NPR 2012-01-30

 The two leading contenders for the Republican presidential nomination¹, Mitt² Romney and Newt Gingrich, are both campaigning in Florida today, two days before the primary. NPR's Greg Allen reports from Fort Myers both campaigns have unveiled some new attacks.

 

Tough new attack ads from both campaigns have caused some collateral³ damage. NBC News complained after the Romney campaign produced an ad that relies almost entirely⁴ on an excerpt⁵ of the Nightly News broadcast from 1997, when Gingrich was reprimanded by the House for ethics⁶ violations⁷. Yesterday, Romney picked up the attack in Panama City.

 

"You know, I'm running against Speaker Gingrich, for instance, he's a very nice fellow, and he's an historian, but that doesn't give him the right to rewrite history."

 

Former presidential candidate and conservative talk show host Mike Huckabee complained about a Gingrich ad that attacks Romney. It uses an excerpt of a campaign ad from 2008, in which Huckabee says of Romney, "If a man's dishonest to get a job, he'll be dishonest on the job." Greg Allen, NPR News, Fort Myers, Florida.

 

The campaign of former Senator Rick Santorum says his three-year-old daughter is in a Philadelphia hospital, so he's canceling his campaign appearances today. She suffers from a genetic⁸ condition that typically is fatal.

 

The Senate is to vote tomorrow on a plan that would clear the way to consider legislation later this week on congressional ethics. The proposed law would impose tougher penalties on lawmakers who use non-public information for their private benefit. Insider trading already is prohibited, but critics say members of Congress are not closely scrutinized⁹ for information they may receive before it becomes public knowledge.

 

The Greek prime minister said today that he has the backing of all parties in his coalition¹⁰ government to push on with financial reforms. Joanna Kakissis reports.

 

European leaders are despairing over the slow pace of financial reforms in Greece. Papademos is a former central banker who was appointed last November to speed up implementation¹¹ of austerity measures and secure a second bailout. He's also on the verge¹² of sealing a bond swap¹³ deal that would cut Greek debt by at least 50%. Greece has approved painful austerity measures in exchange for billions in international bailout loans. Without the money, it would default and could be forced to drop the euro. Papademos says Greece can only stay sovereigned if it's united. The politicians are also gearing up for spring elections in a country that deeply resents austerity. For NPR News, I'm Joanna Kakissis in Athens.

 

United Nations inspectors¹⁴ are in Iran on a three-day visit to look into allegations Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons. They’re expected to visit an underground site about 80 miles south of Tehran, where Iran says it has begun uranium enrichment. They'll also seek permission to talk to scientists suspected of working on a weapons program. Iran claims it's developing material only for energy and medical research.

 

This is NPR News from Washington.

 

Critics of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin staged a demonstration¹⁵ on wheels today. They drove hundreds of cars decorated with white ribbons around central Moscow. White has become the protest color since the demonstrations¹⁶ began last month after parliamentary elections. Putin's party won, but the opposition¹⁷ claims there was widespread fraud and they want new elections. Putin is running for president, the job he held from 2000 to 2008. That election is scheduled for March 4th. He’s expected to win, which would extend his rule for at least six more years.

 

The debt crisis will be giving European Union leaders headaches even before they make it to their summit in Brussels if they do. Teri Schultz explains why tomorrow's gathering¹⁸ is going to be messier than ever, and that's just the logistics.

 

Brussels will be paralyzed Monday by a general strike of both public and private sector¹⁹ workers protesting their government's austerity measures. The massive action will shut down all public transportation and severely²⁰ disrupt air travel into and out of the Belgian capital. That means heads of state arriving by plane may be redirected to a military airport and then taken downtown by motorcade. The Belgian government host won't reveal exactly what its plans are because of threats that motorways²¹ will be blocked by unions. He’ll also remind the government it's not allowed to thwart²² strike activities. Those EU leaders who make it to the meeting may not have their usual fine dining to look forward to, all ruminating²³ on how to save the eurozone. Even catering²⁴ services are expected to stay off the job. For NPR News, I'm Teri Schultz in Brussels.

 

In men's tennis, Novak Djokovic won the Australian Open today. He beat Rafael Nadal 5-7, 6-4, [口误]6-2, 6-7, 7-5. It took five hours and 53 minutes.

1 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

2 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。

3 collateral   

adj.平行的；旁系的；n.担保品

参考例句：

• Many people use personal assets as collateral for small business loans.很多人把个人财产用作小额商业贷款的抵押品。
• Most people here cannot borrow from banks because they lack collateral.由于拿不出东西作为抵押，这里大部分人无法从银行贷款。

4 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

5 excerpt   

n.摘录，选录，节录

参考例句：

• This is an excerpt from a novel.这是一部小说的摘录。
• Can you excerpt something from the newspaper? 你能从报纸上选录些东西吗？

6 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。

7 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。

8 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

9 scrutinized   

v.仔细检查，详审( scrutinize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The jeweler scrutinized the diamond for flaws. 宝石商人仔细察看钻石有无瑕庇 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Together we scrutinized the twelve lemon cakes from the delicatessen shop. 我们一起把甜食店里买来的十二块柠檬蛋糕细细打量了一番。 来自英汉文学 - 盖茨比

10 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

11 implementation   

n.实施，贯彻

参考例句：

• Implementation of the program is now well underway.这一项目的实施现在行情看好。

12 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

13 swap   

n.交换；vt.交换，用...作交易

参考例句：

• I will swap you my bicycle for your radio.我想拿我的自行车换你的收音机。
• This comic was a swap that I got from Nick.这本漫画书是我从尼克那里换来的。

14 inspectors   

n.检查员( inspector的名词复数 )；（英国公共汽车或火车上的）查票员；（警察）巡官；检阅官

参考例句：

• They got into the school in the guise of inspectors. 他们假装成视察员进了学校。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Inspectors checked that there was adequate ventilation. 检查员已检查过，通风良好。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 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。

16 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。

17 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

18 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

19 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

20 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

21 motorways   

n.高速公路( motorway的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Most of Britain's motorways radiated from London. 英国的大多数公路从伦敦向四方延伸。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Cuba is well served by motorways. 古巴的高速公路四通八达。 来自辞典例句

22 thwart   

v.阻挠，妨碍，反对；adj.横(断的)

参考例句：

• We must thwart his malevolent schemes.我们决不能让他的恶毒阴谋得逞。
• I don't think that will thwart our purposes.我认为那不会使我们的目的受到挫折。

23 ruminating   

v.沉思( ruminate的现在分词 )；反复考虑；反刍；倒嚼

参考例句：

• He sat there ruminating and picking at the tablecloth. 他坐在那儿沉思，轻轻地抚弄着桌布。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He is ruminating on what had happened the day before. 他在沉思前一天发生的事情。 来自《简明英汉词典》

24 catering   

n. 给养

参考例句：

• Most of our work now involves catering for weddings. 我们现在的工作多半是承办婚宴。
• Who did the catering for your son's wedding? 你儿子的婚宴是由谁承办的？