NPR美国国家公共电台 2013-03-16

　　From NPR news in Washington, I'm Barbara Klein.

 

　　The Obama Administration is beefing up the nation's missile defenses on the west coast. Defense¹ Secretary Chuck Hagel says the move follows threats from Iran and North Korea.

 

　　Chuck:" North Korea particular, has recently made advances its capabilities² and engaged in a series of irresponsible and reckless provocations³."

 

　　Hagel says 14 additional interceptors will be added to the 30 already in place in California and Alaska to shoot down incoming missiles.

 

　　President Obama says Iran is only about a year away from being able to build a nuclear weapon. He offered the estimate for the first time in an interview with Israeli television ahead of next week's visit to Israel. As NPR's Tom Gjelten reports the prediction coincides with others made recently by technical experts.

 

　　"For Iran to build a nuclear weapon it would need a stockpile of uranium enriched to weapons-grade purity. It doesn't have that stockpile right now. The US Intelligence Community this week in its annual assessment⁴ of global security threats reported that Iran in the last year became better positioned to produce that weapons-grade uranium showed it choose to do so. But it felt to the president to actually say how long it would take, a year or so would give the US and Israel time to review options should they want to block any bomb-building effort in Iran. In his interview with Israeli television Obama said obviously we don't want to cut it too close. Tom Gjelten, NPR news, Washington."

 

　　The Vatican is strongly denying accusations⁵ that Pope Francis was silent about human rights violations⁶ during Argentina's military dictatorship in the 1970s. NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports the Vatican says the charges stem from a leftist anti-clerical campaign.

 

　　"Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi clearly and firmly denied the accusations. He said they are part of a campaign by a publication he did not name, but which he claimed it's known for its defamatory methods. Human rights activists⁷ in Argentina have accused Jorge Mario Bergoglio the head of the Jesuits of remaining silent over Catholic church complicity with the military junta⁸. From 1936 to 1983, the junta kidnapped and killed some 30,000 people. Lombardi said there is no credible⁹ charge against Pope Francis, adding that when he became bishop¹⁰, he promoted reconciliation¹¹ in the church in Argentina, a church whose reputation had been severely¹² tarnished¹³ by its relations with the junta. Sylvia Poggioli NPR news, Rome."

 

　　The most restrictive abortion¹⁴ law in the US is one step away from being enacted¹⁵. North Dakota senators approved the bill today that would ban abortions¹⁶ when a fetal heart beat is detected, usually by six weeks in the pregnancy¹⁷. If the governor signs the measure would also ban abortions based on genetic¹⁸ defects.

 

　　On Wall Street just before the close, the DOW was down 25, the NASDAQ off 10, the S&P down 2. This is NPR.

 

　　Nearly half of all first births in the US now take place outside marriage, according to a new study. NPR's Jennifer Ludden has details.

 

　　"The report by the National Marriage Project finds that by age 25 just 38% of women have married, but 44% have had baby. For women as a whole, 48% of first births are outside wedlock¹⁹. The project and two co-authors of the report seeked the strength in marriage or reduced unplanned pregnancies²⁰, but their study reflects a growing body of research that finds an increasing gap the vast majority of births outside marriage are to those without a college degree. The report warns of growing inequality since such children on average are more likely to experience turmoil²¹ and trouble in school compared to those of married parents. Jennifer Ludden , NPR news."

 

　　Industrial production is up more than expected, output by factories, mines and utilities climb 0.70% in February, the biggest increase in three months. It's been fueled by manufacturing of things like business equipment, cars and trucks, which rose 0.80% last month. Meanwhile, consumer prices also rose 0.70% in Februady mostly because of higher gas prices.

 

　　Another Carnival²² cruise liner is having problems, the second one this week. The company says a technical issue that affects the sailing speed of its Carnival Legend is forcing the cruise to end early. And passengers aboard Carnival's Dream cruise liner are flying home after problems with on-board generator²³. The incidents come a month after the Carnival Triumph was stranded²⁴ in the Gulf²⁵ of Mexico for five days without power.

 

　　I'm Barbara Klein, NPR news in Washington.

1 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

2 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

3 provocations   

n.挑衅( provocation的名词复数 )；激怒；刺激；愤怒的原因

参考例句：

• We cannot ignore such provocations. 对于这种挑衅，我们不能置之不理。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• They must immediately cease all their provocations. 他们必须停止一切挑衅。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 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？

5 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

6 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

7 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》

8 junta   

n.团体；政务审议会

参考例句：

• The junta reacted violently to the perceived threat to its authority.军政府感到自身权力受威胁而进行了激烈反击。
• A military junta took control of the country.一个军政权控制了国家。

9 credible   

adj.可信任的，可靠的

参考例句：

• The news report is hardly credible.这则新闻报道令人难以置信。
• Is there a credible alternative to the nuclear deterrent?是否有可以取代核威慑力量的可靠办法？

10 bishop   

n.主教，（国际象棋）象

参考例句：

• He was a bishop who was held in reverence by all.他是一位被大家都尊敬的主教。
• Two years after his death the bishop was canonised.主教逝世两年后被正式封为圣者。

11 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

12 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

13 tarnished   

（通常指金属）（使）失去光泽，（使）变灰暗( tarnish的过去式和过去分词 )； 玷污，败坏

参考例句：

• The mirrors had tarnished with age. 这些镜子因年深日久而照影不清楚。
• His bad behaviour has tarnished the good name of the school. 他行为不轨，败坏了学校的声誉。

14 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。

15 enacted   

制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• legislation enacted by parliament 由议会通过的法律
• Outside in the little lobby another scene was begin enacted. 外面的小休息室里又是另一番景象。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

16 abortions   

n.小产( abortion的名词复数 )；小产胎儿；（计划）等中止或夭折；败育

参考例句：

• The Venerable Master: By not having abortions, by not killing living beings. 上人：不堕胎、不杀生。 来自互联网
• Conclusion Chromosome abnormality is one of the causes of spontaneous abortions. 结论：染色体异常是导致反复自然流产的原因之一。 来自互联网

17 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

18 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

19 wedlock   

n.婚姻，已婚状态

参考例句：

• My wife likes our wedlock.我妻子喜欢我们的婚姻生活。
• The Fawleys were not made for wedlock.范立家的人就跟结婚没有缘。

20 pregnancies   

怀孕，妊娠( pregnancy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Since the wartime population needed replenishment, pregnancies were a good sign. 最后一桩倒不失为好现象，战时人口正该补充。
• She's had three pregnancies in four years. 她在四年中怀孕叁次。

21 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。

22 carnival   

n.嘉年华会，狂欢，狂欢节，巡回表演

参考例句：

• I got some good shots of the carnival.我有几个狂欢节的精彩镜头。
• Our street puts on a carnival every year.我们街的居民每年举行一次嘉年华会。

23 generator   

n.发电机，发生器

参考例句：

• All the while the giant generator poured out its power.巨大的发电机一刻不停地发出电力。
• This is an alternating current generator.这是一台交流发电机。

24 stranded   

a.搁浅的，进退两难的

参考例句：

• He was stranded in a strange city without money. 他流落在一个陌生的城市里， 身无分文，一筹莫展。
• I was stranded in the strange town without money or friends. 我困在那陌生的城市，既没有钱，又没有朋友。

25 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。