NPR 2012-07-30

 Mitt Romney delivered a foreign policy address in Jerusalem today. He is still ** directly criticising President Obama. NPR's Allison Keyes reports the Republican Presidential candidate stressed that all options should be on the table to keep Iran from developing nuclear weapons. 

After meeting with Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Romney visited the Western Wall before his speech that repeatedly highlighted the need for the United States to stand by Israel and against the attempts by Iran to gain nuclear weapons capability¹. 

No options should be excluded. We recognise Israel's right to defend itself and that is right for America to stand with you.

But earlier Sunday, Romney pulled back from a senior aide's comment, but the candidate would expect Israel's decision if it decided² to take action on its own to stop Iran from achieving nuclear weapons capabilities³. On Monday, Romney is set to attend the expensive fundraiser for a crowd consisting most of Americans living in Israel. Allison Keyes, NPR News. 

 

 

During the speech, Romney also referred to Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. He told CNN that reopened to the idea of moving the US citizen from Tel Aviv into Jerusalem. Current US policy states resolving the status of Jerusalem. She is a part of file negations between Israelis and Palestinians. 

 

 

Government forces in Syria are pressing their attacks in rebel-held areas in Aleppo. The BBC's Ian Pannell is just outside the city. He said the reports more than 30 people have been killed. 

Government is trying everything it can and thrown all the weapons it has at Aleppo City. It's the economic heart of Syria whoever controls it will have an important asset on their side and therefore this really is a fight to the death by both sides. So there has been heavy shelling by artillery⁴ shells landing in neighbourhoods around the city. There have been fierce clashes between government troops. Thousands of enforcements have been sent to Aleppo by President Bashar al-Assad. There are clashes between them and the rebel Free Syrian army. The BBC's Ian Pannell. 

 

 

At the Summer Olympics in London, an American woman won gold medal in skeet shooting today. NPR's Mike Pesca reports. 

Kim Rhode began as an Olympic shooter in the double trap as a 17-year-old. Then they eliminated her discipline and she had to set her shotgun sights on skeet shooting.  With a gold medal winning performance today, Rhode becomes the first American to medal if five consecutive⁵ Olympic games. The Men's Basketball Team opened its defensive⁶ gold with a 98:71 for laying off France. Kevin Durant led all scorers with 22. The Women's Road Racing⁷ cycling came down to a furious sprint⁸ as Marianne Vos of the Netherlands and Armitstead as the best finisher in the world. She outdid Lizzie Armitstead of Great Britain. The silver for Armitstead was the host nation's first medal of these games. Mike Pesca, NPR News London.

 

 

This is NPR News from Washington.

 

 

Thousands of demonstrators circled a parliament in Tokyo today to protest the resumption of nuclear power in Japan. All nuclear reactors⁹ were shut down for safety checks after the earthquake and tsunami¹⁰ last year that caused meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi plant. Two reactors have since resumed operations. The protestors say the nuclear power is too dangerous, officials say nuclear power is needed to maintain the Japanese lent standard of living. 

 

 

Mali's interim¹¹ prime minister says he will not resign despite sharp criticism from political parties accusing him of being incompetent¹² and **. From the capital, Bamako, NPR's Ofeibea Quist-Arcton reports on the former NASA astrophysicist. 

Assessing his first 100 days in office in troubled Mali, a defriant Cheick Modibo Diarra says he is going nowhere. Ignoring calls for him today, the Malian prime minister has admitted  he will form the new national unity¹³ government. In line with a regional road map, the West African bloc¹⁴ has ordered Mali's leaders to main a more inclusive cabinet to deal with the mounting crisis after a crippling rebellion in the north and a ** in the capital. Diarra's critics say he has no clear plan how to win back the north, where extremist al-Qaeda linked Islamists controlled controlled  territory the size of Texas. Ofeibea Quist-Arcton, NPR News, Bamako.

 

 

An unmanned Russian spacecraft docked at the International Space Station today. This was a second attempt for a  new docking system that malfunctioned¹⁵ last week. NASA said it needed to warm up so it's able to perform properly this time. 

1 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

4 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

5 consecutive   

adj.连续的，联贯的，始终一贯的

参考例句：

• It has rained for four consecutive days.已连续下了四天雨。
• The policy of our Party is consecutive.我党的政策始终如一。

6 defensive   

adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的

参考例句：

• Their questions about the money put her on the defensive.他们问到钱的问题，使她警觉起来。
• The Government hastily organized defensive measures against the raids.政府急忙布置了防卫措施抵御空袭。

7 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

8 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。

9 reactors   

起反应的人( reactor的名词复数 )； 反应装置； 原子炉； 核反应堆

参考例句：

• The TMI nuclear facility has two reactors. 三哩岛核设施有两个反应堆。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• The earliest production reactors necessarily used normal uranium as fuel. 最早为生产用的反应堆，必须使用普通铀作为燃料。

10 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

11 interim   

adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间

参考例句：

• The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
• It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。

12 incompetent   

adj.无能力的，不能胜任的

参考例句：

• He is utterly incompetent at his job.他完全不能胜任他的工作。
• He is incompetent at working with his hands.他动手能力不行。

13 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

14 bloc   

n.集团；联盟

参考例句：

• A solid bloc of union members support the decision.工会会员团结起来支持该决定。
• There have been growing tensions within the trading bloc.贸易同盟国的关系越来越紧张。

15 malfunctioned   

发生故障(malfunction的过去式与过去分词)

参考例句：

• Is there any way the dye pack malfunctioned back at the bank? 什么能使爆色板在银行内就失效？ 来自电影对白
• The malfunctioned roller of his mouse is under repair. 他鼠标的滚轴失灵了，正在修呢。 来自互联网