美国国家公共电台 NPR 2015-12-28

 From NPR news in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston.There are reports of major flooding in parts of the south after a severe storm system went through several states this week. In Alabama, residents in the town of Alba have been told to move to higher grounds. We have already had voluntary evacuation of areas that typically flood. Those areas have been inundated¹. We have had 117 shelters that are submerged under water this time. Coffee county Emergency Management official James Brown. Alabama remains² under a state of emergency. Government officials are traveling to serval parts of the state to assess the damage. And parts of Mississippi, Tennessee and Arkansas were also hit. At least 17 people were killed in a strain of violent storms. 

 

 

ISIS has issued a new purported³ audio recording⁴ of its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. NPR's EM reports it will be the first recording of the IS leader in seven months. In a new recording, IS's leader Baghdadi says that US and Russian air strikes only strengthen his group and that he denounces Saudis' efforts to form an Islamic anti-terror alliance. This is the first Baghdadi statement since May. And it comes as the IS faces increased pressure. A Syrian Kurdish-lead alliance backed by US air strike just cut off a key ISIS supply route on the Euphrates River. And across the border in Iraq, US-backed troops look poised⁵ to retake the city of Ramadi where IS fighters are now encircled. EM, NPR news, Beirut.

 

 

Japan has launched a formal protest with Beijing. Tokyo says a Chinese coast guard vessel⁶ that appeared to be armed entered a territorial⁷ waters in the South China Sea claimed by Japan. The BBC's RW says the territorial dispute over the islands has been a major source of tension between China and Japan for years. A photograph released by the Japanese government shows a white Chinese coast guard ship mounting what appeared to be four gun torrents⁸. Japan says the ships sailed into its Japanese controlled waters around the Senkaku or Diaoyu Islands at around 9 am on Saturday morning. China and Japan have been locked in an intense dispute over control of these tiny uninhabited islands for the last three and a half years. But Tokyo say this is first time that China has sent an armed vessel into the disputed waters.The BBC's RW.

 

 

Nearly 140,000 people have been forced from their homes in Paraguay, Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil following days of torrential rains. The National Emergency Department Department says Paraguayis the hardest hit. At least 100,000 people there have been told to evacuate⁹. Local media report several people are dead after being crashed by falling trees in the storms but there is no official death toll¹⁰. You're listening to NPR news in Washington.

 

 

Severe flood warnings are still in effect for parts of England, Scotland and Wales. Officials say rainfalls in areas already flooded is unprecedented¹¹. The Environment Agency says a month worth of rain could fall in one day on already saturated¹² ground. An army company has helped built temporary flood defenses in a area northwest of England as residents there continue to struggle. 

 

 

A golfball-sized plutonium238 has been successfully produced by the  Oak Ridge¹³ National Lab. That's something that hasn't been done in three decades. Blake Farmer of member station WPLN and national reports the radio active material is used in space travel. Plutonium 238 has been a powerful source in space probes and will be needed again for the next Mars Rover. NASA has 80 about  pounds left in its stockpile, says the Department of Energy's Rebecca A. 'We have enough to last us for a while but in the long time without that material, we won't be able to explore deep space. At least not the way we know how now.' The Savannah River Plant stopped making Plutonium238 in the 1980s. Recently, the Department of Energy has spent 15 million dollars a year to revive production. It's a process that begins at the Idaho National Lab. It's competed in Oak Ridge. Then the plutonium pillars are sent to Los Alamos until NASA needs them. For NPR news, I'm Blake Farmer in Nash Field . 

 

 

Walt Disney Studios has released its estimated take for Stars Wars: The Force Awakens¹⁴ after bringing in nearly 15 million dollars yesterday. The accumulative growth has reached more than 440 million dollars since its December 17th opening. I'm Windsor Johnston and you're listening to NPR news in Washington.

1 inundated   

v.淹没( inundate的过去式和过去分词 )；（洪水般地）涌来；充满；给予或交予（太多事物）使难以应付

参考例句：

• We have been inundated with offers of help. 主动援助多得使我们应接不暇。
• We have been inundated with every bit of information imaginable. 凡是想得到的各种各样的信息潮水般地向我们涌来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 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。

3 purported   

adj.传说的，谣传的v.声称是…，（装得）像是…的样子( purport的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• the scene of the purported crime 传闻中的罪案发生地点
• The film purported to represent the lives of ordinary people. 这部影片声称旨在表现普通人的生活。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

5 poised   

a.摆好姿势不动的

参考例句：

• The hawk poised in mid-air ready to swoop. 老鹰在半空中盘旋，准备俯冲。
• Tina was tense, her hand poised over the telephone. 蒂娜心情紧张，手悬在电话机上。

6 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

7 territorial   

adj.领土的，领地的

参考例句：

• The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
• They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。

8 torrents   

n.倾注；奔流( torrent的名词复数 )；急流；爆发；连续不断

参考例句：

• The torrents scoured out a channel down the hill side. 急流沿着山腰冲刷出一条水沟。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Sudden rainstorms would bring the mountain torrents rushing down. 突然的暴雨会使山洪暴发。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

10 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

11 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

12 saturated   

a.饱和的，充满的

参考例句：

• The continuous rain had saturated the soil. 连绵不断的雨把土地淋了个透。
• a saturated solution of sodium chloride 氯化钠饱和溶液

13 ridge   

n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭

参考例句：

• We clambered up the hillside to the ridge above.我们沿着山坡费力地爬上了山脊。
• The infantry were advancing to attack the ridge.步兵部队正在向前挺进攻打山脊。

14 awakens   

v.（使）醒( awaken的第三人称单数 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到

参考例句：

• The scene awakens reminiscences of my youth. 这景象唤起我年轻时的往事。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The child awakens early in the morning. 这个小孩早晨醒得早。 来自辞典例句