NPR美国国家公共电台 NPR 2013-12-03

 The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating this morning’s train derailment in New York City that killed four people and injured more than 60 others, fourteen of them critically. From member station WFUV, George Bodarky reports. 

 

 

 

The Metro-North passenger train derailed as it was rounding a curve in the Bronx. The train was making its way to Grant Central terminal from Poughkeepsie, which is about 70 miles north of New York City. Helicopter images showed at least four of the train’s seven cars off the tracks, with one car just feet from a river. The President of New York City’s Mass Transit¹ Agency, Tom Prendergast, says investigators² will look at several factors. 

 

Whenever you do an investigation³ like this, you are going to look at the truck, you are going to look at the equipment itself, the cars, the locomotive, you are going to look at the signal system and you are going to talk to the people involved in operating the train. 

 

Officials say the train’s data recorders should be able to determine its speed at the time of the accident. For NPR News, I’m George Bodarky, in New York.

 

Holiday shopping numbers are out for this long Thanksgiving weekend. NPR’s Diane Rehm reports they show more people went shopping this year than last, but they spent less. 

 

The average shopper spent about $407 over the four-day holiday weekend. That’s almost 4% less than last year. The numbers come from the National Retail⁴ Federation⁵. Overall, the federation says 141 million people went shopping this Thanksgiving weekend, compared to 139 million last year. The group attributes the lower sales numbers to heavy and early discounting. Many retailers⁶ began slashing⁷ prices last Monday. Some stores actually opened on the holiday and expanded their hours on Black Friday. Good news is reported for e-merchants online sale skyrocketed by about 17% and that was before cyber Monday even started. Diane Rehm, NPR News, Washington.

 

The Obama administration says the status of the government’s health insurance website is better. Jeffrey Zients is overseeing the fixes in his assessment⁸ after yesterday’s self-imposed deadline to have it running smoothly⁹.

 

The bottom line, healthcare.gov on December 1st is night and day from where it was on October 1st.

 

Since then, Zients says software fixes, hardware upgrades and a new management structure have all stabilised healthcare.gov. But it’s still not clear how well the system is connecting enrolment information with insurance providers. 

 

Israel’s former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is accusing Benjamin Netanyahu of waging war against  the Obama administration by sharply criticising the U.S. led nuclear deal with Iran. Olmert said today his successor is damaging the country’s relationship with the U.S.. Netanyahu who calls the interim¹⁰ agreement with Tehran a historic mistake, says he will not be silent when Israeli security is in danger.

 

This is NPR.

 

The U.S. assistant mission for Iraq says execution-style killings¹¹ in Iraq have surged recently. The UN special Iraq representative says they are being carried out in a particularly horrendous¹² manner and is calling on Iraqi authorities to hold perpetrators accountable. 

 

Senate Democrats¹³ are hoping to get three more nominees¹⁴ to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals confirmed this month. As NPR’s Ailsa Chang reports now that they have changed filibuster¹⁵ rules, they are expecting the confirmations¹⁶ to go through in quick succession. 

 

The Senate still has one more week of recess¹⁷, but the day they come back. They are going to zoom¹⁸ ahead to confirm three nominees to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, whom Republicans have filibustered¹⁹ only weeks ago. Under the new Senate rules, Robert Wilkins and Nina Pillard were only need 51 votes instead of 60 to be confirmed. The question now is how might Republicans retaliate²⁰ against the death of the filibuster. One early test, both parties must come to an agreement on the budget by mid-December. Some Republicans say compromise will be even harder now, but there’s never been much hope anyway that any real deal on taxing and spending could have materialised. Ailsa Chang, NPR News, the Capitol.

 

The baby giant panda at Washington’s National Zoo now has a name, Bao Bao, it means treasure or precious. First lady Michelle Obama congratulated the zoo on the naming milestone²¹ for the endangered bear. 

 

We are thrilled to welcome this little cub²², a cub who exemplifies both the common bond between our nations and the bright future of this magnificent species. That’s a lot for a little bear.

 

The three-month-old Bao Bao is only the second surviving cub born at the National Zoo. 

1 transit   

n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过

参考例句：

• His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
• The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。

2 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》

3 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。

4 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

5 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

6 retailers   

零售商，零售店( retailer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• High street retailers reported a marked increase in sales before Christmas. 商业街的零售商报告说圣诞节前销售量显著提高。
• Retailers have a statutory duty to provide goods suitable for their purpose. 零售商有为他们提供符合要求的货品的法定义务。

7 slashing   

adj.尖锐的；苛刻的；鲜明的；乱砍的v.挥砍( slash的现在分词 )；鞭打；割破；削减

参考例句：

• Slashing is the first process in which liquid treatment is involved. 浆纱是液处理的第一过程。 来自辞典例句
• He stopped slashing his horse. 他住了手，不去鞭打他的马了。 来自辞典例句

8 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

9 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

10 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。

11 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

12 horrendous   

adj.可怕的，令人惊惧的

参考例句：

• He described it as the most horrendous experience of his life.他形容这是自己一生中最可怕的经历。
• The mining industry in China has a horrendous safety record.中国的煤矿工业具有令人不安的安全记录。

13 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》

14 nominees   

n.被提名者，被任命者( nominee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She's one of the nominees. 她是被提名者之一。 来自超越目标英语 第2册
• A startling number of his nominees for senior positions have imploded. 他所提名的高级官员被否决的数目令人震惊。 来自互联网

15 filibuster   

n.妨碍议事，阻挠；v.阻挠

参考例句：

• A senator dragged the subject in as a filibuster.一个参议员硬把这个题目拉扯进来，作为一种阻碍议事的手法。
• The democrats organized a filibuster in the senate.民主党党员在参议院上组织了阻挠议事。

16 confirmations   

证实( confirmation的名词复数 )； 证据； 确认； （基督教中的）坚信礼

参考例句：

• Never use transitory dialogs as error messages or confirmations. 绝不要用临时对话框作为错误信息框或确认信息框。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Dismissing confirmations thus becomes as routine as issuing them. 因此关闭确认对话框和发起确认对话框一样成为例行公事。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

17 recess   

n.短期休息，壁凹（墙上装架子，柜子等凹处）

参考例句：

• The chairman of the meeting announced a ten-minute recess.会议主席宣布休会10分钟。
• Parliament was hastily recalled from recess.休会的议员被匆匆召回开会。

18 zoom   

n.急速上升；v.突然扩大，急速上升

参考例句：

• The airplane's zoom carried it above the clouds.飞机的陡直上升使它飞到云层之上。
• I live near an airport and the zoom of passing planes can be heard night and day.我住在一个飞机场附近，昼夜都能听到飞机飞过的嗡嗡声。

19 filibustered   

v.阻碍或延宕国会或其他立法机构通过提案( filibuster的过去式和过去分词 )；掠夺

参考例句：

20 retaliate   

v.报复，反击

参考例句：

• He sought every opportunity to retaliate against his enemy.他找机会向他的敌人反击。
• It is strictly forbidden to retaliate against the quality inspectors.严禁对质量检验人员进行打击报复。

21 milestone   

n.里程碑；划时代的事件

参考例句：

• The film proved to be a milestone in the history of cinema.事实证明这部影片是电影史上的一个里程碑。
• I think this is a very important milestone in the relations between our two countries.我认为这是我们两国关系中一个十分重要的里程碑。

22 cub   

n.幼兽，年轻无经验的人

参考例句：

• The lion cub's mother was hunting for what she needs. 这只幼师的母亲正在捕猎。
• The cub licked the milk from its mother's breast. 这头幼兽吸吮着它妈妈的奶水。