NPR美国国家公共电台 2013-05-17

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

 

　　The White House remains¹ on the defensive² as more questions emerged about a series of controversies³. Before the weeks up, President Obama is expected to announce a new person to oversee⁴ the internal revenue service, which is under federal investigation⁵ for inappropriately singling out conservative groups that applied⁶ for tax-exempt status. Today he also addressed anger over a decision by the Department of Justice to confiscate⁷ journalist phone records in a probe related to leaks. When it comes to protecting national security, Obama says he makes no apologies.

 

　　The President addressed the latest controversies during a joint⁸ news conference with visiting Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The Turkish leader's visit to the White House comes days after Turks were killed in bombings, raising fears that the country has been pulled into the conflict raging in neighboring Syria. Obama says Turkey is an important ally in the global effort to end the crisis.

 

　　Turkey is going to play an important role as we bring representatives of the regime and opposition⁹ together in the coming weeks.

 

　　The President is also meeting today with Secretary of Defense¹⁰ Chuck Hagel about recent reports of sexual assault in the military. NPR's Larry Abramson reports military leaders are struggling to develop new ways of dealing¹¹ with the problem.

 

　　President Obama has warned he wants more than mere¹² speeches in response to incidents of sexual assault in the military. Secretary Hagel has announced that all workers in sexual assault response offices will be rescreened and retained. That comes after an army sergeant¹³ running one of those offices at Fort Hood¹⁴, Texas, was accused of sexual offenses¹⁵. An air force lieutenant¹⁶ colonel who worked on sexual assault, also faces charges for groping a civilian¹⁷. The Pentagon recently announced that the number of assault is rising that's despite years of intensive training and awareness¹⁸ programs for members of the armed forces. Larry Abramson, NPR News. Washington.

 

　　The Top Federal Appeals Court in Washington D.C. could finally be getting a new judge. The Senate Judiciary Committee has unanimously approved a Justice Department lawyer to fill that post. NPR's Carrie Johnson reports the nominee¹⁹ has sailed through an often fractious senate process.

 

　　Principal deputy U.S. Solicitor²⁰ General Sri Srinivasan won 18:0 vote from the Senate Judiciary panel. President Obama's judicial²¹ nominees²² have faced hard times in the Senate lately with waits of months if not years. But Srinivasan can now seek, gain support from key Republicans including a home state senator in Kansas. He'd failed a long open slot on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, considered the second most important bench in the country, after the U.S. Supreme²³ Court. Carrie Johnson, NPR News, Washington.

 

　　At last check on Wall Street, Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 15 points at 15,261; NASDAQ was up for a point at 3,476; and the S&P 500 down four at 1,655.

 

　　This is NPR.

 

　　A massive wildfire in northwestern Wisconsin has been contained. Marti Mikkelson from member station WUWM in Milwaukie reports the cause of the blaze is still under investigation.

 

　　The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources says the fire is 100% contained and crews are working to put out hot spots. It was the largest forest fire to hit northern Wisconsin in 33 years, turning up 9,000 acres over a two-day period. While nobody was hurt, the fire destroyed 17 homes and 30 other structures. Authorities have evacuated²⁴ more than 60 people and were allowing residents to return to their homes Thursday. Officials are investigating whether logging operation sparked the fire. Governor Scott Walker has declared a state of emergency. For NPR News, I'm Marti Mikkelson, in Milwaukee.

 

　　Meanwhile, a fast spreading fire's keeping hundreds of firefighters in southern California extremely busy this hour. That blaze has charred²⁵ about 3,500 acres in Los Padres National Forest since yesterday. As of this morning, it was only about 10% contained. And the fire, the cause of the fire remains under investigation. Meanwhile, cooler temperatures and lighter²⁶ winds reportedly are making firefighting efforts a little bit easier.

 

　　The battle for overhead-bin space is prompting one major airline to make it change. American Airlines is allowing passengers with only carry-on bags to board sooner provided those items fit under the seat and the carrier says passengers will be allowed to check those carry-on bags and dedicate no charge.

 

　　U.S. stocks mixed this hour. With the Dow down 16 points; NASDAQ up three and the S&P500 down slightly.

 

　　This is NPR.

1 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。

2 defensive   

adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的

参考例句：

• Their questions about the money put her on the defensive.他们问到钱的问题，使她警觉起来。
• The Government hastily organized defensive measures against the raids.政府急忙布置了防卫措施抵御空袭。

3 controversies   

争论

参考例句：

• We offer no comment on these controversies here. 对于这些争议，我们在这里不作任何评论。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史
• The controversies surrounding population growth are unlikely to subside soon. 围绕着人口增长问题的争论看来不会很快平息。 来自辞典例句

4 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。

5 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。

6 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

7 confiscate   

v.没收(私人财产)，把…充公

参考例句：

• The police have the right to confiscate any forbidden objects they find.如发现违禁货物，警方有权查扣。
• Did the teacher confiscate your toy?老师没收你的玩具了吗？

8 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

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 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。

11 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

12 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

13 sergeant   

n.警官，中士

参考例句：

• His elder brother is a sergeant.他哥哥是个警官。
• How many stripes are there on the sleeve of a sergeant?陆军中士的袖子上有多少条纹？

14 hood   

n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖

参考例句：

• She is wearing a red cloak with a hood.她穿着一件红色带兜帽的披风。
• The car hood was dented in.汽车的发动机罩已凹了进去。

15 offenses   

n.进攻( offense的名词复数 )；（球队的）前锋；进攻方法；攻势

参考例句：

• It's wrong of you to take the child to task for such trifling offenses. 因这类小毛病责备那孩子是你的不对。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Thus, Congress cannot remove an executive official except for impeachable offenses. 因此，除非有可弹劾的行为，否则国会不能罢免行政官员。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法

16 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

17 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

18 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

19 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

20 solicitor   

n.初级律师，事务律师

参考例句：

• The solicitor's advice gave me food for thought.律师的指点值得我深思。
• The solicitor moved for an adjournment of the case.律师请求将这个案件的诉讼延期。

21 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

22 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

23 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

24 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

25 charred   

v.把…烧成炭( char的过去式)；烧焦

参考例句：

• the charred remains of a burnt-out car 被烧焦的轿车残骸
• The intensity of the explosion is recorded on the charred tree trunks. 那些烧焦的树干表明爆炸的强烈。 来自《简明英汉词典》

26 lighter   

n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级

参考例句：

• The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色，色调明朗了一些。
• The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。