NPR 2012-02-24

 President Obama’s countering GOP criticism that he is to blame for rising gasoline prices. He will deliver remarks this hour in Florida on his energy polices, and he’ll defend the big push for green energy. Meanwhile, his reelection campaign is preparing to launch a TV ad tomorrow that credits the multi-billion-dollar bailout for keeping big automakers alive in Michigan. The ad also targets his Republican rivals for opposing government assistance that Mr. Obama says helped revive the industry and save jobs; however, his critics say the bailout was too high a cost for taxpayers¹.

 

In Phoenix², Arizona, Mitt³ Romney continued the line of attacks on Rick Santorum that he began at a debate in Mesa. NPR's Ari Shapiro reports Santorum is threatening to beat Romney during Tuesday's primaries in Michigan and Arizona.

 

Rick Santorum has built his campaign on a reputation for uncompromising conservatism. Mitt Romney is trying to show that Santorum compromised his conservatism repeatedly as a senator from Pennsylvania.

 

“Explain most of the night why he did or voted for things he disagreed with. And he talked about this as being taking one for the team. I want to know which team he was taking it for.”

 

The Mesa debate could be the last one of this primary season. More than a dozen states will vote in the coming weeks, and the candidates have not signed on to any more debates after that. Ari Shapiro, NPR News, Phoenix, Arizona.

 

An investigation⁴ is underway into a helicopter collision that has killed seven Marines. The service members were taking part in a training mission last night when the choppers collided near Yuma, Arizona.

 

The Taliban are urging the Afghan people to attack US bases in retaliation⁵ for Koran burnings at a NATO military base. The insurgent⁶ group is also calling on security forces to kill Westerners. President Obama has apologized to Afghan President Hamid Karzai, saying the burnings were unintentional. But the incident continues to fuel protests for a third straight day.

 

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin spoke⁷ today before tens of thousands of people at a rally in Moscow. NPR's Corey Flintoff reports that the gathering⁸ appears to be a response to the mass opposition⁹ rallies that have shaken the government.

 

Putin is running for president in the March 4th elections, and there’s little doubt that he’ll win. But these huge gatherings¹⁰ appear to be an effort to add legitimacy¹¹ to his victory. He told the rally that he has always helped Russia to win and asked them will we win now? The answer from the crowd was a resounding¹² ‘yes’. Many people at the rally came in organized groups of government employees, such as social workers and teachers. Some said they were there at the beating of their employers. Some demonstrators were brought in from other parts of Russia, and they declined to say who was paying for their trips. Corey Flintoff, NPR News, Moscow.

 

At last check on Wall Street, the Dow was up 31 points at 12,970.

 

This is NPR News.

 

Today, more evidence of improving job market in the US. The Labor¹³ Department says there’s been no increase in the number of people who file for unemployment insurance. The figure remained flat at 351,000 last week, and a less volatile¹⁴ four-week average has fallen again to its lowest level in four years.

 

State investigators¹⁵ in West Virginia have reached the same conclusion as three other investigations¹⁶ into the 2010 coal mine disaster that killed 29 mineworkers. But NPR's Howard Berkes says the state report points to shortcomings in West Virginia law.

 

The report from West Virginia's mine safety agency is the fourth investigative review of the Upper Big Branch mine explosion. State investigators largely agree with the earlier federal union and independent reports, hinting the explosion on uncontrolled methane¹⁷ gas, excessive coal dust, faulty safety systems and management failures. But the report's tone is tepid¹⁸ compared to the strong language in the earlier reports. It does know that no one higher than a mine foreman can be held responsible under state law. A bill permitting sanctions against higher-ranking company officials has stalled in the West Virginia's legislature in the face of industry opposition. Howard Berkes, NPR News.

 

Argentina is observing two days of mourning for the victims of yesterday's train crash in Buenos Aires . It was the worst the country had experienced in decades. At least 50 people are confirmed dead; hundreds more remain hospitalized. Officials say they are investigating why a commuter¹⁹ train operating during morning rush hour slammed into the buffers²⁰ at a downtown station in Buenos Aires.

 

US stocks continue to show gains with the Dow up 30 points at last glance; it's at 12,968.

 

This is NPR.

1 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

2 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。

3 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。

4 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

5 retaliation   

n.报复，反击

参考例句：

• retaliation against UN workers 对联合国工作人员的报复
• He never said a single word in retaliation. 他从未说过一句反击的话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 insurgent   

adj.叛乱的，起事的；n.叛乱分子

参考例句：

• Faruk says they are threatened both by insurgent and government forces.法鲁克说，他们受到暴乱分子和政府军队的双重威胁。
• The insurgent mob assembled at the gate of the city park.叛变的暴徒聚在市立公园的门口。

7 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

8 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。

9 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。

10 gatherings   

聚集( gathering的名词复数 )； 收集； 采集； 搜集

参考例句：

• His conduct at social gatherings created a lot of comment. 他在社交聚会上的表现引起许多闲话。
• During one of these gatherings a pupil caught stealing. 有一次，其中一名弟子偷窃被抓住。

11 legitimacy   

n.合法，正当

参考例句：

• The newspaper was directly challenging the government's legitimacy.报纸直接质疑政府的合法性。
• Managing from the top down,we operate with full legitimacy.我们进行由上而下的管理有充分的合法性。

12 resounding   

adj. 响亮的

参考例句：

• The astronaut was welcomed with joyous,resounding acclaim. 人们欢声雷动地迎接那位宇航员。
• He hit the water with a resounding slap. 他啪的一声拍了一下水。

13 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

14 volatile   

adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile,investments are at great risk.由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。
• His character was weak and volatile.他这个人意志薄弱，喜怒无常。

15 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

17 methane   

n.甲烷，沼气

参考例句：

• The blast was caused by pockets of methane gas that ignited.爆炸是由数袋甲烷气体着火引起的。
• Methane may have extraterrestrial significance.甲烷具有星际意义。

18 tepid   

adj.微温的，温热的，不太热心的

参考例句：

• She bent her mouth to the tap and drank the tepid water.她把嘴伸到水龙头底下去喝那微温的水。
• Her feet firmly planted on the tepid rough brick of the floor.她一双脚稳固地立在微温而粗糙的砖地上。

19 commuter   

n.(尤指市郊之间)乘公交车辆上下班者

参考例句：

• Police cordoned off the road and diverted commuter traffic. 警察封锁了道路并分流交通。
• She accidentally stepped on his foot on a crowded commuter train. 她在拥挤的通勤列车上不小心踩到了他的脚。

20 buffers   

起缓冲作用的人（或物）( buffer的名词复数 )； 缓冲器； 减震器； 愚蠢老头

参考例句：

• To allocate and schedule the use of buffers. 分配和计划缓冲器的使用。
• Number of times the stream has paused due to insufficient stream buffers. 由于流缓冲区不足导致流程暂停的次数。