NPR 2011-05-25

In Joplin, Missouri, it's a race against time to find tornado¹ survivors². Local authorities aren't exactly sure how many people are unaccounted for. The numbers vary. They're holding out hope though that the death toll³ won't rise. At least 117 people are now confirmed dead as a result of Sunday's storm. One of the most intense searches for victims is happening at a big-box store. Missy Shelton of member station KSMU takes us there.

The Urban Search and Rescue Team, known as Missouri Task Force 1, is moving heavy steel and concrete to find survivors and retreat bodies at a Home Depot⁴. Doug Westhoff, the Task Force leader, says it appears people saw the tornado coming, ran inside the store from the parking lot and hunkered against the front wall, which collapsed⁵ after the tornado ripped off the roof.

"In this scenario⁶, the void space between the concrete floor and these walls that came down, in most cases, are not survivable. So what's occurring—we'll poke⁷ a small hole in there, put a camera in, allow the dog to search and try to get a whiff of human smell."

This is still a search and rescue effort as workers are methodically moving through the swath of the city that was impacted by the twister. For NPR News, I'm Missy Shelton in Joplin, Missouri.

People who managed to get back to what's left of their homes and businesses are combing through the debris⁸. Among them is Becky Bartash. She lost her hair salon⁹ business in the twister. Now, she's going through the wreckage¹⁰, hoping to salvage¹¹ whatever she can before more severe weather strikes Joplin.

"We've got a little bit of sunshine today, and so everybody's trying to get what they can get before the tornadoes¹² are supposed to hit again tonight."

President Obama says he plans to visit Joplin on Sunday.

President Obama's in Britain, where he and the first lady were receiving a very royal welcome, sound of the 1st Battalion¹³ Scots Guards welcoming President Obama to Buckingham Palace today. The trip to England is part of a four-nation tour through Europe this week.

In Washington, a much-anticipated speech today on Capitol Hill from the Prime Minister of Israel. NPR's Audie Cornish reports the leader outlined his conditions for peace.

Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated¹⁴ his stance that Israel refuses to negotiate peace with Palestinians based on pre-1967 lines. The prime minister also called Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to back away from an alliance with the Islamist group Hamas.

"Israel is prepared to sit down today and negotiate peace with the Palestinian Authority. I believe we can fashion a brilliant future for our children. But Israel will not negotiate with a Palestinian government backed by the Palestinian version of al-Qaeda. That we will not do."

Prime Minister Netanyahu also criticized the Palestinian plan to seek UN statehood status, saying a peace settlement must be negotiated, not imposed. Audie Cornish, NPR News, the Capitol.

Before the close, the Dow was down 25 points.

This is NPR.

Huguette Clark, the 104-year-old heiress to a copper¹⁵ fortune, has died in a Manhattan hospital after a long undisclosed illness. NPR's Margot Adler reports that investigations¹⁷ continue into how Clark's millions were handled.

Huguette Clark spent years as a recluse¹⁸ at least two decades living in New York City hospitals under assumed names, although some say she was in good health during some of that time. Her financial decisions were all made by her lawyer. She was born in 1906, the daughter of a Montana senator, who was known as one of the copper kings. She had a huge Manhattan apartment and several country estates, but she did not live in them. Her fortune is estimated at 500 million dollars. This all brings to mind the Astor case, and the same prosecutor¹⁹ is investigating this one. Her family says she may not have understood certain financial decisions. Clark's lawyer Wallace Bock said in a statement that she died with dignity and privacy. The statement was issued by Robert Anello, Bock's lawyer who represents him in the investigation¹⁶ into Clark's finances. Margot Adler, NPR News, New York.

The Obama administration is praising Chrysler for paying back the bulk of a bailout it received from the US and Canada in order to stay afloat during the recession. The automaker says it has repaid 7.6 billion dollars in loans. The US government still owns about 8.5% of the company.

Here's the latest from Wall Street before the close. The Dow Jones Industrials down 25 points at 12,356 in trading of just over three billion shares; NASDAQ Composite Index also down 13 points, nearly 0.5%, at 2,746; S&P 500 down one at 1,316.

1 tornado   

n.飓风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• A tornado whirled into the town last week.龙卷风上周袭击了这座城市。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。

2 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

3 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。

4 depot   

n.仓库，储藏处；公共汽车站；火车站

参考例句：

• The depot is only a few blocks from here.公共汽车站离这儿只有几个街区。
• They leased the building as a depot.他们租用这栋大楼作仓库。

5 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

6 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

7 poke   

n.刺，戳，袋；vt.拨开，刺，戳；vi.戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢

参考例句：

• We never thought she would poke her nose into this.想不到她会插上一手。
• Don't poke fun at me.别拿我凑趣儿。

8 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。

9 salon   

n.[法]沙龙；客厅；营业性的高级服务室

参考例句：

• Do you go to the hairdresser or beauty salon more than twice a week?你每周去美容院或美容沙龙多过两次吗？
• You can hear a lot of dirt at a salon.你在沙龙上会听到很多流言蜚语。

10 wreckage   

n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏

参考例句：

• They hauled him clear of the wreckage.他们把他从形骸中拖出来。
• New states were born out of the wreckage of old colonial empires.新生国家从老殖民帝国的废墟中诞生。

11 salvage   

v.救助，营救，援救；n.救助，营救

参考例句：

• All attempts to salvage the wrecked ship failed.抢救失事船只的一切努力都失败了。
• The salvage was piled upon the pier.抢救出的财产被堆放在码头上。

12 tornadoes   

n.龙卷风，旋风( tornado的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Tornadoes, severe earthquakes, and plagues create wide spread havoc. 龙卷风、大地震和瘟疫成普遍的毁坏。 来自互联网
• Meteorologists are at odds over the working of tornadoes. 气象学者对龙卷风的运动方式看法不一。 来自互联网

13 battalion   

n.营；部队；大队(的人)

参考例句：

• The town was garrisoned by a battalion.该镇由一营士兵驻守。
• At the end of the drill parade,the battalion fell out.操练之后，队伍解散了。

14 reiterated   

反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• "Well, I want to know about it,'she reiterated. “嗯，我一定要知道你的休假日期，"她重复说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Some twenty-two years later President Polk reiterated and elaborated upon these principles. 大约二十二年之后，波尔克总统重申这些原则并且刻意阐释一番。

15 copper   

n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的

参考例句：

• The students are asked to prove the purity of copper.要求学生们检验铜的纯度。
• Copper is a good medium for the conduction of heat and electricity.铜是热和电的良导体。

16 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

17 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

18 recluse   

n.隐居者

参考例句：

• The old recluse secluded himself from the outside world.这位老隐士与外面的世界隔绝了。
• His widow became a virtual recluse for the remainder of her life.他的寡妻孤寂地度过了余生。

19 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。