NPR 2012-01-03

 In presidential politics, Rick Santorum is spending this last day before the Iowa caucuses¹ trying to keep his momentum² going. The latest polls show Mitt³ Romney is still favored among the GOP candidates, but only narrowly--a margin⁴ Santorum is hoping to bridge.

 

"We are not looking for a chief executive officer for this country, we are looking for a commander-in-chief."

 

Romney, meanwhile, is focusing his final hours of campaigning in Iowa on parts of the state he won four years ago, hoping to ensure supporters turn up at tomorrow evening's caucuses.

 

Police in Southern California say they've identified a possible suspect in the arson⁵ fires that have torched over 50 cars this weekend. Several blazes have spread to adjacent buildings but no serious injuries are reported. NPR's Larry Abramson reports police haven't said who the suspect is, and they haven't yet filed any charges. 

 

A sheriff's deputy found and detained a man who officials say may have links to arson fires that have terrorized Los Angeles and surrounding cities since they began early Friday. Police Chief Charlie Beck says he's confident authorities have caught the car arsonist⁶, but Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa told CNN the investigation⁷ is still ongoing⁸.

 

"There was one firefighter who was slightly injured, more than $2m in damage, and it could have been much worse. But again, at this point, this person is only a person of interest."

 

Police say the man in custody⁹ was identified with the help of surveillance video and eyewitnesses¹⁰ who placed him at the scene. They still have not identified the potential suspect. Larry Abramson, NPR News.

 

Iran's navy says it test-fired a surface-to-surface cruise missile today during military exercises near the Strait of Hormuz. NPR's Peter Kenyon reports the announcement follows other missile tests over the weekend.

 

Iran's official news agency quoted naval¹¹ commander Mahmoud Mousavi as saying the long-range surface-to-surface missile named Qader marked a significant improvement in its capabilities¹². Earlier Iran announced the test-firing of a surface-to-air missile and said more tests would follow. Oil prices have been in jittery¹³ as Iran conducted the military exercises in the Strait of Hormuz through which large amounts of crude oil pass. Iran is also making fresh nuclear claims, asserting that it has created nuclear fuel rods, an achievement many Western experts doubted Iran had the capacity for. If true, it would be a significant milestone¹⁴ for Iran's nuclear program, which the West believes includes a weapon's component¹⁵ despite Iranian denials. Peter Kenyon, NPR News.

 

The speaker of Iraq's parliament who is Sunni is warning human rights violations¹⁶ are threatening the country's fledgling democracy. The televised statement ratchets up Iraq's sectarian and political crisis triggered last month when the government of Shia Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki issued an arrest warrant for the country's top Sunni politician.

 

This is NPR News.

 

Jordan is spearheading another effort to revive peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians. Negotiators are due to meet in Jordan tomorrow for the first time in more than a year. Palestinian envoy¹⁷ Saeb Erekat warns there will be no breakthrough unless halting Israeli settlements are part of the formula. 

 

"We hope that the Israeli government would reciprocate¹⁸ these Jordanian efforts by announcing cessation of settlement activities"

 

Israel says peace talks should resume with no preconditions.

 

New York City police are looking into a string of attacks in Queens last night involving home-made bombs. WNYC's Yasmeen Khan reports police are investigating them as bias¹⁹ crimes against Muslims.

 

Police say Molotov cocktails²⁰ were used in the arson attacks which targeted a bodega, two houses and an Islamic center. A fire at one of the homes caused extensive damage, but there were no injuries in any of the attacks and there was minimal²¹ damage to the other sites. Meesam Razvi is a spokesman for the Islamic center called the Imam Al-Khoei Foundation. He says he's been fielding calls from anxious community members.

 

"We have a school that's going to be in session tomorrow morning, so there've been some concern of course, and we are conveying to them that the school is going to be business as usual."

 

Police say they are studying surveillance video from the bodega, and the attack on one of the houses. Mayor Michael Bloomberg says police are also looking at connections to incidents outside of New York City. For NPR News, I'm Yasmeen Khan in New York.

 

Today's Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena California has ended without incident. Extra police were on hand because of a planned anti-Wall Street demonstration²². Some 5,000 occupiers followed the parade, peacefully protesting. 

 

I'm Barbara Klein, NPR News in Washington.

1 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

2 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

3 mitt   

n.棒球手套，拳击手套，无指手套；vt.铐住，握手

参考例句：

• I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日，我送给他一只棒球手套。
• Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。

4 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

5 arson   

n.纵火，放火

参考例句：

• He was serving a ten spot for arson.他因纵火罪在服十年徒刑。
• He was arraigned on a charge of arson.他因被指控犯纵火罪而被传讯。

6 arsonist   

n.纵火犯

参考例句：

• You're pretty sure you can identify a single arsonist?你确信你能鉴别出一个特定的纵火者？
• The arsonist confessed that he set fire to six businesses.那纵火犯承认他给6家商场纵过火。

7 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。

8 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

9 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

10 eyewitnesses   

目击者( eyewitness的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The examination of all the eyewitnesses took a week. 对所有证人的质询用了一周的时间。
• Several eyewitnesses testified that they saw the officers hit Miller in the face. 几位目击证人证明他们看见那几个警官打了米勒的脸。

11 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。

12 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

13 jittery   

adj. 神经过敏的, 战战兢兢的

参考例句：

• However, nothing happened though he continued to feel jittery. 可是，自从拉上这辆车，并没有出什么错儿，虽然他心中嘀嘀咕咕的不安。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
• The thirty-six Enterprise divebombers were being squandered in a jittery shot from the hip. 这三十六架“企业号”上的俯冲轰炸机正被孤注一掷。

14 milestone   

n.里程碑；划时代的事件

参考例句：

• The film proved to be a milestone in the history of cinema.事实证明这部影片是电影史上的一个里程碑。
• I think this is a very important milestone in the relations between our two countries.我认为这是我们两国关系中一个十分重要的里程碑。

15 component   

n.组成部分，成分，元件；adj.组成的，合成的

参考例句：

• Each component is carefully checked before assembly.每个零件在装配前都经过仔细检查。
• Blade and handle are the component parts of a knife.刀身和刀柄是一把刀的组成部分。

16 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

17 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

18 reciprocate   

v.往复运动；互换；回报，酬答

参考例句：

• Although she did not reciprocate his feelings, she did not discourage him.尽管她没有回应他的感情，她也没有使他丧失信心。
• Some day I will reciprocate your kindness to me.总有一天我会报答你对我的恩德。

19 bias   

n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见

参考例句：

• They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking.他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。
• He had a bias toward the plan.他对这项计划有偏见。

20 cocktails   

n.鸡尾酒( cocktail的名词复数 )；餐前开胃菜；混合物

参考例句：

• Come about 4 o'clock. We'll have cocktails and grill steaks. 请四点钟左右来，我们喝鸡尾酒，吃烤牛排。 来自辞典例句
• Cocktails were a nasty American habit. 喝鸡尾酒是讨厌的美国习惯。 来自辞典例句

21 minimal   

adj.尽可能少的，最小的

参考例句：

• They referred to this kind of art as minimal art.他们把这种艺术叫微型艺术。
• I stayed with friends, so my expenses were minimal.我住在朋友家，所以我的花费很小。

22 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。