NPR 2012-05-09

 No new security procedures are anticipated at US airports as a result of the discovery of an al-Qaeda plot to blow up an airliner¹. NPR’s Craig Windham reports so-called advanced explosive devices are now being examined by FBI experts.

 

The device is said to be a more sophisticated version of the underwear bomb that failed to go off aboard a flight bound for Detroit in 2009. Officials say it contains no medal and has a more refined detonation² system. The president’s top counterterrorism adviser³ John Brennan says the device was a threat from the standpoint of design.

 

"We’re trying to understand, ah, aspects of the design to make sure that we’re able to take preventive actions.”

 

Brennan interviewed on ABC.

 

The Associated Press quotes an official as saying current detection methods would likely have spotted⁴ the shape of the explosive in the device, had the plot not been thwarted⁵ by the CIA. Craig Windham, NPR News, Washington.

 

The government of Myanmar, also known as Burma, has issued a passport to Aung San Suu Kyi. It’s a big deal for the opposition⁶ leader because, as NPR’s Anthony Kuhn reports from Canberra, this will allow Suu Kyi to travel overseas for the first time in 24 years, most of which were spent under house arrest.

 

Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy, said that she already has the document in hand. She applied⁷ for a passport after being elected to parliament for the first time in April 1st parliamentary by-elections. Suu Kyi is expected to travel to Europe in mid-June. She plans to visit Oslo, Norway to make a long overdue⁸ acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize she was awarded in 1991, and she plans to visit Great Britain, where her two sons live. She’s also expected to revisit Oxford⁹, where she was a student in the 1970s and lived with her husband, the late British academic Michael Aris. Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Canberra.

 

The student loan bill that would keep rates from doubling for millions of students before July 1st deadline is stalled in Congress. Today Senate Republicans blocked the legislation from debate. Howard University student Clarise McCants appealed to lawmakers in a news conference to work through their differences and pass an extension.

 

"If the Stafford loan rate doubles this year, it will make college more expensive next year and adds my overall debt level. That additional money could be used instead towards my dream of earning a graduate degree and working to make sure education becomes a right and not a privilege in America.”

 

Now both sides say they want to extend the 3.4% loan rate for students, but they disagree over how to pay for it. Democrats¹¹ want tax hikes for some private firms, and Republicans want to take money from the White House’s health care overhaul¹².

 

Here’s the latest from Wall Street, Dow Jones Industrial Average down 123 points, nearly 1%, at 12,885, NASDAQ down nearly 1% at 2,935, and the S&P 500 down again nearly 1%. 

 

This is NPR.

 

Utah becomes the first state in the nation today to require a 72-hour waiting period before women can undergo abortions¹⁵. NPR’s Howard Berkes says abortion¹⁴-waiting periods in other states are two days shorter.

 

Twenty four hours is the longest and most common waiting period in the 25 other states that mandate¹⁶ some sort of consoling between the decision to abort¹³ and the time the procedure is permitted. That’s according to the Guttmacher Institute's most recently list of abortion laws. Utah is actually the second state to enact¹⁸ a 72-hour waiting period. But South Dakota’s 2011 laws are on halt during a court challenge. So women in Utah become the first in the nation to face a three-day delay. Supporters of the law say it requires due consideration of a life-altering decision. Opponents say they’re still considering a legal challenge. Howard Berkes, NPR News, Salt Lake City.

 

Mitt¹⁷ Romney says President Obama should be more of a new Democrat¹⁰ like former President Bill Clinton, who was declared an end to the era of big government. The GOP’s presumptive presidential nominee¹⁹ lobbied for support today in Lancing, Michigan, where he is hoping his message against big government and higher taxes resonates with voters.

 

Greater uncertainty²⁰ of Europe’s fiscal²¹ health in the aftermath of two crucial elections is [slip] dragging down world stocks. In Greece, recently elected politicians are still unable to form a coalition²² government. The head of a leftist party spearheading the process opposes austerity measures that were required to receive international bailouts. Greece’s conservative say those bailouts save the country from default and the government will not renege from its commitment to spending cuts.

1 airliner   

n.客机，班机

参考例句：

• The pilot landed the airliner safely.驾驶员使客机安全着陆。
• The passengers were shepherded across the tarmac to the airliner.旅客们被引导走过跑道去上飞机。

2 detonation   

n.爆炸；巨响

参考例句：

• A fearful detonation burst forth on the barricade.街垒传来一阵骇人的爆炸声。
• Within a few hundreds of microseconds,detonation is complete.在几百微秒之内，爆炸便完成了。

3 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

4 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

5 thwarted   

阻挠( thwart的过去式和过去分词 )； 使受挫折； 挫败； 横过

参考例句：

• The guards thwarted his attempt to escape from prison. 警卫阻扰了他越狱的企图。
• Our plans for a picnic were thwarted by the rain. 我们的野餐计划因雨受挫。

6 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。

7 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

8 overdue   

adj.过期的，到期未付的；早该有的，迟到的

参考例句：

• The plane is overdue and has been delayed by the bad weather.飞机晚点了，被坏天气耽搁了。
• The landlady is angry because the rent is overdue.女房东生气了，因为房租过期未付。

9 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

10 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

11 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 overhaul   

v./n.大修，仔细检查

参考例句：

• Master Worker Wang is responsible for the overhaul of this grinder.王师傅主修这台磨床。
• It is generally appreciated that the rail network needs a complete overhaul.众所周知，铁路系统需要大检修。

13 abort   

v.使流产，堕胎；中止；中止(工作、计划等)

参考例句：

• The captain instructed them to abort the mission.上尉指示他们中止执行任务。
• With this button the user can abort the audio sequence.用户可以用该按钮终止音频序列。

14 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

15 abortions   

n.小产( abortion的名词复数 )；小产胎儿；（计划）等中止或夭折；败育

参考例句：

• The Venerable Master: By not having abortions, by not killing living beings. 上人：不堕胎、不杀生。 来自互联网
• Conclusion Chromosome abnormality is one of the causes of spontaneous abortions. 结论：染色体异常是导致反复自然流产的原因之一。 来自互联网

16 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

17 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。

18 enact   

vt.制定(法律)；上演，扮演

参考例句：

• The U.S. Congress has exclusive authority to enact federal legislation.美国国会是唯一有权颁布联邦法律的。
• For example,a country can enact laws and economic policies to attract foreign investment fairly quickly.例如一个国家可以很快颁布吸引外资的法令和经济政策。

19 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。

20 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

21 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。

22 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。