NPR美国国家公共电台 NPR 2013-08-09

 Israeli and Palestinian negotiators are going to meet next week in Jerusalem in their latest round of peace talks. NPR's Michele Kelemen reports US diplomats¹ will be on hand.

On August 14th, just two weeks after Secretary of State John Kerry relaunched Middle East peace talks, negotiators will be meeting again. One of Kerry's top aides and his new envoy² will be there to facilitate the talks, which will be followed by another round in Jericho. Kerry's also meeting tonight and tomorrow at the White House with Jewish and Arab Americans, according to his spokesperson Jen Psaki.

“These meetings will serve as an opportunity to update community leaders on the resumption of direct final-status negotiations³ between the Israelis and the Palestinians, as well as to hear directly from these community leaders about their perspectives.”

National Security Adviser⁴ Susan Rice is joining Kerry at these sessions. Michele Kelemen, NPR News, the State Department.

Panic, chaos⁵ and a lot of blood -- that's the scene soldiers are recalling from the Fort Hood⁶ shooting massacre⁷ in 2009. Today survivors⁸ testified at Major Nidal Hasan's court-martial for killing⁹ 13 people and wounding more than 30. He admits to being the shooter. In his opening statement, the US-born Muslim said he switched sides in what he called a US war on Islam.

Dry and windy, not welcome conditions for the hundreds of firefighters on the frontlines of a Southern California blaze this hour. Fire information officer Daniel Berlant tells WBUR’s ‘HERE & NOW’ about the extraordinary measures crews are taking to get the fire in the San Jacinto Mountains under control.

“Our crews are right now on the frontlines, you know, building containment¹⁰ line, using hand tools, using water. We’re using our aircraft, the CAL FIRE air tankers¹¹, helicopters, everything to slow down this fire.”

The fire's burning about 90 miles east of Los Angeles. It's threatening as many as 600 homes. About 1,500 people have evacuated¹².

Sales of previously¹³ occupied homes are still rising in the US, and the National Association of Realtors notes the median price also increased in the second quarter at its fastest pace in years. Here is NPR's John Ydstie.

The median price rose to 203,500 dollars. That means half the homes sold at or above that price, and the other half at or below it. For the nation as a whole, the year-over-year rise was 12.2%. One factor behind the big price increase is a continuing shortage of homes for sale. Sales rose in 87% of the metro¹⁴ areas measured. About 1/3 had double-digit gains. Atlanta, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and San Francisco were among the areas with the biggest price increases. New York City, parts of New Jersey¹⁵ and Hartford, Connecticut all experienced smaller increases. The number of existing homes sold also increased more than 12% over the past year. John Ydstie, NPR News, Washington.

Before the close, Dow is up 27 at 15,498. This is NPR.

There has been much of changing mortgage rates this week. The mortgage giant Freddie Mac says the average on the 30-year loan ticked up to 4.40%. The average rate on the 50-year fixed¹⁶ loan held steady at 3.43%. A key measure of the number of Americans applying for unemployment insurance shows claims at their lowest level in six years. The Labor¹⁷ Department says the four-week average has fallen to 335,500. It's a less volatile¹⁸ measure than the weekly claims, which rose slightly last week from the week before.

One of the last surviving actors who played Munchkins in “The Wizard of Oz” has died. Margaret Pelligrini passed away after suffering a stroke at her home in Phoenix¹⁹. She was 89 years old. NPR's Elizabeth Blair has this appreciation²⁰.

Margaret Pelligrini was a teenager when she starred as both a flower pot and sleepyhead Munchkin in the 1939 classic. Margaret Pelligrini was born in Tuscumbia, Alabama. She only appeared in one other film “Johnny Got His Gun” in 1971. Pelligrini married a prizefighter and had two children. Throughout her life, Pelligrini proudly appeared at Oz fan events, dressed in a Munchkin outfit²¹ with a flower pot on her head. She was one of 124 actors who played munchkins. With her death, only two survive. Elizabeth Blair, NPR News.

A project engineer from a suburb of Minneapolis has come forward to claim 1/3 of a 448-million-dollar Powerball jackpot. The other two winning tickets were sold in New Jersey.

1 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

3 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

4 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

5 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

6 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。

7 massacre   

n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀

参考例句：

• There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在战争中，这里的村民惨遭屠杀。
• If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘记了大屠杀，大屠杀就有可能再次发生！

8 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

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 containment   

n.阻止，遏制；容量

参考例句：

• Your list might include such things as cost containment,quality,or customer satisfaction.你的清单上应列有诸如成本控制、产品质量、客户满意程度等内容。
• Insularity and self-containment,it is argued,go hand in hand.他们争论说，心胸狭窄和自我封闭是并存的。

11 tankers   

运送大量液体或气体的轮船[卡车]( tanker的名词复数 )； 油轮； 罐车； 油槽车

参考例句：

• They should stop offloading waste from oil tankers into the sea. 他们应当停止从油轮上往海里倾倒废弃物。
• The harbour admits large tankers and freighters. 这个港口容得下巨型油船和货轮。

12 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。

13 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

14 metro   

n.地铁；adj.大都市的；(METRO)麦德隆(财富500强公司之一总部所在地德国，主要经营零售)

参考例句：

• Can you reach the park by metro?你可以乘地铁到达那个公园吗？
• The metro flood gate system is a disaster prevention equipment.地铁防淹门系统是一种防灾设备。

15 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

16 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

17 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。

18 volatile   

adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile,investments are at great risk.由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。
• His character was weak and volatile.他这个人意志薄弱，喜怒无常。

19 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。

20 appreciation   

n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨

参考例句：

• I would like to express my appreciation and thanks to you all.我想对你们所有人表达我的感激和谢意。
• I'll be sending them a donation in appreciation of their help.我将送给他们一笔捐款以感谢他们的帮助。

21 outfit   

n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装

参考例句：

• Jenney bought a new outfit for her daughter's wedding.珍妮为参加女儿的婚礼买了一套新装。
• His father bought a ski outfit for him on his birthday.他父亲在他生日那天给他买了一套滑雪用具。