美国国家电台 NPR 2012-09-02

 What's left of the Hurricane Isaac is moving into the middle west. The storm is expected to bring heavy rain and possibly tornados¹. Farmers will welcome the rain, the middle west has been suffering from the worst drought in fifty years. Meanwhile, residents of the Gulf² Coast are cleaning up after the first hurricane to hit the US this year, at least four deaths were attributed to the storm. Hundreds of thousands of homes and business are still without power. President Obama plans to visit Louisiana Monday to assess the impact of the hurricane. NPR's Scott Horsley reports the trip comes three days after Mitt³ Romney's tour of the area. 

President Obama will get a first hand look at the damage done by Isaac. The storm caused widespread flooding, power outages and some deaths along the gulf coast before turning inland. ** say Mr. Obama will meet with local officials and make sure that federal crews led by FEMA are doing all they can to help in the cleanup and recovery. Republican challenger Mitt Romney also paid a visit to the storm damming region. ** said the timing⁴ of the President's trip was worked out with local officials to avoid diverting resources from relief efforts. The Labor⁵ Day visit will force Mr. Obama to shorten a planned campaign swing through Ohio. Scott Horsley, NPR News, the White House. 

 

 

Romney is campaigning in Ohio today.

You know I was asked why it was we made Cincinnati our first stop after becoming the nominee⁶, our first political stop. I think you gave them the answer this morning. Thank you.

Later, Romney will travel to Jacksonville Florida for a joint⁷ appearance with his running mate Paul Ryan.

 

 

Two insurgents⁸ blew themselves up near a US base in eastern Afghanistan today. Officials say at least 12 people were killed and at least 50 others were wounded. One of the attackers was driving a fuel tanker⁹ that caused a powerful explosion, breaking windows in homes and shops nearby.

 

 

The Syrian government says force loyal to president Assad have repelled¹⁰ a large scale attack by rebels at an airforce college near the city of Aleppo. The new United Nations envoy¹¹ on Syria Lakhdar Brahimi takes up his post today to try to find a diplomatic settlement. BBC's Jim Muir reports.

The new envoy has made it clear he has no magic formula to end the situation where both the regime and the opposition¹² seem determined¹³ to slag¹⁴ out on the battle field what ever they cost. There is no sign of a charge of heart by either party or their outside supporters. Mr. Brahimi's boss, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon met the Syrian prime minister in Tehran and repeated the UN's view that the government should break the deadlock¹⁵ by withdrawing its heavy weapons and troops from the cities. Syria's refusal to do that is backed by Russia, whose Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that it's absolutely unrealistic to call for the one side capitulation of one of the warring parties. The BBC's Jim Muir reports.

 

 

This is NPR News from Washington. 

 

 

The World Health Organization reports Guinea worm disease is on the verge¹⁶ of eradication¹⁷ with fewer than 400 cases in four African countries. Lisa Schlein reports Guinea worm will become only the second disease after smallpox¹⁸ to be wiped off the face of the earth. 

Several decades ago, there were millions of cases of Guinea worm in 20 Asian and African countries. Now the disease is only present in Mali, Ethiopia, Chad and newly independent South Sudan. WHO expert ** says 99% of the remaining cases are in South Sudan.

I think the efforts are on, so that we can very quickly interrupt transmission so that the world can be certified¹⁹ as free of the disease. 

Guinea worm is transmitted when people drink water contaminated with parasite-infected water fleas²⁰. It is rarely fatal, but infected people aren't able to work for months. The economic impact on poor communities is devastating²¹. For NPR News, I'm Lisa Schlein, in Geneva.

 

 

The National park service is trying to track down thousands of people who may have been exposed to a deadly virus while staying at Yosemite national park this summer. Workers found deer mice that carry Hanta virus had infiltrated²² 91 cabins. Doctor Pierre Rollin is an epidemiologist for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He says the disease is not fatal if it's caught in time.

Unfortunately, there is no specific treatment for Hanta virus. It is only symptomatic and we know that the people that are treated earlier have a better chance of survival. 

Officials say at least six people fell ill at Yosemite national park this summer. Two of them died.

1 tornados   

n.龙卷风，旋风( tornado的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• And the national weather service reports several tornados touch down. 国家气象中心报告预测龙卷风将来袭。 来自互联网
• They had stock footage of lightning, tornados, and hurricanes. 他们存有关于闪电、龙卷风和飓风的电影胶片。 来自互联网

2 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

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 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

5 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。

6 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。

7 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

8 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

9 tanker   

n.油轮

参考例句：

• The tanker took on 200,000 barrels of crude oil.油轮装载了二十万桶原油。
• Heavy seas had pounded the tanker into three parts.汹涌的巨浪把油轮撞成三载。

10 repelled   

v.击退( repel的过去式和过去分词 )；使厌恶；排斥；推开

参考例句：

• They repelled the enemy. 他们击退了敌军。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The minister tremulously, but decidedly, repelled the old man's arm. 而丁梅斯代尔牧师却哆里哆嗦地断然推开了那老人的胳臂。 来自英汉文学 - 红字

11 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

12 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。

13 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

14 slag   

n.熔渣，铁屑，矿渣；v.使变成熔渣，变熔渣

参考例句：

• Millions of tons of slag now go into building roads each year.每年有数百万吨炉渣用于铺路。
• The slag powder had been widely used as the additive in the cement and concrete.矿渣微粉作为水泥混凝土的掺和料已得到广泛应用。

15 deadlock   

n.僵局，僵持

参考例句：

• The negotiations reached a deadlock after two hours.两小时后，谈判陷入了僵局。
• The employers and strikers are at a deadlock over the wage.雇主和罢工者在工资问题上相持不下。

16 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

17 eradication   

n.根除

参考例句：

• The eradication of an established infestation is not easy. 根除昆虫蔓延是不容易的。
• This is often required for intelligent control and eradication. 这经常需要灵巧的控制与消除。

18 smallpox   

n.天花

参考例句：

• In 1742 he suffered a fatal attack of smallpox.1742年，他染上了致命的天花。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child?你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？

19 certified   

a.经证明合格的；具有证明文件的

参考例句：

• Doctors certified him as insane. 医生证明他精神失常。
• The planes were certified airworthy. 飞机被证明适于航行。

20 fleas   

n.跳蚤( flea的名词复数 )；爱财如命；没好气地（拒绝某人的要求）

参考例句：

• The dog has fleas. 这条狗有跳蚤。
• Nothing must be done hastily but killing of fleas. 除非要捉跳蚤，做事不可匆忙。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

22 infiltrated   

adj.[医]浸润的v.（使）渗透，（指思想）渗入人的心中( infiltrate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The headquarters had been infiltrated by enemy spies. 总部混入了敌方特务。
• Many Chinese idioms have infiltrated into the Japanese language. 许多中国成语浸透到日语中。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》