2013年经济学人 美国会举行控枪听证会 克里任国务卿获批准（在线收听）

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Lakshmi Singh.

这里是华盛顿NPR新闻，我是拉克什米·辛格。

Hundreds of people crowded into a Capitol Hill hearing room to hear testimony about proposals to stop gun violence. Former Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords spoke today on behalf of shooting victims. NPR's Carrie Johnson reports she urged lawmakers to do something.

数百人聚集在国会山听证会，聆听阻止枪支暴力提案的证言。今天，亚利桑那州前国会议员加布里埃尔·吉福兹代表枪击案受害者发表讲话。据NPR新闻的卡丽·约翰逊报道，吉福兹要求立法者做出行动。

Giffords was shot point blank in the head 2 years ago in Tucson. She's still recovering from her injuries. She and her husband Captain Mark Kelly urged Congress to close loopholes in the gun background check system, and to ban the sale of high capacity magazines behold lots of rounds of ammunition. But National Rifle Association's Wayne LaPierre says tinkering with the background system will do nothing to prevent criminals from getting their hands on guns. He told the Senate Judiciary Committee adding more red tape would be a federal nightmare imposed on law-abiding people. The Senate will have several more hearings on gun violence in the weeks ahead. Carrie Johnson, NPR News, Washington.

两年前，吉福兹在图森市遭遇枪击。现在她仍然在恢复中。她和丈夫马克·凯利要求国会填补枪支购买者背景审查制度中的漏洞，停止出售大容量弹夹的武器。可是全美步枪协会的韦恩·拉皮埃尔表示，修改背景审查制度对防止罪犯接触到枪支没有任何作用。他对参议院司法委员会表示，增加繁琐的手续对守法公民来说简直是联邦强加给他们的噩梦。未来几周参议院还将就枪支暴力问题举行几场听场会。NPR新闻，卡丽·约翰逊华盛顿报道。

The search is underway for the gunman behind this morning's multiple shooting at an office complex in Phoenix. Peter O'Dowd with member station KJZZ is on the scene.

今天早上凤凰城一办公大楼发生枪击案，目前警方正在追捕枪手。成员站KJZZ的彼得·奥多德将从现场带来报道。

Police say a white male and an older man walked into a Phoenix office complex, got into a fight with somebody in that building and three people were shot, one person is in extremely critical condition, two are have non-life threatening injuries. They've been taken to the hospital. And police say right now they don't know who the shooter is and they don't know where he is. They do not have a suspect in custody.

警方表示，一名白人男性和一名老人走进凤凰城某办公大楼时，与在办公楼内的另一个人发生打斗，造成三人中枪，其中一人目前伤势严重，另两人没有生命危险。伤者已被送往医院。警方表示，伤者并不知道枪手是谁，他们也不清楚他在哪里。他们目前还没有抓到嫌犯。

Meanwhile, an Alabama SWAT team is trying to rescue a child being held hostage in a bunker in a rural town of Midland City, south of Montgomery. The 6-year-old boy was kidnapped from his school bus after the gunman shot and killed the driver.

同时，阿拉巴马反恐特警组正努力营救被绑架的儿童，这名儿童被关在蒙哥马利南部乡镇米德兰的一处地窑中。枪手杀死了校车司机后，绑架了这名6岁男童。

A day after being confirmed by the Senate as the next Secretary of State, Senator John Kerry is delivering a farewell speech to his colleagues today.

在得到参议院批准的第二天，美国新任国务卿约翰·克里今天对参议院同僚发表告别讲话。

"Nearly three decades after people of Massachusetts first voted me into this office, the people I worked with in the Senate voted me out of it. As always, I accept the Senate sound judgment."

“自马萨诸塞州民众第一次投票选举我进入参议院已过去近30年的时间，和我一起在参议院工作的同僚现在投票决定让我离开这里。像往常一样，我接受参议院正确的判断。”

The lawmaker from Massachusetts will succeed Secretary Clinton. Meanwhile, Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick has selected William Cowan to fill in for the interim. NPR's Tovia Smith has more.

这位马萨诸塞州议员将接任前国务卿克林顿。同时，马萨诸塞州州长德瓦尔·帕特里克选择威廉·考恩填补克里的空缺。NPR新闻的托维亚·史密斯将带来详细报道。

As a top advisor to the governor, the 43-year-old Cowan says he learned the issues that mattering Massachusetts and he's honored to serve. Cowan will be Massachusetts' second African American Senator. And when he starts, it will be the first time the Senate has had two African Americans at once. Cowan spoke emotionally about what it means to him and his mother. "She's a child of the segregated south, a woman who did not have the opportunity to attend college. But my mother told me days like today were possible." Cowan is not competing in this special election. So far Democratic Congressman Ed Markey has announced and words were expected soon from fellow Democratic Congressman Steven Lynch and former Republican Senator Scott Brown.

作为州长的高级顾问，43岁的考恩表示，他了解了有关马萨诸塞州的问题，他很荣幸担任这一职务。考恩将成为马萨诸塞州历史上第二位非裔美国人参议员。考恩开始任期以后，参议院将第一次有两位非裔美国人同时任职。考恩激动地讲述了这对他和他母亲的意义。“她出生在南部种族隔离地区，女性没有机会接受高等教育。可是我母亲告诉我，像今天这样的时刻是有可能的。”考恩在这次特殊选举中并没有遇到竞争。目前，民主党国会议员埃德·马基已经宣布任命，同为民主党国会议员的史蒂芬·林奇和共和党参议员斯科特·布朗也将宣布任命。

This is NPR.

这里是NPR。

It's emerging that thousands of priceless manuscripts feared destroyed by retreating Islamists in Timbuktu, Mali likely, have been saved. Ofeibea Quist-Arcton reports the city's mayor had earlier told NPR he'd received credible accounts said the Jihads had set fire to the documents.

数千份可能被撤出马里廷巴克图的伊斯兰反对派损毁的珍贵手稿可能幸免战火。据奥菲比亚·奎斯特·阿克通报道，此前该市市长接受NPR新闻的采访时表示，他已得到确切消息，宗教极端组织放火烧了这些文件。

Ahead of the French led offensive that liberated Timbuktu in northern Mali, Mayor Halle Ousmane Cisse said he'd been reliably informed that Islamist militants had torched the Ahmed Baba Institute Library and other buildings housing the ancient manuscripts. The mayor said he didn't know the extent of the damage. But journalists in Timbuktu say staff at the center tells them that tens of thousands of documents had been speared to the way for safekeeping a while back. However, about 2,000 of the vast collection of historic scripts ranging from Islam to mathematics and poetry are believed to have burnt or looted by the departing Jihadists. Ofeibea Quist-Arcton, NPR News, Bamako.

在法国军队发动攻击之前，马里北部重镇廷巴克图已摆脱控制，市长哈利·奥斯曼·西塞表示，他有确切消息证实伊斯兰反对派武装烧毁了艾哈迈德·巴巴研究所和其他建筑，这些建筑里保存着古代手稿。市长说，他不清楚毁损程度。但是廷巴克图的新闻工作者表示，他们从研究中心的员工处获悉，上万份文件早已转移到安全地点。但是，约2000份历史手稿被宗教极端组织烧毁或洗劫，这些藏品内容涉及伊斯兰教、数学及诗歌。NPR新闻，奥菲比亚·奎斯特·阿克通巴马科报道。

Senator John McCain is warning fellow Republicans that failure to pass comprehensive immigration legislation could mean continued election losses for the party as the Republican friendly states, such as Arizona he says will fall to the Democrats. The Arizona Republican, one of eight Senators assigned onto a bipartisan immigration plan this week says failure to act means a trend of Hispanic defections from the GOP would continue.

参议员约翰·麦凯恩警告其共和党同僚，如果不能通过全面的移民法案，那共和党选举失利的情况便会继续，因为共和党占据优势的州也将倒向民主党，这些州就包括亚利桑那州。本周，这位亚利桑那州共和党代表，与另外七名参议员一起完成了两党合作提出的移民方案，他表示，移民方案如果不能生效，那共和党将会继续损失拉丁裔的支持。

The government's revealing an unexpected downturn in the U.S. economy for the first time in more than 3 years. The Commerce Department says the gross domestic product shrunk at an annual rate of 0.1% in the final month of 2012.

美国政府发布的数据显示，美国经济在三年多的时间里第一次出现意外下滑趋势。美国商务部表示，2012年12月美国国内生产总值年化季率萎缩0.1%。

NASDAQ was down 30 at 13,926.

纳斯达克指数下降30点，报13,926点。

This is NPR.

这里是NPR新闻。

划红精讲

1. on behalf on

替，代表；为……的利益

eg. Parents or guardian may apply on behalf of their children aged below 18.

未满18岁的儿童可由家长或监护人代为申请。

eg. A gentleman acts on behalf of an understanding friend, as a woman makes herself beautiful for her lover.

仕为知己者用，女为悦己者容。

eg. No variation of this Agreement shall be effective unless in writing and signed by or on behalf of each of the parties.

这个协议的任何变更都是无效的，除非每方代表书写或者签名。

2. get one's hands on

得到，找到，占有

eg. Tom had a reputation as a miser who hoarded every penny he could get his hands on.

汤姆将能得到手的每一分钱都积攒起来，所以有守财奴之称。

eg. Every policeman wants to get his hands on the kidnapper who killed the baby cruelly.

每个警察都希望亲手抓住残忍杀害婴儿的绑匪。

eg. Europeans toil away making stuff for others to consume only so they can in turn get their hands on the fruits of foreign labours.

欧洲人辛辛苦苦地生产产品给欧洲以外的人消费，只是为了能反过来得到别国劳动力的劳动果实。

3. red tape

n. 繁文缛节；官僚作风

eg. The little money that was available was tied up in bureaucratic red tape.

能用的那点儿小钱被繁文缛节拖得遥遥无期。

eg. Business still involves back-handers, red tape and local sponsors who do little more than lend their name.

在生意场上，依然有回扣现象，有一些官样文章，还有那些只是借着自己的名字赚钱的人。

eg. Red tape has delayed the progress of our society.

官僚作风延迟了我们社会的进步。

4. succeed

vi.成功；继承

vt.继承，继任，继位；随…之后

eg. he present ruler, Prince Rainier III, succeeded to the throne on 9 May 1949.

现任元首，兰尼埃三世亲王于 1949 年 5 月 9 日继位。

eg. David Rowland is almost certain to succeed him as chairman on January 1...

戴维·罗兰将在 1 月 1 日接替他任主席几乎已成定局。

eg. If they can succeed in America and Europe, then they can succeed here too.

如果他们在美国和欧洲都能取得成功的话，那么在这儿也不例外。

5. fill in for

代替； 接替（某人）的位置

eg. I'll find someone to fill in for you.

我去找个人来顶替你。

eg. I take the liberty to write you in the hope that you might need someone to fill in for you.

向阁下写信，希望填补贵公司可能的空缺，至感冒昧。

eg. Substitute teachers and volunteers would fill in for teachers in the event of a strike.

代课老师和志愿者会在罢工时临时顶替老师教课。