NPR美国国家公共电台 2013-01-15

 　　From NPR News in Washington, I’m Lakshmi Singh.

 

　　President Obama says not raising the debt ceiling would produce a self-inflicted wound on the U.S. economy. Speaking at White House press conference today, the President says such a move could also increase the deficit¹. Your NPR’s John Ydstie.

 

　　“The President says failure to raise the debt ceiling would mean social security checks would not go out, the military would not be paid, financial markets would go haywire, and interest rates would spike². As Obama says, he is willing to negotiate a balanced deficit reduction package with Republicans, but ‘what I will not do is to have that negotiation³ with a gun ahead of American people’. The President says raising the debt ceiling is not about authorizing⁴ more spending. It simply means the Congress will pay the bills as it’s already racked up. John Ydstie, NPR News, Washington.”

 

　　President Obama also addressed gun control on this one-month anniversary of the Connecticut school shootings. He says he’s reviewing a range of proposals today including limits on high capacity emanation magazines and an assault weapons ban.

 

　　The associated press reports that California high school teenager accused of shooting a classmate last Thursday has been charged as an adult. Today the current country district attorney’s office announced the suspect faces several counts including attempted murder. People in the San Joaquin Valley town would say they knew the suspect described him as smart and also a target of teasing for his small stature⁵.

 

　　A spokesman says former President George HW Bush has been released from a hospital where he spent nearly two months. The 88-year-old was admitted to Methodist Hospital in Houston for a bronchitis related illness.

 

　　Massachusetts Institute of Technology says it’s investigating a school’s involve minted suicide of 26-year-old internet activist⁶ Aaron Swartz. He committed suicide on Friday. NPR’s Tovia Smith reports he was facing trial next month on Federal charges for hacking⁷ into MIT’s computer system to make epidemic⁸ articles available online for free.

 

　　“MIT’s President L. Rafael Reif says it’s ‘pains’ him to think the school played any role in advance that ended the tragedy. Swartz was arrested after breaking into an MIT computer closet and downloading articles from a page of description service to make them available for free. While some thought it’s an activist civil disobedience, prosecutors⁹ came down hard. Swartz was facing 55 years in prison and up to a million dollars in fines.  Swartz had been suffering from depression. His family causes death of product of a criminal justice system rife¹⁰ with intimidation¹¹ and prosecutory overreach. MIT has asked computer science professor and founder¹² of the free software foundation to head the internal review saying ‘now it’s time for everyone to reflect on their actions’. Tovia Smith, NPR News, Boston.”

 

　　From Washington, this is NPR News.

 

　　Germany is now offering support to French troops fighting Islamist insurgency¹³ in Mali, but it does not plan to send combat forces to the West African nation. France is also promised support from Canada, Britain and the U.S. as it tries to keep Islamist fighters from advancing on Mali’s capital. Despite several days of French airstrikes, insurgents¹⁴ were still able to capture the central town of Diabaly. According to the Chinese embassy in Sudan, militants¹⁵ in the Darfur  region have kidnapped three Chinese workers. NPR’s Frank Langfitt reports Chinese labors¹⁶ have increasingly become targets for abduction, as China scouvers the globe for resources and business opportunities.

 

　　“Militants kidnapped three Chinese drivers who were transporting building materials for constructing a road. 5 Sudanese workers were taken as well. According to Sudan’s state news agency SUNA, the people’s deli becoming this party newspaper edited at Chinese engineer had also gone missing. No group has taken responsibility for the abductions which often b* ransom¹⁷ demands. Rebels in Darfur continue to b* the government in Cartoon, which China has heavily armed. China is a key builder of infrastructure¹⁸ and heavily invested in oil industry in Sudan. Last January, rebels attacked a road construction camped in Sudan’s south * found state, kidnapping 29 Chinese workers who were released 10 days later. Frank Langfitt, NPR News, Shanghai.”

 

　　Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell has just wrapped up a visit to Afghanistan. He says he believes 10,000 American troop should remain in Afghanistan after 2014 when most combat forces were scheduled to withdraw.

 

　　At last check on Wall Street, Dow is up 18 points at 13,507. This is NPR.

1 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

2 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

3 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

4 authorizing   

授权，批准，委托( authorize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Letters of Marque: Take letters from a warning friendly power authorizing privateering. 私掠许可证：从某一个国家获得合法抢劫的证书。
• Formal phavee completion does not include authorizing the subsequent phavee. 阶段的正式完成不包括核准随后的阶段。

5 stature   

n.（高度）水平，（高度）境界，身高，身材

参考例句：

• He is five feet five inches in stature.他身高5英尺5英寸。
• The dress models are tall of stature.时装模特儿的身材都较高。

6 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

7 hacking   

n.非法访问计算机系统和数据库的活动

参考例句：

• The patient with emphysema is hacking all day. 这个肺气肿病人整天不断地干咳。
• We undertook the task of hacking our way through the jungle. 我们负责在丛林中开路。

8 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

9 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

10 rife   

adj.(指坏事情)充斥的，流行的，普遍的

参考例句：

• Disease is rife in the area.疾病在这一区很流行。
• Corruption was rife before the election.选举之前腐败盛行。

11 intimidation   

n.恐吓，威胁

参考例句：

• The Opposition alleged voter intimidation by the army.反对党声称投票者受到军方的恐吓。
• The gang silenced witnesses by intimidation.恶帮用恐吓的手段使得证人不敢说话。

12 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

13 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

14 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

15 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。

16 labors   

v.努力争取(for)( labor的第三人称单数 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转

参考例句：

• He was tiresome in contending for the value of his own labors. 他老为他自己劳动的价值而争强斗胜，令人生厌。 来自辞典例句
• Farm labors used to hire themselves out for the summer. 农业劳动者夏季常去当雇工。 来自辞典例句

17 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。

18 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。