don Gonyea reports that President Obama is pledging assistance to Japan.

The president opened a White House news conference with a statement of concern and condolences for those affected⁸ by the strongest earthquake Japan has seen in more than a century.

"Today's events remind us of just how fragile life can be. Our hearts go out to our friends in Japan and across the region, and we're going to stand with them as they recover and rebuild from this tragedy."

He said the US has a number of naval⁹ ships headed toward the region to help if needed. Mr. Obama said the US continues to monitor the situation closely, including the potential impact of waves from the tsunamis¹⁰, some of which have already reached Hawaii and the West Coast of the US. Don Gonyea, NPR News, Washington.

Hawaii's Governor Neil Abercrombie says while there've been no injuries or significant damage in the state, people should remain on alert.

"Significant wave activity that is reaching inland and having an effect on business and our homes, possibly, certainly, transportation, et cetera."

And residents are also on alert in Northern California on the border with Oregon, where higher-than-usual waves are expected.

European Union leaders meeting in Brussels today say any Western military intervention¹¹ in the crisis in Libya must have clear backing from the United Nations and the Arab League. NPR's Eric Westervelt reports from Brussels France was at odds¹² with fellow EU members and pushing harder for possible military action.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy told reporters here that EU leaders have agreed to the idea of creating humanitarian¹³ aid zones, some of them inside Libya, and would consider all available options to protect those areas. Sarkozy also said the EU now sees the rebel's transitional council as the legitimate¹⁴ political representative of the Libyan people, but several other key EU leaders seemed on a very different page on those issues. Germany's Angela Merkel said any EU contacts with Libyan rebels did not constitute full recognition. Merkel also said she's wary¹⁵ of using any military action or a no-fly zone against Colonel Gaddafi. Eric Westervelt, NPR News, Brussels.

Dow's up 20 at 12,005; NASDAQ up seven at 2,708.

This is NPR.

Envoys¹⁶ of Ivory Coast's disputed leader are rejecting an African Union proposal drafted to end the violent power struggle in the West African nation. From Abidjan, NPR's Ofeibea Quist-Arcton reports on the latest attempts to broker¹⁷ peace.

Laurent Gbagbo did not attend the peace talks at the African Union's headquarters in Ethiopia, where Ivory Coast was being discussed. His representatives say there can be no resolution to the crisis unless Gbagbo remains¹⁸ president. African presidential mediators are sticking to a continental¹⁹ position that Gbagbo's presidential rival Alassane Ouattara won November's election. Despite proposals for a government of national unity²⁰ for Ivory Coast, both Ouattara and Gbagbo insist that they should head it. Anxious Ivorians are desperate for a peaceful settlement after another week of violence and confusion. Ofeibea Quist-Arcton, NPR News, Abidjan.

The employment picture remains bleak²¹ for veterans of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. According to the Labor²² Department, more than one in five veterans ages 18 to 24 unemployed²³ last year. The 20.9% unemployment rate is a slight improvement from the year before but well below still 17.3% rate for non-veterans of the same age group.

Retail²⁴ sales are up for an eighth straight month, the Commerce Department reporting today a 1% jump in February sales to more than $387 billion. The largest increase in several months was driven by consumers spending more on new cars, clothes and electronics.

At last check, Dow was up 18 points at 12,002.

I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News.

1 vapor   

n.蒸汽，雾气

参考例句：

• The cold wind condenses vapor into rain.冷风使水蒸气凝结成雨。
• This new machine sometimes transpires a lot of hot vapor.这部机器有时排出大量的热气。

2 reactor   

n.反应器；反应堆

参考例句：

• The atomic reactor generates enormous amounts of thermal energy.原子反应堆发出大量的热能。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules.在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

3 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

4 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

5 torrent   

n.激流，洪流；爆发，(话语等的)连发

参考例句：

• The torrent scoured a channel down the hillside. 急流沿着山坡冲出了一条沟。
• Her pent-up anger was released in a torrent of words.她压抑的愤怒以滔滔不绝的话爆发了出来。

6 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

7 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

8 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

9 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

10 tsunamis   

n.海啸( tsunami的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Our oceans are alive with earthquakes, volcanoes, and more recently, tsunamis. 海中充满着地震、火山，包括最近发生的海啸。 来自常春藤生活英语杂志-2006年2月号
• Please tell me something more about tsunamis! 请您给我讲讲海啸吧！ 来自辞典例句

11 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

12 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

13 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。

14 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

15 wary   

adj.谨慎的，机警的，小心的

参考例句：

• He is wary of telling secrets to others.他谨防向他人泄露秘密。
• Paula frowned,suddenly wary.宝拉皱了皱眉头，突然警惕起来。

16 envoys   

使节( envoy的名词复数 )； 公使； 谈判代表； 使节身份

参考例句：

• the routine tit for tat when countries expel each other's envoys 国家相互驱逐对方使节这种惯常的报复行动
• Marco Polo's travelogue mentions that Kublai Khan sent envoys to Malgache. 马可波罗游记中提到忽必烈曾派使节到马尔加什。

17 broker   

n.中间人，经纪人；v.作为中间人来安排

参考例句：

• He baited the broker by promises of higher commissions.他答应给更高的佣金来引诱那位经纪人。
• I'm a real estate broker.我是不动产经纪人。

18 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。

19 continental   

adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的

参考例句：

• A continental climate is different from an insular one.大陆性气候不同于岛屿气候。
• The most ancient parts of the continental crust are 4000 million years old.大陆地壳最古老的部分有40亿年历史。

20 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

21 bleak   

adj.(天气)阴冷的；凄凉的；暗淡的

参考例句：

• They showed me into a bleak waiting room.他们引我来到一间阴冷的会客室。
• The company's prospects look pretty bleak.这家公司的前景异常暗淡。

22 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。

23 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

24 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。