美国国家电台 NPR 2012-10-12

 The vice¹ presidential candidates will take center stage tonight in Danville, Kentucky. NPR's senior Washington Editor Ron Elving says Vice President Joe Biden and Congressman² Paul Ryan will outline different approaches to domestic as well as foreign policies. 

 

Joe Biden is very comfortable with foreign policies. He had a major foreign policy role in this administration. He was previously⁴ the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He considers himself to be a world-class expert on foreign policy. Paul Ryan's focus, on the other hand, has been as House Budget Committee chairman, the fiscal⁵ policy of the federal government, and he is going to probably want to concentrate there, but I expect both men to be highly aggressive about attacking the positions of the other man's party on both domestic issues and foreign. NPR's Ron Elving.

 

One of the more contentious⁶ issues in Washington surrounds last month deadly attack on the U.S. consulate⁷ in Benghazi. That claimed the lives of four Americans including Ambassador Chris Stevens in Libya. Republicans are examining whether requests for additional security were ignored. In the meantime, the State Department has appointed Laurence Pope charge d'affaries to temporarily take charge of U.S. diplomatic operations in Libya. 

 

A security official who worked for the U.S. embassy in Yemen has been killed. NPR's Michele Kelemen has reaction in Washington. 

 

Yemeni officials say the U.S. embassy employee was killed in a drive-by shooting and suggested al-Qaeda may have been involved. State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland says it's too early to tell.

 

We are deeply saddened by the killing⁸ of  Qassim M. Aklan, a longtime employee of the U.S. embassy in Sana'a. We condemn⁹ this vicious act in the strongest terms and extend our deepest condolences to his family and his friends at this difficult time.

 

She says Aklan was an investigator¹⁰ in the embassy's regional security office and was responsible  for routine personnel checks and relations with local authorities. Michele Kelemen, NPR News, Washington.

 

In Islamabad, a choir¹¹ sings hymns¹² at a Christian¹³ service in honor of the 15-year-old school girl who was critically wounded by Taliban gunmen two days ago. Today, Malala Yousafzai, an outspoken¹⁴ advocate for rights of Pakistani girls was transferred to a military hospital. Meanwhile, supporters such as Rubina Khalid said the girl was an inspiration to all. 

 

Malala can be anybody's child. It is not this thing that will stop at one person. This thing will carry on unless until we all decide to stand up to it and say no to them we are enough. 

 

The attack not only prompted protests and vigils across Pakistan, it also did so across the world.

 

At last check on Wall Street, Dow was down 18 points at 13,326; NASDAQ off there at 3,049; S&P500 up slightly at 1,433. 

 

You are listening to NPR News.

 

New York City subways are being besieged¹⁵ by pro³ and anti Muslim ads. The city's transit¹⁶ authority tried unsuccessfully to ban the first wave of ads, then other groups entered the fray¹⁷. NPR's Margot Adler reports now the city plans to put up its own subway billboards¹⁸.

 

The original ads were purchased by Pamela Geller, an activist¹⁹ who has been a major force against the proposed Islamic Cultural Center near Ground Zero. The ad said in any war between the civilized²⁰ man and the savage²¹, support the civilized man, support Israel defeat Jihad. A group of Methodist Women bought counter ads, hate speech is not civilized. A different Christian group soldiers bought ads saying, love your Muslim neighbors. Mayor Bloomberg criticized the anti-Muslim ads, but took a free speech position. Now according to an article in the New York Post, the city's Commission on Human Rights plans its own series of billboards, featuring a big apple with the map of the world saying from many countries one city. They could go up next week. Margot Adler, NPR News, New York.

 

The prime minister of Turkey says the plane that was grounded in Ankara was carrying Russian made ammunitions bound for Syria. Recep Tayyip Erdogan's comments today follow several days of cross-border clashes between his country and neighboring Syria, where a civil war has been raging for a year and a half. They Syrian government, meanwhile, denies Erdogan's claims. 

 

Sprint²² Nextel reportedly is in talks with a Japanese cellphone company Softbank, saying only that's discussing a possible substantial investment. Sprint is this nation's third largest wireless²³ carrier. 

1 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

2 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

3 pro   

n.赞成，赞成的意见，赞成者

参考例句：

• The two debating teams argued the question pro and con.辩论的两组从赞成与反对两方面辩这一问题。
• Are you pro or con nuclear disarmament?你是赞成还是反对核裁军？

4 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。

5 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

6 contentious   

adj.好辩的，善争吵的

参考例句：

• She was really not of the contentious fighting sort.她委实不是好吵好闹的人。
• Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.从那时起，他们总想方设法避开有争议的问题。

7 consulate   

n.领事馆

参考例句：

• The Spanish consulate is the large white building opposite the bank.西班牙领事馆是银行对面的那栋高大的白色建筑物。
• The American consulate was a magnificent edifice in the centre of Bordeaux.美国领事馆是位于波尔多市中心的一座宏伟的大厦。

8 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

9 condemn   

vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑

参考例句：

• Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他，而有些人谴责他。
• We mustn't condemn him on mere suppositions.我们不可全凭臆测来指责他。

10 investigator   

n.研究者，调查者，审查者

参考例句：

• He was a special investigator for the FBI.他是联邦调查局的特别调查员。
• The investigator was able to deduce the crime and find the criminal.调查者能够推出犯罪过程并锁定罪犯。

11 choir   

n.唱诗班，唱诗班的席位，合唱团，舞蹈团；v.合唱

参考例句：

• The choir sang the words out with great vigor.合唱团以极大的热情唱出了歌词。
• The church choir is singing tonight.今晚教堂歌唱队要唱诗。

12 hymns   

n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌( hymn的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• At first, they played the hymns and marches familiar to them. 起初他们只吹奏自己熟悉的赞美诗和进行曲。 来自英汉非文学 - 百科语料821
• I like singing hymns. 我喜欢唱圣歌。 来自辞典例句

13 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

14 outspoken   

adj.直言无讳的，坦率的，坦白无隐的

参考例句：

• He was outspoken in his criticism.他在批评中直言不讳。
• She is an outspoken critic of the school system in this city.她是这座城市里学校制度的坦率的批评者。

15 besieged   

包围，围困，围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Paris was besieged for four months and forced to surrender. 巴黎被围困了四个月后被迫投降。
• The community besieged the newspaper with letters about its recent editorial. 公众纷纷来信对报社新近发表的社论提出诘问，弄得报社应接不暇。

16 transit   

n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过

参考例句：

• His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
• The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。

17 fray   

v.争吵；打斗；磨损，磨破；n.吵架；打斗

参考例句：

• Why should you get involved in their fray?你为什么要介入他们的争吵呢？
• Tempers began to fray in the hot weather.大热天脾气烦燥。

18 billboards   

n.广告牌( billboard的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Large billboards have disfigured the scenery. 大型告示板已破坏了景色。 来自辞典例句
• Then, put the logo in magazines and on billboards without telling anyone what it means. 接着我们把这个商标刊在杂志和广告看板上，却不跟任何人透漏它的涵意。 来自常春藤生活英语杂志-2006年4月号

19 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

20 civilized   

a.有教养的，文雅的

参考例句：

• Racism is abhorrent to a civilized society. 文明社会憎恶种族主义。
• rising crime in our so-called civilized societies 在我们所谓文明社会中日益增多的犯罪行为

21 savage   

adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人

参考例句：

• The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。
• He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。

22 sprint   

n.短距离赛跑；vi. 奋力而跑，冲刺；vt.全速跑过

参考例句：

• He put on a sprint to catch the bus.他全速奔跑以赶上公共汽车。
• The runner seemed to be rallied for a final sprint.这名赛跑者似乎在振作精神作最后的冲刺。

23 wireless   

adj.无线的；n.无线电

参考例句：

• There are a lot of wireless links in a radio.收音机里有许多无线电线路。
• Wireless messages tell us that the ship was sinking.无线电报告知我们那艘船正在下沉。