NPR美国国家公共电台 NPR 2013-09-10

 Congress returns to work tomorrow after its summer break, and lawmakers will be faced with the pivotal decision of whether to launch military strikes against Syria after its alleged¹ use of chemical weapons. Democratic Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez told NBC’s Meet the Press that she doesn’t see the use of chemical weapons as a threat to US national security that justifies² military strikes.

“It isn’t about national security, and I haven’t heard any of our interests. I haven’t heard that Assad wants to use the weapons against us. I haven’t heard that he wants to use the weapons against our allies, that he is moving them to terrorist organizations.”

President Obama is expected to meet with Senate Democrats³ at the capital on Tuesday to solicit⁴ their support for military action in Syria, will then address the nation later that evening. The president and Vice⁵ President Joe Biden tonight courted GOP senators at Biden’s mansion⁶.

Syrian President Bashar Assad says there is no conclusive⁷ evidence about who’s to blame for chemical weapons attacks in Syria. Television journalist Charlie Rose recently interviewed Assad. Rose says the Syrian president thinks it would be a mistake for the US to go through with the threatened military strikes against the country.

“He had a message to the American people that it had not been a good experience for them to get involved in the Middle East in wars and conflicts in the Middle East, that the result had not been good, and that they should not get involved, and that they should communicate to their Congress and to their leadership in Washington not to authorize⁸ a strike.”

Excerpts⁹ of Rose’s interview with the Syrian president will be aired tomorrow on CBS This Morning. The full interview will air tomorrow night on Rose’s PBS show.

Wall Street is bracing¹⁰ for what could be a rocky September. Danielle Karson reports that investors¹¹ will be keeping a close eye on Congress.

Investors have a lot to worry about this month--Congress in particular. Lawmakers need to pass a spending bill to avoid a government shutdown. Then there is the US hitting its borrowing limit next month. If Congress doesn’t raise the limit, the US could default on its debt. Lawrence Creatura, portfolio¹² manager for Federated Investors, says the Syrian conflict is a wild card.

“Investors in general just hate uncertainty¹³, and nobody knows exactly what is going to happen, making it more difficult for investors to price assets.”

The turmoil¹⁴ in Syria is already making investors jittery¹⁵. It’s pushed up energy stock prices and driven up the cost of crude oil. For NPR News, I’m Danielle Karson.

NAACP President Ben Jealous will resign at the end of the year. He told NPR he wants to pursuit teaching and spend more time with his family. Jealous is credited with improving the organization’s finances and donor¹⁶ base over the past five years and for improving its outreach. This is NPR.

A 15-member panel charged with helping¹⁷ to amend¹⁸ the 2012 Egyptian Constitution met in Cairo for the first time on Sunday. The constitution adopted last year under Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi was suspended when he was toppled by the military.

Mexico City has been rocked by massive protests responding to the Mexican president’s recent reform to overhaul¹⁹ its failing education system. Earlier today protesters took to the streets again this time against another controversial proposed reform: the president’s initiative to open the state-owned oil industry to foreign capital.

President Enrique Pe?a Nieto’s push to open the state-owned oil industry to foreign capital is one of several divisive initiatives he’s embarked²⁰ on recently, which has sparkled massive protests, bringing Mexico City to a standstill.

At a rally held today by leftist leader Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador in Mexico City, several thousand protesters expressed anger at the proposed energy reforms.

Ollalila Naliti Dosa is a 22-year-old engineering student. She says Mexico has the manpower: the students, the engineers and the resources. Why is no one taking advantage of that human capital instead of relying on foreign companies. Jasmine Garsd, NPR News in Mexico City.

Officials in Guatemala say a group of men in a stolen car shot 29 people on the main street of a town outside of Guatemala City. Eleven people were killed. Authorities blamed the attack on gang violence. This is NPR News.

1 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

2 justifies   

证明…有理( justify的第三人称单数 )； 为…辩护； 对…作出解释； 为…辩解（或辩护）

参考例句：

• Their frequency of use both justifies and requires the memorization. 频繁的使用需要记忆，也促进了记忆。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• In my judgement the present end justifies the means. 照我的意见，只要目的正当，手段是可以不计较的。

3 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 solicit   

vi.勾引；乞求；vt.请求，乞求；招揽(生意)

参考例句：

• Beggars are not allowed to solicit in public places.乞丐不得在公共场所乞讨。
• We should often solicit opinions from the masses.我们应该经常征求群众意见。

5 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。

6 mansion   

n.大厦，大楼；宅第

参考例句：

• The old mansion was built in 1850.这座古宅建于1850年。
• The mansion has extensive grounds.这大厦四周的庭园广阔。

7 conclusive   

adj.最后的，结论的；确凿的，消除怀疑的

参考例句：

• They produced some fairly conclusive evidence.他们提供了一些相当确凿的证据。
• Franklin did not believe that the French tests were conclusive.富兰克林不相信这个法国人的实验是结论性的。

8 authorize   

v.授权，委任；批准，认可

参考例句：

• He said that he needed to get his supervisor to authorize my refund.他说必须让主管人员批准我的退款。
• Only the President could authorize the use of the atomic bomb.只有总统才能授权使用原子弹。

9 excerpts   

n.摘录，摘要( excerpt的名词复数 )；节选（音乐，电影）片段

参考例句：

• Some excerpts from a Renaissance mass are spatchcocked into Gluck's pallid Don Juan music. 一些文艺复光时期的弥撒的选节被不适当地加入到了格鲁克平淡无味的唐璜音乐中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He is editing together excerpts of some of his films. 他正在将自己制作的一些电影的片断进行剪辑合成。 来自辞典例句

10 bracing   

adj.令人振奋的

参考例句：

• The country is bracing itself for the threatened enemy invasion. 这个国家正准备奋起抵抗敌人的入侵威胁。
• The atmosphere in the new government was bracing. 新政府的气氛是令人振奋的。

11 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

12 portfolio   

n.公事包；文件夹；大臣及部长职位

参考例句：

• He remembered her because she was carrying a large portfolio.他因为她带着一个大公文包而记住了她。
• He resigned his portfolio.他辞去了大臣职务。

13 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

14 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。

15 jittery   

adj. 神经过敏的, 战战兢兢的

参考例句：

• However, nothing happened though he continued to feel jittery. 可是，自从拉上这辆车，并没有出什么错儿，虽然他心中嘀嘀咕咕的不安。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
• The thirty-six Enterprise divebombers were being squandered in a jittery shot from the hip. 这三十六架“企业号”上的俯冲轰炸机正被孤注一掷。

16 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。

17 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

18 amend   

vt.修改，修订，改进；n.[pl.]赔罪，赔偿

参考例句：

• The teacher advised him to amend his way of living.老师劝他改变生活方式。
• You must amend your pronunciation.你必须改正你的发音。

19 overhaul   

v./n.大修，仔细检查

参考例句：

• Master Worker Wang is responsible for the overhaul of this grinder.王师傅主修这台磨床。
• It is generally appreciated that the rail network needs a complete overhaul.众所周知，铁路系统需要大检修。

20 embarked   

乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事

参考例句：

• We stood on the pier and watched as they embarked. 我们站在突码头上目送他们登船。
• She embarked on a discourse about the town's origins. 她开始讲本市的起源。