NPR 2008-02-11

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

Illinois Senator Barack Obama swept all the Democratic contests yesterday. He won caucuses¹ in Nebraska, Washington State and the Virgin² Islands and the Louisiana primary. From New Orleans, NPR's Greg Allen reports.

In all the states voting yesterday Obama didn't just win, he beat New York Senator Hillary Clinton by a substantial margin³. In Louisiana, exit polls indicated that half the Democrats⁴ who voted were black and they overwhelmingly supported Obama. Obama spoke⁵ in New Orleans this week. Hillary Clinton did not campaign here but she did send her husband, former President Bill Clinton. Obama also won big in states with fewer minority voters, Nebraska and Washington. Both Obama and Clinton are now turning their focus on Virginia, Maryland and Washington DC, which hold their primaries next Tuesday. On the Republican side although Arizona Senator John McCain appears the likely nominee⁶, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee scored a big win yesterday in Kansas. Greg Allen NPR News, New Orleans.

Huckabee also won the Republican primary in Louisiana but not by enough to pick up the 20 delegates who will be allocated⁷ at a state convention next week. The Associate Press is reporting that John McCain did win the Republican caucuses in Washington State.

Defense⁸ Secretary Robert Gates urged NATO allies today to share more of the burden in fighting Islamist militants⁹ in Afghanistan. Speaking to a security conference in Munich, Gates said the threat of violent Islamist extremists is real and is not going to go away 'Imaging if Islamic terrorists had managed to strike your capitals on the same scale as they struck in New York. Imaging if they have laid their hands on weapons and materials with even greater destructive capability--weapons of the sort all too easily accessible in the world today. We forget at our peril¹⁰ that the ambition of Islamic extremists is limited only by opportunity.' Gates said NATO mustn't become a two-tiered alliance of those willing to fight and those who are not.

The astronauts aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis are taking an extra day to work around a number of problems. The spacecraft docked to the International Space Station yesterday. Pat Duggins of member station WMFE reports.

Astronaut Hans Schlegel was recovering from what NASA describes as a medical issue. He was scheduled to head out on the mission's first spacewalk to help prepare the European-built Columbus lab for installation on the Space Station. That work session is now set for Monday and astronaut Stanley Love will step in Schlegel. The astronaut's illness isn't the only concern. NASA engineers are also troubleshooting a bulky main computer on Atlantis and a tear in a white heat protection blanket on the right side of the Shuttle's tail rudder. A similar rip on a previous shuttle mission was fixed¹¹ by a spacewalker who ventured outside with the surgical¹² stable gun from the astronaut's medical kit¹³. The main goal of Atlantis's flight is to deliver the multi-billion-dollar Columbus module¹⁴. It's the European Space Agency's main contribution to the Space Station. For NPR News, I'm Pat Duggins in Orlando.

This is NPR News from Washington.

Tests on the new coal process at a Pennsylvania power plant show promise for reducing mercury pollution. Fred Kight from member station WOUB has this story.

Take some low grade coal from Wyoming and high sulfur¹⁵ coal from Ohio, mix them together, burn them and what do you get? A cleaner fuel according to the Evergreen¹⁶ Energy Company, which says a recently completed test burn of the blend reduced mercury emissions¹⁸ of the plant nearly 82%. This news came out as a federal court struck down the Bush administration approach to limiting mercury emissions. The proposed rule would have allowed power plants to buy credits from cleaner power plants rather than install their own emission¹⁷ controls. The court decision said the government failed to adequately consider the policy's effect on public health and the environment. For NPR New, I'm Fred Kight in Athens, Ohio.

At least ten people were trampled¹⁹ to death at a concert in Indonesia last night. Authorities say hundreds of people try to leave the punk rock performance at the same time causing a panic and a stampede. Dozens were injured. Most of the concert goers were teenagers.

The military government of Myanmar announced last night they would hold a general election in 2010. It also said they would hold a vote on a new constitution in May, saying the time has now come to change from military rule to democratic civilian²⁰ rule. The last election in the country also known as Burma was in 1990. The National League for Democracy won but the military refused to hand over power. The head of that party Aung San Suu Kyi has been in prison or under house arrest for 12 of the last 18 years.

I'm Nora Raum, NPR News in Washington.

1 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

2 virgin   

n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的

参考例句：

• Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗？
• There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。

3 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

4 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》

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

7 allocated   

adj. 分配的 动词allocate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The Ford Foundation allocated millions of dollars for cancer research. 福特基金会拨款数百万美元用于癌症研究。
• More funds will now be allocated to charitable organizations. 现在会拨更多的资金给慈善组织。

8 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

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 peril   

n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物

参考例句：

• The refugees were in peril of death from hunger.难民有饿死的危险。
• The embankment is in great peril.河堤岌岌可危。

11 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

12 surgical   

adj.外科的，外科医生的，手术上的

参考例句：

• He performs the surgical operations at the Red Cross Hospital.他在红十字会医院做外科手术。
• All surgical instruments must be sterilised before use.所有的外科手术器械在使用之前，必须消毒。

13 kit   

n.用具包，成套工具；随身携带物

参考例句：

• The kit consisted of about twenty cosmetic items.整套工具包括大约20种化妆用品。
• The captain wants to inspect your kit.船长想检查你的行装。

14 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。

15 sulfur   

n.硫，硫磺（=sulphur）

参考例句：

• Sulfur emissions from steel mills become acid rain.炼钢厂排放出的硫形成了酸雨。
• Burning may produce sulfur oxides.燃烧可能会产生硫氧化物。

16 evergreen   

n.常青树；adj.四季常青的

参考例句：

• Some trees are evergreen;they are called evergreen.有的树是常青的，被叫做常青树。
• There is a small evergreen shrub on the hillside.山腰上有一小块常绿灌木丛。

17 emission   

n.发出物，散发物；发出，散发

参考例句：

• Rigorous measures will be taken to reduce the total pollutant emission.采取严格有力措施，降低污染物排放总量。
• Finally,the way to effectively control particulate emission is pointed out.最后，指出有效降低颗粒排放的方向。

18 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。

19 trampled   

踩( trample的过去式和过去分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯

参考例句：

• He gripped his brother's arm lest he be trampled by the mob. 他紧抓着他兄弟的胳膊，怕他让暴民踩着。
• People were trampled underfoot in the rush for the exit. 有人在拼命涌向出口时被踩在脚下。

20 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。