NPR NEWS 2008-02-08

From NPR news in Washington, I'm Paul Brown.

Officials say the strong storms and tornadoes¹ that killed 55 people this week in several states including Tennessee and Arkansas were the deadliest in more than two decades. Dozens of tornadoes swept across the region late Tuesday and early yesterday. From Hendersonville, Tennessee, NPR's Kathy Lohr reports.

The tornadoes splintered houses and tore down power lines. Cars were turned over and flattened². In Tennessee alone, at least 31 people died, many of them in rural areas northeast of Nashville. Pam Rideger lived in Lafayette in Macon County, in a trailer that was destroyed. She says so many people volunteered to help the injured and anyone who needed aid. 'I mean people, these done tremendous things, everybody helped in everybody. And as bad as it was, nobody got left out.' Teams searched door to door for the missing on the ground while Tennessee's governor surveyed the damage from the air. FEMA teams were dispatched to the region and an emergency center was set up in Georgia. Kathy Lohr, NPR news. Hendersonville, Tennessee.
Flooding is the bad news in much of Ohio after days of snow and rain. East Lake resident Kierly Fox was helping³ her parents leave their house yesterday. 'Very very scary. You never really know if it's gonna get so high, there's gonna flood somebody's house. You just never know.' Flood warnings were also issued in Illinois, Indiana and parts of New York State. Heavy snow in the north central and Midwest region is prompting school closures and massive flight delays.

Senate Republicans have blocked the proposal by Democrats⁵ to expand the economic stimulus⁶ package approved by the House. NPR's Brian Naylor reports.

The House passed bill gives rebate⁷ checks to individuals and tax breaks for businesses. Senate Democrats wanted to expand that to include checks for seniors and disable veterans living on social security. Ohio Democrat⁴ Sherrod Brown said it was a simple choice. 'We can exclude retirees, we can exclude disable veterans or we can include them, obviously, we should include them.' But Senate Republicans said the Democrats' plan was a Christmas tree loaded down with other expensive provisions including extended jobless benefits and tax breaks for renewable energy providers. And Democrats were short of the 60 votes they needed to end the GOP filibuster⁸. Democrats still hope to approve a stimulus plan by week's end. Brian Naylor, NPR News, the Capitol.

Israeli troops and tanks entered Gaza today and killed at least 5 Hamas militants⁹. Hamas spokesmen also say a school teacher was killed when a missile struck an agricultural school. Israel denies targeting a school and said that it was attacking Palestinian rocket squads¹⁰.

European markets fell at the open today with Tech stocks leading the way after Cisco System issued a pessimistic forecast.

This is NPR News.

The countdown is proceeding¹¹ at the Kennedy Space Center for today's planned lift-off of Space Shuttle Atlantis. NASA chose to start fueling the spacecraft despite a dismal¹² weather forecast. Pat Duggins with member station WMFE reports.

NASA will be watching how Atlantis behaves over the next few hours. The process of pumping a half million gallons of super-cold propellant into the external fuel tank is the first real test of repairs of the full-load fuel sensors¹³. The system warns the shuttle when the tank is running low and forced we scrubbed two launch tries last month. If the countdown makes at the T-0, Atlantis commander Steven Frick says it's the lift-off he's most concerned about. 'Just the nature of space flight and how difficult it is to get up successfully into orbit, that's really the challenge once we get up there, most of that challenging there and hopeful their riskiest¹⁴ part is down.' The astronauts will test the 23-foot long Columbus science lab at the International Space Station, three space workshops planed to hook the new module¹⁵ up. For NPR News, I'm Pat Duggins, Illinois.

Pakistani officials say they have arrested two more suspects in the suicide attack that assassinated¹⁶ opposition¹⁷ leader Benazir Bhutto on December 27th. Two other suspects were arrested last month.

Some Taliban groups have said they are beginning a ceasefire with Pakistani government troops. They've been fighting in Pakistan's tribal¹⁸ largely lawless areas near the Afghan border. And Pakistani officials say they held secret talks with Taliban members and tribal elders in South Waziristan leading up to the ceasefire. A 2006 truce¹⁹ collapsed²⁰ last July and the truce was seen as a setback²¹ in the war on terror that gave the Taliban and al-Qaeda more freedom to operate.

The central Asian Republic of Tajikistan has appealed for international aid with power shortages and food shortages.

This is NPR News.

1 tornadoes   

n.龙卷风，旋风( tornado的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Tornadoes, severe earthquakes, and plagues create wide spread havoc. 龙卷风、大地震和瘟疫成普遍的毁坏。 来自互联网
• Meteorologists are at odds over the working of tornadoes. 气象学者对龙卷风的运动方式看法不一。 来自互联网

2 flattened   

[医]（水）平扁的，弄平的

参考例句：

• She flattened her nose and lips against the window. 她把鼻子和嘴唇紧贴着窗户。
• I flattened myself against the wall to let them pass. 我身体紧靠着墙让他们通过。

3 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。

4 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

5 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》

6 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

7 rebate   

v./n.折扣，回扣，退款；vt.给...回扣，给...打折扣

参考例句：

• You can claim a rebate on your tax.你可以要求退回部分税款。
• Customers are to benefit from a rebate on their electricity bills.顾客将从他们的电费退费中得到实惠。

8 filibuster   

n.妨碍议事，阻挠；v.阻挠

参考例句：

• A senator dragged the subject in as a filibuster.一个参议员硬把这个题目拉扯进来，作为一种阻碍议事的手法。
• The democrats organized a filibuster in the senate.民主党党员在参议院上组织了阻挠议事。

9 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。

10 squads   

n.（军队中的）班( squad的名词复数 )；（暗杀）小组；体育运动的运动（代表）队；（对付某类犯罪活动的）警察队伍

参考例句：

• Anti-riot squads were called out to deal with the situation. 防暴队奉命出动以对付这一局势。 来自辞典例句
• Three squads constitute a platoon. 三个班组成一个排。 来自辞典例句

11 proceeding   

n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报

参考例句：

• This train is now proceeding from Paris to London.这次列车从巴黎开往伦敦。
• The work is proceeding briskly.工作很有生气地进展着。

12 dismal   

adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的

参考例句：

• That is a rather dismal melody.那是一支相当忧郁的歌曲。
• My prospects of returning to a suitable job are dismal.我重新找到一个合适的工作岗位的希望很渺茫。

13 sensors   

n.传感器，灵敏元件( sensor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were more than 2000 sensors here. 这里装有两千多个灵敏元件。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Significant changes have been noted where sensors were exposed to trichloride. 当传感器暴露在三氯化物中时，有很大变化。 来自辞典例句

14 riskiest   

冒险的，危险的( risky的最高级 )

参考例句：

• With markets lately rising, the riskiest investments are finding takers. 他说，在周期高峰时，投资者会追逐风险最高的资产。
• The riskiest subprime securitieshave almost no takers. 风险最高的次级证券几乎没有人持有。

15 module   

n.组件，模块，模件；(航天器的)舱

参考例句：

• The centre module displays traffic guidance information.中央模块显示交通引导信息。
• Two large tanks in the service module held liquid oxygen.服务舱的两个大气瓶中装有液态氧。

16 assassinated   

v.暗杀( assassinate的过去式和过去分词 )；中伤；诋毁；破坏

参考例句：

• The prime minister was assassinated by extremists. 首相遭极端分子暗杀。
• Then, just two days later, President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. 跟着在两天以后，肯尼迪总统在达拉斯被人暗杀。 来自辞典例句

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 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

19 truce   

n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束

参考例句：

• The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。
• She had thought of flying out to breathe the fresh air in an interval of truce.她想跑出去呼吸一下休战期间的新鲜空气。

20 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

21 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。