NPR 2012-01-09

 The Iranian government is signaling some willingness to resume nuclear talks with the West. But as NPR’s Peter Kenyon reports, at the same time, a conservative Iranian newspaper says Tehran has begun enriching uranium at a new protected underground site. 

 

The hardline Kayhan newspaper said nuclear experts had begun injecting uranium gas for enrichment at the Fordo site—a previously¹ secret underground facility near the holy city of Qom. Iran’s continued nuclear enrichment has prompted Western powers to contemplate² increased sanctions, including restrictions³ on Iran’s central bank and its oil exports. Talk of such sanctions in turn has prompted Iran to threaten closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil shipping⁴ chokepoint. Amid the tensions, Turkey’s foreign minister says Iran and six world powers have agreed in principle to another round of talks on Iran’s nuclear program. Turkey has offered to host the talks, but no venue⁵ or day has been announced. Peter Kenyon, NPR News, Istanbul. 

 

Defense⁶ Secretary Leon Panetta says sanctions on Iran are having an effect on Tehran’s willingness to reconsider its nuclear activities. 

 

“I think the pressure of the sanctions; I think the pressure of diplomatic pressures from everywhere—Europe, the United States, elsewhere—is working, to put pressure on them, to make them understand that they cannot continue to do what they are doing.” 

 

Panetta says Tehran is not developing a nuclear weapon, but he says they are trying to develop a nuclear capability⁷. And that, he says, is unacceptable. 

 

Republican presidential hopefuls are out meeting and greeting New Hampshire voters as Tuesday’s primary close is in. Earlier today, they phased off in the second of two weekend debates. As NPR’s Susanna George reports, this morning’s give-and-take was quite pointed⁸ mainly at Mitt⁹ Romney. 

 

While Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney was mostly on the receiving end of debate jobs, he did call into question the conservative credentials¹⁰ of John Huntsman for serving as the US ambassador to China under President Barack Obama. Mr. Huntsman shot back.

 

“This nation is divided, David, because of attitudes like that. The American people are tired of the partisan¹¹ division. They have had enough. There’s no trust left among the American people and the institutions of power, and among the American people and our elected officials.”    

 

With just two days before New Hampshire’s primary and many voters undecided, the candidates are holding rallies and town-hall meetings across the state. Susanna George, NPR News, New Hampshire. 

 

The Arab League is again demanding the Syrian government to stop all violence against anti-government protesters and allow more monitors into the country. Arab ministers are also calling for a return to peaceful demonstrations¹². Activists¹³ say at least 10 civilians¹⁴ were killed today by regime forces. They say clashes between government troops and military defectors elsewhere left 11 soldiers dead. 

 

This is NPR. 

 

A Russian tanker¹⁵ continues to head toward Nome Alaska, carrying much needed fuel supplies. But the going is slow—it could take another day or two.

 

The controversial education law No Child Left Behind turns 10 years old today. The anniversary comes as Congress remains¹⁶ deadlocked¹⁷ over efforts to update the law. As NPR’s Larry Abramson reports, despite its sinking reputation, many credit the law with bringing new accountability to American education. 

 

President George W. Bush signed No Child Left Behind in January of 2002 after a bipartisan agreement that the nation’s schools needed higher standards for all students. The law said schools could not be considered successful unless all students were making progress. That includes minorities, low-income students and those with learning disabilities. With time, many schools could not meet the standards and were labeled as failing. That has angered teachers and administrators¹⁸ who say the law is too punitive¹⁹. A divided Congress has tried and failed to update the law. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan says he will grant waivers to some states rather than see most schools marked as failing. Those waivers could well limit the impact of No Child Left Behind in the future. Larry Abramson, NPR News. 

 

Another kind of anniversary today. It’s the birthday of world-renowned physicist²⁰ Stephen Hawking²¹. He turns 70. He had hoped to celebrate by attending a day-long conference on cosmology, talking about things like black holes and dark matter with other physicists²², but he wasn’t able to. Hawking was released from a hospital Friday, though there is no word why he was there. Hawking was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease when he was only 21.  

1 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

2 contemplate   

vt.盘算，计议；周密考虑；注视，凝视

参考例句：

• The possibility of war is too horrifying to contemplate.战争的可能性太可怕了，真不堪细想。
• The consequences would be too ghastly to contemplate.后果不堪设想。

3 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

4 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

5 venue   

n.犯罪地点，审判地，管辖地，发生地点，集合地点

参考例句：

• The hall provided a venue for weddings and other functions.大厅给婚礼和其他社会活动提供了场所。
• The chosen venue caused great controversy among the people.人们就审判地点的问题产生了极大的争议。

6 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

7 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。

8 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

9 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。

10 credentials   

n.证明，资格，证明书，证件

参考例句：

• He has long credentials of diplomatic service.他的外交工作资历很深。
• Both candidates for the job have excellent credentials.此项工作的两个求职者都非常符合资格。

11 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

12 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。

13 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》

14 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

15 tanker   

n.油轮

参考例句：

• The tanker took on 200,000 barrels of crude oil.油轮装载了二十万桶原油。
• Heavy seas had pounded the tanker into three parts.汹涌的巨浪把油轮撞成三载。

16 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。

17 deadlocked   

陷入僵局的；僵持不下的

参考例句：

• The plan deadlocked over the funds. 这个计划由于经费问题而搁浅了。
• The meeting deadlocked over the wage issue. 会议因工资问题而停顿下来。

18 administrators   

n.管理者( administrator的名词复数 )；有管理（或行政）才能的人；（由遗嘱检验法庭指定的）遗产管理人；奉派暂管主教教区的牧师

参考例句：

• He had administrators under him but took the crucial decisions himself. 他手下有管理人员，但重要的决策仍由他自己来做。 来自辞典例句
• Administrators have their own methods of social intercourse. 办行政的人有他们的社交方式。 来自汉英文学 - 围城

19 punitive   

adj.惩罚的，刑罚的

参考例句：

• They took punitive measures against the whole gang.他们对整帮人采取惩罚性措施。
• The punitive tariff was imposed to discourage tire imports from China.该惩罚性关税的征收是用以限制中国轮胎进口的措施。

20 physicist   

n.物理学家，研究物理学的人

参考例句：

• He is a physicist of the first rank.他是一流的物理学家。
• The successful physicist never puts on airs.这位卓有成就的物理学家从不摆架子。

21 hawking   

利用鹰行猎

参考例句：

• He is hawking his goods everywhere. 他在到处兜售他的货物。
• We obtain the event horizon and the Hawking spectrumformula. 得到了黑洞的局部事件视界位置和Hawking温度以及Klein—Gordon粒子的Hawking辐射谱。

22 physicists   

物理学家( physicist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• For many particle physicists, however, it was a year of frustration. 对于许多粒子物理学家来说，这是受挫折的一年。 来自英汉非文学 - 科技
• Physicists seek rules or patterns to provide a framework. 物理学家寻求用法则或图式来构成一个框架。