NPR美国国家公共电台 2013-03-04

　　From NPR news in Washington, I am Nora Raum.

 

　　Syrian president Bashar al-Assad is rejecting calls from the US for him to step down. Assad's remarks came in a rare interview with a western newspaper. NPR’s Philip Reeves reports.

 

　　"Washington says it's time for Assad to go. That point has been reiterated¹ by the new secretary of state, John Kerry, during his current trip. After nearly two years of violence and an estimated 70, 000 dead, Assad seems in no mood to listen. In an interview with Britain's Sunday Times newspaper, he said it's up to the Syrian people to decide whether their president stays or leaves, and claims it's absurd to argue his departure would stop the fighting. Assad is scathing² about Britain's role calling it bullying³ and naive⁴ and accusing the British of militarizing the conflict. Britain says it gives non-lethal equipment to the Syrian opposition⁵ forces, but Foreign Secretary William Hague again says today he doesn't rule out providing arms. Hague is describing Assad's interview was delusional⁶."

 

　　Philip Reeves, NPR news, London.

 

　　Kerry wrapped up a two-day visit to Cairo today with an announcement that the US will send $190 million in aid to Egypt. After meeting with President Mohamed Morsi, Kerry said he was assured that Egypt will make the economic changes needed to obtain a loan package from International Monetary⁷ Fund.

 

　　The retrial of ousted⁸ Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak will begin on April 13. NPR’s Leila Fadel reports Mubarak is charged in connection with the killing⁹ of some 900 protesters during the uprising against him.

 

　　"Mubarak and his former security chief were given life sentences for failing to stop the killing of protesters during the 18-day revolt in 2011 that led to Mubarak’s ouster, but many weren't satisfied with the outcome of that case. Critics say that nearly 30-year dictator should have been convicted of ordering the killing of protesters. In January Mubarak’s conviction was overturned as well as his security chief and 6 other security officials. Mubarak's sons and business associate are also being trialed on corruption¹⁰ charges."

 

　　Leila Fadel, NPR news, Cairo.

 

　　Tomorrow is the first work day for the Federal Government since $85 billion in cuts went into effect. The Republican leader in the Senate Mitch McConnell who described the cuts as modest, said Republicans are open to re-configuring them as long as there is no increase in taxes.

 

　　"The question is how we gonna keep the commitment we made to the American people a year and half ago, a by-partisan agreement, signed by the president, that we would reduce spending without raising taxes by this amount of money in this fiscal¹¹ year."

 

　　He was interviewed this morning on CNN. On another network Mitt¹² Romney said his presidential campaign didn't do enough to connect with minority voters and underestimated the appeal of the Obama healthcare law to low-income voters. Romney also told Fox News Sunday his heart told him he was going to win. Romney said he only knew his campaign was in trouble when he saw the exit polls were close in Florida.

 

　　This is NPR news.

 

　　Swiss citizens today approve proposals imposing¹³ restrictions¹⁴ on the salaries of top managers. Nearly 68% of the voters back the nation-wide referendum. The BBC’s Imogen Foulkes reports.

 

　　"Multi-billion dollar losses by banking¹⁵ giant UBS and thousands of redundancies at pharmaceutical¹⁶ company Novartis have caused anger in Switzerland because high salaries and bonuses for managers continued unchanged. The new measures overwhelmingly backed by voters will give Switzerland some of the world's strictest corporate¹⁷ rules. Shareholders¹⁸ will have a veto over salaries, golden hand-shakes will be forbidden, managers of companies who flout¹⁹ the rules could face prison.The Swiss Businesses Association campaigned hard against the proposals arguing they will damage Switzerland’s competitiveness, but voters were not convinced."

 

　　The BBC’s Imogen Foulkes reporting.

 

　　Cardinal²⁰ Keith O'Brien apologized today. He had resigned last month as head of the Church of England, the highest ranking British cleric, after a newspaper reported he had engaged inappropriate behavior with priests. At the time O'Brien denied the allegations, today he issued a statement there had been times his sexual conduct has fallen below the standards expected of him. O'Brien said he will now spend the rest of his life in retirement²¹. He already had said he will not take part in a conclave²² to elect a new pope.

 

　　Buckingham Palace says Queen Elizabeth is in the hospital being treated for stomach problems. A spokesman says all of her engagements scheduled for this week are being canceled or postponed²³ including a planned trip to Rome.

 

　　I am Nora Raum, NPR news in Washington.

1 reiterated   

反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• "Well, I want to know about it,'she reiterated. “嗯，我一定要知道你的休假日期，"她重复说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Some twenty-two years later President Polk reiterated and elaborated upon these principles. 大约二十二年之后，波尔克总统重申这些原则并且刻意阐释一番。

2 scathing   

adj.（言词、文章）严厉的，尖刻的；不留情的adv.严厉地，尖刻地v.伤害，损害（尤指使之枯萎）( scathe的现在分词)

参考例句：

• a scathing attack on the new management 针对新的管理层的猛烈抨击
• Her speech was a scathing indictment of the government's record on crime. 她的演讲强烈指责了政府在犯罪问题上的表现。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 bullying   

v.恐吓，威逼( bully的现在分词 )；豪；跋扈

参考例句：

• Many cases of bullying go unreported . 很多恐吓案件都没有人告发。
• All cases of bullying will be severely dealt with. 所有以大欺小的情况都将受到严肃处理。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 naive   

adj.幼稚的，轻信的；天真的

参考例句：

• It's naive of you to believe he'll do what he says.相信他会言行一致，你未免太单纯了。
• Don't be naive.The matter is not so simple.你别傻乎乎的。事情没有那么简单。

5 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。

6 delusional   

妄想的

参考例句：

• You became delusional and attacked several people trying to escape. 你产生了错觉并攻击了许多人还试图逃走。 来自电影对白
• He is incoherent, delusional, suffering auditory hallucinations. 他出现无逻辑的，妄想的，幻听的症状。 来自电影对白

7 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

8 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

9 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

10 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

11 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

12 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。

13 imposing   

adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的

参考例句：

• The fortress is an imposing building.这座城堡是一座宏伟的建筑。
• He has lost his imposing appearance.他已失去堂堂仪表。

14 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

15 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

16 pharmaceutical   

adj.药学的，药物的；药用的，药剂师的

参考例句：

• She has donated money to establish a pharmaceutical laboratory.她捐款成立了一个药剂实验室。
• We are engaged in a legal tussle with a large pharmaceutical company.我们正同一家大制药公司闹法律纠纷。

17 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。

18 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

19 flout   

v./n.嘲弄，愚弄，轻视

参考例句：

• Parents who flout Family Court orders may be named in the media in Australia.在澳洲父母亲若是藐视家庭法庭的裁定可能在媒体上被公布姓名。
• The foolish boy flouted his mother's advice.这个愚蠢的孩子轻视他母亲的劝告。

20 cardinal   

n.(天主教的)红衣主教；adj.首要的，基本的

参考例句：

• This is a matter of cardinal significance.这是非常重要的事。
• The Cardinal coloured with vexation. 红衣主教感到恼火，脸涨得通红。

21 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

22 conclave   

n.秘密会议，红衣主教团

参考例句：

• Signore,I ask and I prey,that you break this conclave.各位阁下，我请求，并祈祷，你们能停止这次秘密会议。
• I met my partner at that conclave and my life moved into a huge shift.我就是在那次大会上遇到了我的伴侣的，而我的生活就转向了一个巨大的改变。

23 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。