NPR 2012-01-21

 The Supreme¹ Court has tossed out new legislative² maps in the state of Texas only weeks before primary elections. In a unanimous order, the justices say a lower court in Texas that overhauled³ the maps did not use appropriate standards. NPR's Carrie Johnson reports four new seats in the US House are at stake.

 

The Republican-controlled legislature in Texas has been conducting a furious legal battle against the Obama administration over its electoral maps. Texas will get more new congressional seats than any time since Reconstruction⁴ because of the state's soaring Latino population. But the Justice Department says maps drawn⁵ by the GOP legislature disadvantaged minorities and violated the federal Voting Rights Act. A court in San Antonio redrew the districts to give Latino voters a leg up. But now the Supreme Court says that process was faulty too. So the high court wiped out the plan, ordering the San Antonio court to try again, only weeks before the state's primary. Elections are scheduled in early April. Carrie Johnson, NPR News, Washington.

 

Mitt⁶ Romney says he's running neck-in-neck with Newt Gingrich in South Carolina. The former Massachusetts governor was answering questions about the polls which show Romney losing ground while Gingrich closes in just the day before the primary in that state.

 

A fast-moving fire is testing the collective strength of more than 700 firefighters and law enforcement officers near Reno, Nevada. It has burned more than six square miles since it started yesterday. But about half of it is contained. Local authorities say the fire has destroyed more than two dozen homes. And Sierra Fire Protection spokesman Mark Regan says thousands of people remain evacuated⁷.

 

"Ten thousand people were evacuated, but we are able to allow 8,000 residents back in, so we're looking close to. Now we still have about 2,000 residents still out."

 

Rain and snow forecast today could help control the flames, but authorities are also worried that wet conditions on burnt out terrain⁸ could give way to flooding.

 

American music legend Etta James has died at the age of 73 due to complications of leukaemia. NPR's Felix Contreras has this tribute.

 

Etta James got her first exposure to singing in the church, but soon after moved on to the Blues⁹. By the mid¹⁰ 1950s, she had a hit song singing with Blues musician Johnny Otis. Then in 1960, she joined legendary¹¹ Blues label Chess Records and had a string of popular hour.

 

"I want a Sunday kind of love."

 

Etta James was also addicted¹² to drugs during this time and didn't clean up until the mid 1970s. While her career suffered, despite we had named that's an influence by Rock singers of the day. After reviving her career, she released a tribute album to Billie Holiday and was twice named Blues Singer of the Year by the W.C. Handy Awards. Etta James was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993. Felix Contreras, NPR News.

 

A spy scandal in Canada is deepening. As we hear from Dan Karpenchuk in the wake of espionage¹³ charges against a Canadian military officer, media reports say four staff members of the Russian embassy in Ottawa have left the country.

 

Forty-year-old navy intelligence officer Jeffrey Delisle faces charges for passing information to a foreign entity¹⁴ for the past four and a half years. The Canadian government has refused to confirm or deny reports that the foreign entity could be Russia. And the Russian embassy is dismissing any suggestion that its diplomats¹⁵ or staff were expelled in reprisal¹⁶ for the Delisle case. But at least two media outlets¹⁷ say the names of two Russian diplomats, including a defense¹⁸ attache and two technical staff members, have been dropped from Canada's official list of foreign government representatives. The embassy says it's part of the normal rotation¹⁹ on foreign postings. But sources in Ottawa say Canada is publicly downplaying Russia's role to avoid an escalation²⁰ that would see Canadian diplomats expelled from Russia. For NPR News, I'm Dan Karpenchuk in Toronto.

 

Fresh worries today about the shipwreck²¹ perched on rocks off the Italian coast. It is slipping. Local officials are concerned that if the Costa Concordia completely submerges into the waters, it could leak fuel and cause catastrophic environmental damage to marine²² life. The slipping forced divers²³ to suspend their search once again for 21 people missing since the ship ran aground Friday. Eleven others are confirmed dead. The ship's captain is accused of causing the accident.

 

At last check on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 66 points at 12,690 in trading of more than two billion shares, NASDAQ down four points at 2,784, with the S&P 500 off slightly at 1,312.

1 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

2 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

3 overhauled   

v.彻底检查( overhaul的过去式和过去分词 )；大修；赶上；超越

参考例句：

• Within a year the party had drastically overhauled its structure. 一年内这个政党已大刀阔斧地整顿了结构。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A mechanic overhauled the car's motor with some new parts. 一个修理工对那辆汽车的发动机进行了彻底的检修，换了一些新部件。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 reconstruction   

n.重建，再现，复原

参考例句：

• The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后，该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
• In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期，技术决定一切。

5 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

6 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。

7 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。

8 terrain   

n.地面，地形，地图

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• He knows the terrain of this locality like the back of his hand.他对这一带的地形了如指掌。

9 blues   

n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐

参考例句：

• She was in the back of a smoky bar singing the blues.她在烟雾弥漫的酒吧深处唱着布鲁斯歌曲。
• He was in the blues on account of his failure in business.他因事业失败而意志消沉。

10 mid   

adj.中央的，中间的

参考例句：

• Our mid-term exam is pending.我们就要期中考试了。
• He switched over to teaching in mid-career.他在而立之年转入教学工作。

11 legendary   

adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学）

参考例句：

• Legendary stories are passed down from parents to children.传奇故事是由父母传给孩子们的。
• Odysseus was a legendary Greek hero.奥狄修斯是传说中的希腊英雄。

12 addicted   

adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的

参考例句：

• He was addicted to heroin at the age of 17.他17岁的时候对海洛因上了瘾。
• She's become addicted to love stories.她迷上了爱情小说。

13 espionage   

n.间谍行为，谍报活动

参考例句：

• The authorities have arrested several people suspected of espionage.官方已经逮捕了几个涉嫌从事间谍活动的人。
• Neither was there any hint of espionage in Hanley's early life.汉利的早期生活也毫无进行间谍活动的迹象。

14 entity   

n.实体，独立存在体，实际存在物

参考例句：

• The country is no longer one political entity.这个国家不再是一个统一的政治实体了。
• As a separate legal entity,the corporation must pay taxes.作为一个独立的法律实体，公司必须纳税。

15 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 reprisal   

n.报复，报仇，报复性劫掠

参考例句：

• There is no political alternative but a big reprisal.政治上没有旁的选择只能是大规模报复。
• They bombed civilian targets in reprisal.他们炮轰平民目标作为报复。

17 outlets   

n.出口( outlet的名词复数 )；经销店；插座；廉价经销店

参考例句：

• The dumping of foreign cotton blocked outlets for locally grown cotton. 外国棉花的倾销阻滞了当地生产的棉花的销路。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They must find outlets for their products. 他们必须为自己的产品寻找出路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

18 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。

19 rotation   

n.旋转；循环，轮流

参考例句：

• Crop rotation helps prevent soil erosion.农作物轮作有助于防止水土流失。
• The workers in this workshop do day and night shifts in weekly rotation.这个车间的工人上白班和上夜班每周轮换一次。

20 escalation   

n.扩大，增加

参考例句：

• The threat of nuclear escalation remains. 核升级的威胁仍旧存在。 来自辞典例句
• Escalation is thus an aspect of deterrence and of crisis management. 因此逐步升级是威慑和危机处理的一个方面。 来自辞典例句

21 shipwreck   

n.船舶失事，海难

参考例句：

• He walked away from the shipwreck.他船难中平安地脱险了。
• The shipwreck was a harrowing experience.那次船难是一个惨痛的经历。

22 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。

23 divers   

adj.不同的；种种的

参考例句：

• He chose divers of them,who were asked to accompany him.他选择他们当中的几个人，要他们和他作伴。
• Two divers work together while a standby diver remains on the surface.两名潜水员协同工作，同时有一名候补潜水员留在水面上。