NPR美国国家公共电台 2013-07-10

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

 

　　The Arizona community of Prescott is paying final respects today to 19 fallen firefighters. A memorial service attended by families, close friends and thousands of firefighters and law enforcement officers from across the nation. Vice¹ President Joe Biden, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer², the state's congressional representatives and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano are there. Napolitano served as governor of Arizona.

 

　　A Syrian rebel group has claimed responsibility for a bomb blast in Lebanon's capital Beirut that has injured dozens of people. NPR's Kelly McEvers reports the group made the claim on Facebook.

 

　　A branch of the Free Syrian Army calling itself Division 313 says the blast targeted the Shiah militant³ group Hezbollah, which had several offices near the parking lot when the bomb went off. Division 313's Facebook page faults Hezbollah for fighting alongside the Syrian army in places like the Syrian city of Homs, where government troops are besieging⁴ Syrian rebels. Syrian rebels are buy and large Sunni, while Hezbollah is Shiah. The explosion sent huge plumes⁵ of black smoke over the city, left a large crater⁶ in the pavement and burned more than a dozen cars in the parking lot where it occurred. A hospital official said most of the injured were cut with glass and shrapnel. Kelly McEvers, NPR News, Beirut.

 

　　The White House says a decision on how many American troops to leave in Afghanistan after next year is not imminent⁷. Here’s spokesman Jay Carney.

 

　　“We have long been clear that this is something that we will discuss and negotiate with the Afghan government.”

 

　　But Carney says zero troops in Afghannistan is a possibility.

 

　　The International Monetary⁸ Fund is lowering its forecast for global economic growth this year and next. NPR's Dave Mattingly reports the US, China and the Europe are weighing on the IMF's outlook.

 

　　The IMF projects the world economy will grow little more than 3% this year and less than 4% next year. Those are slightly weaker outlooks than three months ago. The IMF cites economic slowdowns in China and Brazil and Europe’s protracted⁹ recession.

 

　　“I don't expect Europe to come out of recession anytime soon. But I don't expect it to get worse.”

 

　　That's First Trust chief economist¹⁰ Brian Westbury. He says the IMF is also concerned the Federal Reserve might begin scaling back its bond-buying program designed to spur borrowing and spending later this year instead of next. Dave Mattingly, NPR News, Washington.

 

　　At last check on Wall Street, Dow was up 78 points at 15,303; NASDAQ gaining 20 at 3,505; S&P 500 up slightly at 1,652. This is NPR News.

 

　　In the court-martial of Army Private Bradley Manning, a witness for the defence says certain documents Manning disclosed to Wikileaks did not threaten national security. Retired¹¹ Air Force Colonel Morris Dave says most of the detainee assessments¹² in question from Guantanamo have been exposed by sources other than the anti-secrecy website, but the documents are still classified.

 

　　A Brazilian newspaper is reporting that the US has spied on most Latin American countries with the focus on energy and oil. O Globo is citing documents leaked by former NSA contractor¹³ worker Edward Snowden, the American fugitive¹⁴ wanted in the US on espionage¹⁵ charges. The paper says the materials show Brazil, Mexico, Columbia and Venezuela drew the greatest attention. There has been a flurry of speculation¹⁶ today on whether Venezuela was granting Snowden asylum¹⁷ but so far no confirmation¹⁸ of that.

 

　　Thirty people were arrested during a United Mine Workers of America protest in West Virgina. NPR's Allison Keyes tells us the union workers were demonstrating against Patriot¹⁹ Coal.

 

　　They came from all over the country to gather in Fairmont, West Virginia, huddled²⁰ under umbrellas and plastic ponchos²¹ to protest Patriot Coal's plant to cut wages, benefits and health care. UMWA President Cecil Roberts told the crowd, “We will get our health care, we are kept by our health care, and we won't stop fighting until we have it.” Patriot Coal is a spin-off of Peabody Energy and filed for bankruptcy²² last year. The union says that was a deliberate plan to end health care for retirees. A US bankruptcy judge ruled in May that Patriot could abandon its collective-bargaining agreements with the miners union. Last week Patriot said it was imposing²³ benefit cuts that are less severe than those approved by the court, and that talks with the union continue. Allison Keyes, NPR News.

 

　　This is NPR.

1 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

2 brewer   

n. 啤酒制造者

参考例句：

• Brewer is a very interesting man. 布鲁尔是一个很有趣的人。
• I decided to quit my job to become a brewer. 我决定辞职，做一名酿酒人。

3 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

4 besieging   

包围，围困，围攻( besiege的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• They constituted a near-insuperable obstacle to the besieging infantry. 它们就会形成围城步兵几乎不可逾越的障碍。
• He concentrated the sun's rays on the Roman ships besieging the city and burned them. 他把集中的阳光照到攻城的罗马船上，把它们焚毁。

5 plumes   

羽毛( plume的名词复数 )； 羽毛饰； 羽毛状物； 升上空中的羽状物

参考例句：

• The dancer wore a headdress of pink ostrich plumes. 那位舞蹈演员戴着粉色鸵鸟毛制作的头饰。
• The plumes on her bonnet barely moved as she nodded. 她点点头，那帽子的羽毛在一个劲儿颤动。

6 crater   

n.火山口，弹坑

参考例句：

• With a telescope you can see the huge crater of Ve-suvius.用望远镜你能看到巨大的维苏威火山口。
• They came to the lip of a dead crater.他们来到了一个死火山口。

7 imminent   

adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的

参考例句：

• The black clounds show that a storm is imminent.乌云预示暴风雨即将来临。
• The country is in imminent danger.国难当头。

8 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。

9 protracted   

adj.拖延的；延长的v.拖延“protract”的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The war was protracted for four years. 战争拖延了四年。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We won victory through protracted struggle. 经过长期的斗争，我们取得了胜利。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

11 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

12 assessments   

n.评估( assessment的名词复数 )；评价；（应偿付金额的）估定；（为征税对财产所作的）估价

参考例句：

• He was shrewd in his personal assessments. 他总能对人作出精明的评价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Surveys show about two-thirds use such assessments, while half employ personality tests. 调查表明，约有三分之二的公司采用了这种测评；而一半的公司则采用工作人员个人品质测试。 来自百科语句

13 contractor   

n.订约人，承包人，收缩肌

参考例句：

• The Tokyo contractor was asked to kick $ 6000 back as commission.那个东京的承包商被要求退还6000美元作为佣金。
• The style of house the contractor builds depends partly on the lay of the land.承包商所建房屋的式样，有几分要看地势而定。

14 fugitive   

adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者

参考例句：

• The police were able to deduce where the fugitive was hiding.警方成功地推断出那逃亡者躲藏的地方。
• The fugitive is believed to be headed for the border.逃犯被认为在向国境线逃窜。

15 espionage   

n.间谍行为，谍报活动

参考例句：

• The authorities have arrested several people suspected of espionage.官方已经逮捕了几个涉嫌从事间谍活动的人。
• Neither was there any hint of espionage in Hanley's early life.汉利的早期生活也毫无进行间谍活动的迹象。

16 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

17 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

18 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

19 patriot   

n.爱国者，爱国主义者

参考例句：

• He avowed himself a patriot.他自称自己是爱国者。
• He is a patriot who has won the admiration of the French already.他是一个已经赢得法国人敬仰的爱国者。

20 huddled   

挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• We huddled together for warmth. 我们挤在一块取暖。
• We huddled together to keep warm. 我们挤在一起来保暖。

21 ponchos   

n.斗篷( poncho的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The men cast off their packs, withdrew their ponchos and set up their pup tents again. 大家扔下了背包，取出了雨披，把小帐篷重又架了起来。 来自辞典例句

22 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

23 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。