NPR 2012-02-13

 Members of the Arab League are meeting in Cairo today to discuss the next step in dealing¹ with Syria. The group has been at the forefront of efforts to stop the bloody² crackdown on anti-government protests that began last March. President Bashar al-Assad had agreed to an Arab League peace plan and the League sent observers into Syria to monitor compliance³. But the League withdrew its observers last month when the killings⁴ continued. Today, the League is considering reviving the mission, adding United Nations monitors and whether to expel Syrian ambassadors from Arab capitals. The leader of al-Qaeda is voicing support for the protesters. BBC's Jim Muir listened to his massage⁵ posted on the Internet.

 

In an eight-minute video message addressed to the "Lions of Syria", the al-Qaeda leader urged them to depend on their own efforts and sacrifices, and not on what he called the failed states of the Arab League, the West or Turkey. He called on militants⁶ in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey to rise up and support what he called their brothers in Syria. They had the right, he said, to use any means they thought fit to get rid of a cancerous regime that was oppressing Muslims. It's the clearest sign yet of involvement by al-Qaeda in the uprising in Syria as it takes on increasingly an aspect of armed insurgency⁷ as well as popular protest.

 

The BBC's Jim Muir reporting.

 

The Greek parliament is said to vote today on painful spending cuts in exchange for billions in new bailout loans. Joanna Kakissis reports from Athens the lawmakers are expected to approve the bailout.

 

Austerity measures have driven up the unemployment rate to more than 20%, but Prime Minister Lucas Papademos says a messy default would mean far more people out of work. There would be no money for salaries, pensions, schools or hospitals. Imports such as fuel and most supermarket goods would become prohibitively expensive. The chaos⁸ would lead to an exit from the eurozone.

 

"Greece would go from being a nation in the core of the eurozone to a weak country on the fringe of Europe."

 

Papademos said in a televised speech. The bailout is worth about 172 billion dollars. Greece, it needs the loans and a separate debt swap⁹ deal to avoid bankruptcy¹⁰ next month. For NPR News, I'm Joanna Kakissis in Athens.

 

The austerity measures are not popular. Thousands of people gathered outside the parliament today to protest. Some threw bottles and rocks at police who responded with tear gas and stun¹¹ grenades.

 

Rescuers are digging through snow in Kosovo, searching for a villager missing after an avalanche¹² yesterday. Several houses are buried under 33 feet of snow in a remote mountain village in the southern part of the country. At least nine people are confirmed dead.

 

This is NPR News from Washington.

 

Producers of tonight's Grammy Awards say they are planning a tribute to a long-time star who died yesterday. NPR's Mandalit del Barco has more.

 

The Grammy Awards telecast is reportedly to include a short memorial to Whitney Houston, a performance by one of her disciples¹³ Jennifer Hudson. The six-time Grammy winner was found dead just hours before a pre-Grammy party, and news of her death has shaken many in the music business. At this year's awards ceremony, British singer Adele Adkins is expected to take home many of the top awards. She plans to perform for the first time since her vocal¹⁴ chords were operated on. And some musicians say they'll picket¹⁵ and march outside the awards ceremony to protest the elimination¹⁶ of 31 music categories, including Latin jazz, zydeco, Hawaiian and some blues¹⁷ and jazz genres¹⁸. Mandalit del Barco, NPR News, Los Angeles.

 

Mitt¹⁹ Romney's campaign to be the Republican presidential nominee²⁰ received two boosts this weekend. He won a straw poll held by conservatives meeting in Washington, and he won Maine's straw poll with 39% of the vote. Ron Paul came in second with 36%. The next contest will be in Arizona and Michigan at the end of the Month.

 

Tomorrow morning, President Obama sends Congress his ideas for a federal budget for 2013. Already, some Republicans say they won't like it. That doesn't do enough to trim entitlement programs such as Medicare. The blueprint²¹ reportedly calls for spending more to fix highways and modernize²² schools. It also reportedly includes a provision that would require households that make more than a million dollars a year pay at least 30% of their income in taxes.

 

I'm Nora Raum, NPR News in Washington.

1 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

2 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

3 compliance   

n.顺从；服从；附和；屈从

参考例句：

• I was surprised by his compliance with these terms.我对他竟然依从了这些条件而感到吃惊。
• She gave up the idea in compliance with his desire.她顺从他的愿望而放弃自己的主意。

4 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

5 massage   

n.按摩，揉；vt.按摩，揉，美化，奉承，篡改数据

参考例句：

• He is really quite skilled in doing massage.他的按摩技术确实不错。
• Massage helps relieve the tension in one's muscles.按摩可使僵硬的肌肉松弛。

6 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

7 insurgency   

n.起义；暴动；叛变

参考例句：

• And as in China, unrest and even insurgency are widespread. 而在中国，动乱甚至暴乱都普遍存在。 来自互联网
• Dr Zyphur is part an insurgency against this idea. 塞弗博士是这一观点逆流的一部分。 来自互联网

8 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

9 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。

10 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

11 stun   

vt.打昏，使昏迷，使震惊，使惊叹

参考例句：

• When they told me she had gone missing I was totally stunned.他们告诉我她不见了时，我当时完全惊呆了。
• Sam stood his ground and got a blow that stunned him.萨姆站在原地，被一下打昏了。

12 avalanche   

n.雪崩，大量涌来

参考例句：

• They were killed by an avalanche in the Swiss Alps.他们在瑞士阿尔卑斯山的一次雪崩中罹难。
• Higher still the snow was ready to avalanche.在更高处积雪随时都会崩塌。

13 disciples   

n.信徒( disciple的名词复数 )；门徒；耶稣的信徒；（尤指）耶稣十二门徒之一

参考例句：

• Judas was one of the twelve disciples of Jesus. 犹大是耶稣十二门徒之一。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• "The names of the first two disciples were --" “最初的两个门徒的名字是——” 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险

14 vocal   

adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目

参考例句：

• The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
• Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。

15 picket   

n.纠察队；警戒哨；v.设置纠察线；布置警卫

参考例句：

• They marched to the factory and formed a picket.他们向工厂前进,并组成了纠察队。
• Some of the union members did not want to picket.工会的一些会员不想担任罢工纠察员。

16 elimination   

n.排除，消除，消灭

参考例句：

• Their elimination from the competition was a great surprise.他们在比赛中遭到淘汰是个很大的意外。
• I was eliminated from the 400 metres in the semi-finals.我在400米半决赛中被淘汰。

17 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。

18 genres   

（文学、艺术等的）类型，体裁，风格( genre的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Novel and short story are different genres. 长篇小说和短篇小说是不同的类别。
• But confusions over the two genres have a long history. 但是类型的混淆，古已有之。 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译

19 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。

20 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

21 blueprint   

n.蓝图，设计图，计划；vt.制成蓝图，计划

参考例句：

• All the machine parts on a blueprint must answer each other.设计图上所有的机器部件都应互相配合。
• The documents contain a blueprint for a nuclear device.文件内附有一张核装置的设计蓝图。

22 modernize   

vt.使现代化，使适应现代的需要

参考例句：

• It was their manifest failure to modernize the country's industries.他们使国家进行工业现代化，明显失败了。
• There is a pressing need to modernise our electoral system.我们的选举制度迫切需要现代化。