NPR NEWS 2008-02-10

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Nora Raum.

Four states are holding presidential nominating contests today. Nebraska, Kansas, and Washington State are holding caucuses², and as NPR's Greg Allen reports Louisiana is holding its presidential primary.

Louisiana has rarely had a presidential primary as meaningful as this one, especially on the Democratic side. The 56 delegates at stake today would be very helpful to New York Senator Hillary Clinton or Illinois Senator Barack Obama who are locked in a tight battle for their party's nomination³. On the Republican side although Arizona Senator John McCain has a commanding lead, Mike Huckabee, former governor of the neighboring state of Arkansas is expected to do well here. One question mark is voter turnout. Coming just days after Mardi Gras. The primary has attracted little interest. State officials say low numbers of early voters and requests for absentee ballots⁴ suggest turn-out would be lower than some other early primary states. In recent days Barack Obama was the only candidate to campaign here. But Hillary Clinton did send a top surrogate, former president Bill Clinton. Polls close at 9 p.m. Central Time. Greg Allen NPR News, New Orleans.

Democrats⁵ will caucus¹ in Maine tomorrow. And both parties will hold primaries Tuesday in Maryland, Virginia and Washington D.C.

Five American soldiers were killed in roadside bombings in Iraq yesterday. The U.S. military says four died while on patrol northwest of Baghdad, another soldier was killed in an explosion near Tikrit in northern Iraq, three others were wounded in that attack.

Space shuttle Atlantis is to dock at the International Space Station today. NASA engineers are going over images of the heat tiles and shields in the shuttle. Because three pieces of debris⁶ fell from the external fuel tank during Thursday's lift-off. The scans making firm of damage was done. Pat Duggins of member station WMFE reports

The astronauts will perceive with docking with the International Space Station while NASA examines the heat tile scans. If any suspected damage is found the crew may be asked to do what's called the focused inspection⁷. For now the mission will continue as planned. Any serious tile damage would threaten the crew at the end of flight during the fiery⁸ reentry into the atmosphere. So there is time to respond. If Atlantis is found to be fatally damaged, there's a plan for the astronauts to evacuate⁹ into the Space Station and wait for a rescue shuttle. NASA doesn't expect to see anything that could endanger the crew. The pieces of debris that fell during launch came off late during the trip to Orbit. NASA thinks the atmosphere was too thin at that point to propel the trunks against the shuttle with any force. For NPR News, I'm Pat Duggins in Orlando.

Finance leaders of the seven richest countries in the world met in Tokyo today to discuss the financial turmoil¹⁰ set off by the sub-prime mortgage crisis in the U.S. Later they released a statement that they are committed to enhancing economic growth. They agree to coordinate¹¹ their efforts to stabilize¹² financial markets around the world. But they put off until April agreeing on the specifics of a plan.

This is NPR News from Washington.

The Food and Drug Administration is advising doctors and patients to use Botox to be alert to possible problems. NPR's Joanne Silberner has more.

The tox in Botox refers to a toxin¹³, a poison. It blocks nerves at tensive muscles and is used to treat everything from wrinkles to eyelid¹⁴ ticks, to the severe spasms¹⁵ of cerebral¹⁶ palsy. But the FDA has received reports of people having problems after being treated with Botox or a similar product Myobloc, troubled breathing or swallowing, or having too big eyelids¹⁷. The most serious problems have been in children with cerebral palsy, some died. The agency is not advising against the use of the products. It isn't, instead, recommending the doctors be especially careful about dosage and that they want patients to get medical attention if they have problems after Botox administration. The agency is considering whether any regular treat actions are needed. Joanne Silberner NPR News, Washington.

A memorial service was held today for actor Heath Ledger¹⁸ in his hometown of Perth Australia. He died last month in his New York apartment at the age of 28. Officials say he died from an accidental overdose of prescription¹⁹ drugs.

After first saying no the State Department has granted a work visa to British Pop star Amy Winehouse. But the reversal came too late for her to attend the Grammy Awards tomorrow night. The visa reportedly had been denied initially²⁰ because of drug use. Although she won't be at the Los Angeles ceremony in person, Winehouse is scheduled to perform live via satellite from her studio in London. She is expected to sing her hit 'rehab' about her reluctance²¹ to sick treatment.

I'm Nora Raum. NPR News in Washington.

1 caucus   

n.秘密会议；干部会议；v.（参加）干部开会议

参考例句：

• This multi-staged caucus takes several months.这个多级会议常常历时好几个月。
• It kept the Democratic caucus from fragmenting.它也使得民主党的核心小组避免了土崩瓦解的危险。

2 caucuses   

n.（政党决定政策或推举竞选人的）核心成员( caucus的名词复数 )；决策干部；决策委员会；秘密会议

参考例句：

• Republican caucuses will happen in about 410 towns across Maine. 共和党团会议选举将在缅因州的约410个城镇进行。 来自互联网

3 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。

4 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

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 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

7 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。

8 fiery   

adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的

参考例句：

• She has fiery red hair.她有一头火红的头发。
• His fiery speech agitated the crowd.他热情洋溢的讲话激动了群众。

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 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。

11 coordinate   

adj.同等的，协调的；n.同等者；vt.协作，协调

参考例句：

• You must coordinate what you said with what you did.你必须使你的言行一致。
• Maybe we can coordinate the relation of them.或许我们可以调和他们之间的关系。

12 stabilize   

vt.（使）稳定，使稳固，使稳定平衡；vi.稳定

参考例句：

• They are eager to stabilize currencies.他们急于稳定货币。
• His blood pressure tended to stabilize.他的血压趋向稳定。

13 toxin   

n.毒素，毒质

参考例句：

• Experts have linked this condition to a build-up of toxins in the body.专家已把这一病症与体内毒素的积累联系起来。
• Tests showed increased levels of toxin in shellfish.检验表明水生有壳动物的毒素水平提高了。

14 eyelid   

n.眼睑，眼皮

参考例句：

• She lifted one eyelid to see what he was doing.她抬起一只眼皮看看他在做什么。
• My eyelid has been tumid since yesterday.从昨天起，我的眼皮就肿了。

15 spasms   

n.痉挛( spasm的名词复数 )；抽搐；（能量、行为等的）突发；发作

参考例句：

• After the patient received acupuncture treatment,his spasms eased off somewhat. 病人接受针刺治疗后，痉挛稍微减轻了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The smile died, squeezed out by spasms of anticipation and anxiety. 一阵阵预测和焦虑把她脸上的微笑挤掉了。 来自辞典例句

16 cerebral   

adj.脑的，大脑的；有智力的，理智型的

参考例句：

• Your left cerebral hemisphere controls the right-hand side of your body.你的左半脑控制身体的右半身。
• He is a precise,methodical,cerebral man who carefully chooses his words.他是一个一丝不苟、有条理和理智的人，措辞谨慎。

17 eyelids   

n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 )；眼睛也不眨一下；不露声色；面不改色

参考例句：

• She was so tired, her eyelids were beginning to droop. 她太疲倦了，眼睑开始往下垂。
• Her eyelids drooped as if she were on the verge of sleep. 她眼睑低垂好像快要睡着的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 ledger   

n.总帐，分类帐；帐簿

参考例句：

• The young man bowed his head and bent over his ledger again.那个年轻人点头应诺，然后又埋头写起分类帐。
• She is a real accountant who even keeps a detailed household ledger.她不愧是搞财务的，家庭分类账记得清楚详细。

19 prescription   

n.处方，开药；指示，规定

参考例句：

• The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
• The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。

20 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

21 reluctance   

n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿

参考例句：

• The police released Andrew with reluctance.警方勉强把安德鲁放走了。
• He showed the greatest reluctance to make a reply.他表示很不愿意答复。