NPR美国国家公共电台 NPR 2013-12-17

 Chile’s former President Michelle Bachelet is returning to office after a run-off election today. John Nielsen reports the center-left Bachelet easily defeated her opponent from the right-wing governing coalition¹. 

 

Bachelet won 62% of the vote according to the official result. That was the highest percentage since the country returned to holding democratic election in 1982 after a decades-long dictatorship. Bachelet has promised to make 50 reforms in her first 100 days after taking the oath of office in March. Many are aimed at narrowing the gap between rich and poor in Chile. Bachelet intends to raise corporate² taxes to pay for education reforms, rewrite the constitution and legalize abortion³ under certain circumstances. In a victory speech, Bachelet reclaimed⁴ I am happy with the result and victory and I shall be a president for everyone in Chile. For NPR News, I am John Nielsen.

 

Ireland says it is leaving the international bailout program. The BBC’s Joe Lynam reports the move restores Ireland’s control over its economy and allows it to borrow on international markets.

 

In a rare live television address, Ireland’s Taoiseach loud the role played by the Irish people over the past five years in enduring what he has described as the worst crisis since the great fame of the 1850s. Enda Kenny warns that austerity was not at the end though and that focus most remains⁵ on growth. The economy has shrunk by almost a fifth over the past five years and immigration has soared. But exports are now booming. GDP is rising again and thousands net new jobs are being created every week. Ireland’s success is being hailed in Brussels and Frankfort as prove that austerity can work.

 

The BBC’s Joe Lynam.

 

Senator John McCain is in Ukraine where he says he is supporting protestors who are angered by the refusal of their president to sign a cooperative agreement with European Union. They are calling for Victor Yanukovich to step down. McCain addressed to thousands gathered in Kiev today, saying he supports what he calls their just cause. He also says the US senators prepare to sanction Ukrainian officials responsible for violence against protestors.

 

Democratic Senator Charles Schumer says the federal government does not have the funds to oversee⁶ the safety of US railroads. At a news conference in New York City’s Grand Central Terminal today, Schumer says the commuter⁷ train that derailed in Bronx earlier this month and killed four people is evidence.

 

We sort of surmised⁸ over the last few weeks after Spuyen Duyvil that the MTA was not doing enough and now it is clear that the federal agency in charge of making sure they did enough did not have the resource to do it and did not do it. 

 

Also at today’s news conference, Senator Richard Blumenthal of New York who says the Federal Railroad Administration only has enough resources to inspect 1% of the nation’s rails.

 

This is NPR.

 

Opposition⁹ activists¹⁰ say Syrian military aircraft dropped barrels packed with explosives on rebel-held areas of the contested city of Aleppo. The British-based Syrian observatory¹¹ for human rights says at least 36 people many of children were killed.

 

The attempted terrorism case against the Kansas man goes to federal court this week. The suspect is accused of trying to detonate what he thought was a bomb at Kansas airport Friday morning. From member station KMUW Aileen LeBlanc reports court documents say the FBI recorded the suspect for many months before the incident. 

 

Terry Loewen began communicating online with undercover FBI agent in earlier summer. Documents provided by the US attorney indicated that Loewen was hesitant to engage in operation at first, saying he was just donating money to needy¹² Muslims, later been asked the operation would be more than them. The agent requested at a tour of the airport and Loewen said that he was just the access guy at that point. But Loewen soon agree to help with obtaining and wiring explosives. He left a suicide note saying that most Muslims in this country will hate him for what he had done. This is one of several FBI operations implemented¹³ since 9/11 which have been criticized for appearing to be entrapment¹⁴. For NPR News, I am Aileen LeBlanc in Wichita.

 

NASA engineers are still trying to regulate temperatures in one of the cooling loops on the international space station after control valve malfunctioned¹⁵ last week, the problem for some of stations support systems to be shut down. NASA is considering sending two astronauts on a series of space walks to replace a faulty pump. 

1 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。

2 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

3 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。

4 reclaimed   

adj.再生的；翻造的；收复的；回收的v.开拓( reclaim的过去式和过去分词 )；要求收回；从废料中回收（有用的材料）；挽救

参考例句：

• Many sufferers have been reclaimed from a dependence on alcohol. 许多嗜酒成癖的受害者已经被挽救过来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They reclaimed him from his evil ways. 他们把他从邪恶中挽救出来。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

6 oversee   

vt.监督，管理

参考例句：

• Soldiers oversee the food handouts.士兵们看管着救济食品。
• Use a surveyor or architect to oversee and inspect the different stages of the work.请一位房产检视员或建筑师来监督并检查不同阶段的工作。

7 commuter   

n.(尤指市郊之间)乘公交车辆上下班者

参考例句：

• Police cordoned off the road and diverted commuter traffic. 警察封锁了道路并分流交通。
• She accidentally stepped on his foot on a crowded commuter train. 她在拥挤的通勤列车上不小心踩到了他的脚。

8 surmised   

v.臆测，推断( surmise的过去式和过去分词 )；揣测；猜想

参考例句：

• From the looks on their faces, I surmised that they had had an argument. 看他们的脸色，我猜想他们之间发生了争执。
• From his letter I surmised that he was unhappy. 我从他的信中推测他并不快乐。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 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。

10 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 observatory   

n.天文台，气象台，瞭望台，观测台

参考例句：

• Guy's house was close to the observatory.盖伊的房子离天文台很近。
• Officials from Greenwich Observatory have the clock checked twice a day.格林威治天文台的职员们每天对大钟检查两次。

12 needy   

adj.贫穷的，贫困的，生活艰苦的

参考例句：

• Although he was poor,he was quite generous to his needy friends.他虽穷，但对贫苦的朋友很慷慨。
• They awarded scholarships to needy students.他们给贫苦学生颁发奖学金。

13 implemented   

v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革，经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句

14 entrapment   

n.（非法）诱捕，诱人犯罪；诱使犯罪

参考例句：

• The most common structural targets associated with oil entrapment are anticlines and faults. 与储油圈闭有关的最一般的构造目标是背斜和断层。 来自辞典例句
• The purely mechanical effect of glandular trichome exudates is the entrapment and immobilization of small arthropods. 具腺毛状体分泌物的纯机械作用是诱捕和粘住小的昆虫。 来自辞典例句

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