NPR美国国家公共电台 NPR 2013-08-02

 Russia’s decision to grant temporary asylum¹ to former National Security Agency contractor² Edward Snowden has drawn³ a sharp reaction from the White House, which calls the move “deeply disappointing.” NPR’s Ari Shapiro reports high-level talks that were scheduled for next month between the US and Russia may now be in jeopardy⁴. 

White House spokesman Jay Carney says the administration had no advanced warning of Russia’s actions, and he says the president continues to believe that Russia should send Mr. Snowden back to the US to stand trial as soon as possible. 

“This move by the Russian government undermines a long-standing record of law enforcement cooperation, cooperation that has recently been on the upswing since the Boston Marathon bombings.”

This adds to a long list of disagreements between the US and Russia on issues ranging from Syria to gay rights. President Obama is scheduled to visit Moscow next month for a bilateral⁵ meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Carney says the administration is now evaluating the utility of that trip. Ari Shapiro, NPR News, the White House. 

The White House says the president will nominate John Koskinen, a corporate⁶ turnaround specialist and former chairman of mortgage giant Freddie Mac, to be the new commissioner⁷ of the Internal Revenue Service. Before the nomination⁸ was announced, House Speaker John Boehner said congressional Republicans are going to press ahead with their investigation⁹ in what he called the abuse of power at the IRS.

“The American people deserve answers, and we’re gonna continue to fight for the truth.” 

President Obama says he chose Koskinen because he’s an expert at turning around institutions in need of reform. 

Former Cleveland school bus drive Ariel Castro has been sentenced to spend the rest of his life behind bars for holding three women captive in his home and abusing them for years. Castro made a rambling¹⁰ statement during a hearing today in which he insisted he is not a monster.

“These people are trying to paint me as a monster and I’m not a monster. I’m sick.”

One of Castro’s victims, Michelle Knight¹¹, stood a few feet from him as she read a defiant¹² and angry statement. 

“I spent 11 years in hell. Now your hell is just beginning. I will overcome all this that happened, but you will face hell for eternity¹³.” 

Under a plea deal, Castro avoids the death penalty but will never leave prison. 

Manufacturing activity is on the rise, factory activity expanding in July at its fastest pace in just over a year. Brad Holcomb with the Institute for Supply Management says there were a number of reasons. 

“Good new orders, good demand, very, very strong production and employment is positive.” 

Another report out today showed a decline in new claims for unemployment benefits down to the lowest level in more than five years. The Labor¹⁴ Department will have its latest readout on employment tomorrow. 

On Wall Street just before the close, the Dow Industrial Average is up 118 points, the NASDAQ Composite up 48 and the S&P 500 index is up 20. This is NPR News from Washington.

The Senate has overwhelmingly confirmed Samantha Power to be the new US ambassador to the United Nations. Power served as a foreign policy advisor¹⁵ to President Obama and spent years working as a human rights advocate. She succeeds Susan Rice, who’s now the president’s national security advisor.  

The new secretary of the Interior, Sally Jewell, is making her feelings clear about climate changes. NPR’s Elizabeth Shogren reports Jewell believes it is a big threat. 

Sally Jewell is three months into her job, but she just made her first big address to her staff. 

“I hope there are no climate change deniers in the Department of the Interior.” 

She urged anyone with doubts to go to Alaska, where the permafrost is dying, or to California’s Sierra Mountains, where snow is melting earlier in the spring, creating havoc¹⁶ for water supplies. 

“We are in a unique position that actually be able to do something about it. How exciting is that. You got a changing climate, and you and I can actually do something about it. That’s a privilege, and I would argue some moral imperative¹⁷ that we gotta step up to.” 

The Interior Department includes agencies that manage vast stretches of public land, oil and gas leasing and endangered animals and plants. Elizabeth Shogren, NPR News, Washington.

The largest election-monitoring group in Zimbabwe says up to a million people were not allowed to cast votes in the presidential election yesterday. The main challenger to the incumbent¹⁸, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, says the vote was rigged. 

“The credibility of this election has been marred¹⁹ by administrative²⁰ and legal violations²¹ which affect the legitimacy²² of its outcome.”   

Official results in the first round of voting are not expected to be released until early next week. 

I’m Craig Windham, NPR News in Washington.

1 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。

2 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。

3 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

4 jeopardy   

n.危险；危难

参考例句：

• His foolish behaviour may put his whole future in jeopardy.他愚蠢的行为可能毁了他一生的前程。
• It is precisely at this juncture that the boss finds himself in double jeopardy.恰恰在这个关键时刻，上司发现自己处于进退两难的境地。

5 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

6 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。

7 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

8 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

9 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。

10 rambling   

adj.[建]凌乱的，杂乱的

参考例句：

• We spent the summer rambling in Ireland. 我们花了一个夏天漫游爱尔兰。
• It was easy to get lost in the rambling house. 在布局凌乱的大房子里容易迷路。

11 knight   

n.骑士，武士；爵士

参考例句：

• He was made an honourary knight.他被授予荣誉爵士称号。
• A knight rode on his richly caparisoned steed.一个骑士骑在装饰华丽的马上。

12 defiant   

adj.无礼的，挑战的

参考例句：

• With a last defiant gesture,they sang a revolutionary song as they were led away to prison.他们被带走投入监狱时，仍以最后的反抗姿态唱起了一支革命歌曲。
• He assumed a defiant attitude toward his employer.他对雇主采取挑衅的态度。

13 eternity   

n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷

参考例句：

• The dull play seemed to last an eternity.这场乏味的剧似乎演个没完没了。
• Finally,Ying Tai and Shan Bo could be together for all of eternity.英台和山伯终能双宿双飞，永世相随。

14 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

15 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

16 havoc   

n.大破坏，浩劫，大混乱，大杂乱

参考例句：

• The earthquake wreaked havoc on the city.地震对这个城市造成了大破坏。
• This concentration of airborne firepower wrought havoc with the enemy forces.这次机载火力的集中攻击给敌军造成很大破坏。

17 imperative   

n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的

参考例句：

• He always speaks in an imperative tone of voice.他老是用命令的口吻讲话。
• The events of the past few days make it imperative for her to act.过去这几天发生的事迫使她不得不立即行动。

18 incumbent   

adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的

参考例句：

• He defeated the incumbent governor by a large plurality.他以压倒多数票击败了现任州长。
• It is incumbent upon you to warn them.你有责任警告他们。

19 marred   

adj. 被损毁, 污损的

参考例句：

• The game was marred by the behaviour of drunken fans. 喝醉了的球迷行为不轨，把比赛给搅了。
• Bad diction marred the effectiveness of his speech. 措词不当影响了他演说的效果。

20 administrative   

adj.行政的，管理的

参考例句：

• The administrative burden must be lifted from local government.必须解除地方政府的行政负担。
• He regarded all these administrative details as beneath his notice.他认为行政管理上的这些琐事都不值一顾。

21 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。

22 legitimacy   

n.合法，正当

参考例句：

• The newspaper was directly challenging the government's legitimacy.报纸直接质疑政府的合法性。
• Managing from the top down,we operate with full legitimacy.我们进行由上而下的管理有充分的合法性。