NPR美国国家公共电台 NPR 2015-04-09

 The governor of Kansas has signed a new first-of-its-kind abortion¹ law. As Aileen LeBlanc of member station KMUW reports, it bans a type of abortion that’s most commonly performed in the second trimester of pregnancy². 

 

The bill was drafted by the National Right to Life Committee and it’s called “The Kansas Unborn Child Protection from Dismemberment Abortion Act”. It prohibits the use of forceps, clamps, scissors and other instruments in order to cut or otherwise reduce the fetus³ as part of the removal procedure. Though similar bills have been introduced in other states, so far Kansas is the only one to pass such a ban. It does allow for limited exceptions. In recent years, the state has passed more and more restrictive legislation to limit access to the abortion procedures. Opponents call this newly-enacted ban dangerous, saying it dictates⁴ to qualified⁵ physicians how they can practice medicine and treat their patients. For NPR News, I’m Aileen LeBlanc in Wichita. 

 

A white police officer in South Carolina has been charged with murder in the shooting death of a black motorist Saturday. The charges come after a video surveillance showing the officer firing several times at the victim as he tried to run away. Officer Michael Slager later said he shot the man because he feared for his life. 

 

Man-made changes to the Earth’s climate could result in more cases of heat stroke, asthma⁶ and insect-borne diseases. NPR’s Scott Horsley reports the Obama administration is highlighting the findings of a new inter-agency report on the potential health effects of climate change. 

 

Many reports suggest a growing concentration of heat trapping gases will leave more people vulnerable to heat-related illnesses, especially the very young and old. Allergies⁷ are likely to be more severe and long lasting⁸ and disease-carrying ticks and mosquitoes may spread to areas where they are not or rarely common. President Obama underscored those potential health threats during a round-table discussion at Harvard University. 

 

“We’ve got a lot more work to do if we are going to deal with this problem in an effective way and make sure that our families and our kids are safe.”

 

Later this spring the Surgeon General will host a White House summit meeting on the potential health effects of a changing climate. Scott Horsley, NPR News, the White House. 

 

Senator Rand Paul says he’s running for president and his top priority is to keep Washington out of Americans’ lives. 

 

“The Washington machine that gobbles up our freedoms and invade every nook and cranny of our lives must be stopped.”

 

Paul announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination⁹ in Louisville Kentucky today. He said he’s worried that opportunity and hope are slipping away and both parties along with the entire political system are to blame. 

 

On Wall Street today, the Dow fell 5 points to close at 17, 875. The Nasdaq was down 7 points. 

 

This is NPR.

 

House speaker John Boehner is lashing¹⁰ out against the framework deal reached with Iran last week. He says it would pave the way to a nuclear-armed Iran and warns the deal’s inspection¹¹ and verification provisions are not full proof. 

 

The UN Security Council is calling for immediate¹² humanitarian¹³ access to help thousands of people trapped in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria. The Yarmouk camp is just south of the capital Damascus. As NPR’s Alison Muse¹⁴ reports, people are stuck amid clashes and shelling by self-declared Islamic State militants¹⁵ trying to gain control.

 

The UN calls the situation in Yarmouk “beyond inhumane”. Some 18,000 residents have been living under a regime sieged there for the past two years. With the ISIS power grab, their situation is even worse as clashes rage in streets. Salim Salamah of the Palestinian Leagure for Human Rights says residents also face government airstrikes and inaccurate¹⁶ barrel bomb attacks—25 in the past day alone. Stuck at home with no running water, families are running out of supplies. Salamah says those who want to leave the camp must be allowed safe passage, especially opposition¹⁷ activists¹⁸. Those who have nowhere else to go should be provide urgent aid. Alison Muse, NPR News, Beirut. 

 

A jury in Boston is deliberating 30 charges against admitted marathon bomber¹⁹ Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. His lawyers say Mr. Tsarnaev conspired²⁰ with his brother to carry out the attack and planted a bomb, but they argue that it was the older brother killed during a police shootout who masterminded the bombing. 

 

I’m Barbara Klein, NPR News in Washington.

1 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

2 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

3 fetus   

n.胎，胎儿

参考例句：

• In the fetus,blood cells are formed in different sites at different ages.胎儿的血细胞在不同时期生成在不同的部位。
• No one knows why a fetus is not automatically rejected by the mother's immune system. 没有人知道为什么母亲的免疫系统不会自动排斥胎儿。

4 dictates   

n.命令，规定，要求( dictate的名词复数 )v.大声讲或读( dictate的第三人称单数 )；口授；支配；摆布

参考例句：

• Convention dictates that a minister should resign in such a situation. 依照常规部长在这种情况下应该辞职。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He always follows the dictates of common sense. 他总是按常识行事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

6 asthma   

n.气喘病，哮喘病

参考例句：

• I think he's having an asthma attack.我想他现在是哮喘病发作了。
• Its presence in allergic asthma is well known.它在过敏性气喘中的存在是大家很熟悉的。

7 allergies   

n.[医]过敏症；[口]厌恶，反感；（对食物、花粉、虫咬等的）过敏症( allergy的名词复数 )；变态反应，变应性

参考例句：

• Food allergies can result in an enormous variety of different symptoms. 食物过敏会引发很多不同的症状。 来自辞典例句
• Let us, however, examine one of the most common allergies; hayfever. 现在让我们来看看最常见的变态反应的一种--枯草热。 来自辞典例句

8 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

9 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。

10 lashing   

n.鞭打；痛斥；大量；许多v.鞭打( lash的现在分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥

参考例句：

• The speaker was lashing the crowd. 演讲人正在煽动人群。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The rain was lashing the windows. 雨急打着窗子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 inspection   

n.检查，审查，检阅

参考例句：

• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。
• The soldiers lined up for their daily inspection by their officers.士兵们列队接受军官的日常检阅。

12 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

13 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

14 muse   

n.缪斯（希腊神话中的女神），创作灵感

参考例句：

• His muse had deserted him,and he could no longer write.他已无灵感，不能再写作了。
• Many of the papers muse on the fate of the President.很多报纸都在揣测总统的命运。

15 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

16 inaccurate   

adj.错误的，不正确的，不准确的

参考例句：

• The book is both inaccurate and exaggerated.这本书不但不准确，而且夸大其词。
• She never knows the right time because her watch is inaccurate.她从来不知道准确的时间因为她的表不准。

17 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

18 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 bomber   

n.轰炸机，投弹手，投掷炸弹者

参考例句：

• He flew a bomber during the war.他在战时驾驶轰炸机。
• Detectives hunting the London bombers will be keen to interview him.追查伦敦爆炸案凶犯的侦探们急于对他进行讯问。

20 conspired   

密谋( conspire的过去式和过去分词 )； 搞阴谋； （事件等）巧合； 共同导致

参考例句：

• They conspired to bring about the meeting of the two people. 他们共同促成了两人的会面。
• Bad weather and car trouble conspired to ruin our vacation. 恶劣的气候连同汽车故障断送了我们的假日。