NPR 2008-03-06

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Carl Kasell.

 Senator Barack Obama remains¹ ahead in the overall delegate count in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination², but his rival, Senator Hillary Clinton, narrowed the lead with primary wins yesterday in Ohio, Rhode Island and Texas. Clinton was pleased with the outcome. "This nation's coming back and so is this campaign." The win put an end to a month of losses for Clinton. Obama added to his win column with the victory in Vermont, he is downplaying the impact of yesterday's results in Ohio and Texas. Still in doubt is the overall Texas winner, as the results for the caucuses⁴ the state also holds are still pending⁵. NPR's Don Gonyea reports.

 The Obama campaign was braced⁶ for bad news yesterday after a string of successes going back a month in which the senator won 12 straight contests including Vermont last night. But then came Clinton's victories in Rhode Island and Ohio. That's when Obama spoke⁷ to supporters in San Antonio, he congratulated Clinton on her wins but he also added, "No matter what happens tonight, we have nearly the same delegate lead as we did this morning, and we are on our way to winning this nomination." More contests are coming. This week Wyoming holds a caucus³. The next big battle comes in Pennsylvania. That's on April 22nd. Don Gonyea, NPR News, with the Obama campaign in San Antonio.

 Arizona Senator John McCain will carry the Republican banner in this year's presidential race. McCain won enough delegates in yesterday's four Republican primaries to secure the GOP nomination. NPR's Scott Horsley reports.

 John McCain is promising⁸ to travel across the country over the next eight months, making the case that he should be president instead of Democrats⁹ Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton. McCain says he'll concentrate on the challenges that face America including the war in Iraq. Although he has been critical of the early handling of the war, last night McCain defended the decision to topple Saddam Hussein. "Americans know that the next president doesn't get to remake that decision. We're in Iraq, and our most vital security interests are clearly involved there." McCain says it's now up to the candidates to explain how they would conclude the war without worsening sectarian conflict, emboldening¹⁰ terrorist or destabilizing the Middle East. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Dallas.

 Japanese stock prices close lower today, falling by 2/10 of 1%. Oil prices are higher in Asian trading today, after dropping sharply in yesterday's session on the possibility that OPEC will raise production and on expectations that U.S. crude supplies continue to rise. U.S. light crude for April delivery rose by 30 cents to $99.82 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

 This is NPR News.

 Taking hormone¹¹ therapy to relieve menopausal symptoms may put women at risk of cancer several years after they stop the treatment. NPR's Patti Neighmond reports on the study in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

 Researchers stopped a study of hormone replacement¹² therapy when it became clear women's risk of heart disease and certain cancers increased on the therapy especially breast cancer. Although that increased risk was small, many women stopped taking the medication. Now researchers wanted to know if the risk of heart disease and cancer continued even after stopping treatment. This study looked at women' health status up to 3 years later. It found heart disease risk leveled off but cancer risk especially for breast cancer stayed about the same. Researchers planned to analyze¹³ data for another few years and see if cancer risk continues even up to 5 or 6 years after stopping hormone treatment. Patti Neighmond, NPR News.

 A South Korea aid group is reporting that 15 people who tried to escape North Korea or help others to flee have been publicly executed. It says that 2 men and 13 women were executed by firing squad¹⁴ February 20th, on a bridge in a northeastern town on the border with China and Russia. The Good Friends group says the public execution is a warning aimed at stemming the growing flow of refugees from North Korea into China. A growing number of North Koreans have been crossing into China in search of food and to avoid political oppression. Activists¹⁵ claimed that tens of thousands of North Koreans live in hiding in China where they face deportation¹⁶ if they're caught.

 I'm Carl Kasell, NPR News, in Washington.

1 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

2 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。

3 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。

4 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

5 pending   

prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的

参考例句：

• The lawsuit is still pending in the state court.这案子仍在州法庭等待定夺。
• He knew my examination was pending.他知道我就要考试了。

6 braced   

adj.拉牢的v.支住( brace的过去式和过去分词 )；撑牢；使自己站稳；振作起来

参考例句：

• They braced up the old house with balks of timber. 他们用梁木加固旧房子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The house has a wooden frame which is braced with brick. 这幢房子是木结构的砖瓦房。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 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。

8 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

9 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》

10 emboldening   

v.鼓励，使有胆量( embolden的现在分词 )

参考例句：

11 hormone   

n.荷尔蒙，激素，内分泌

参考例句：

• Hormone implants are used as growth boosters.激素植入物被用作生长辅助剂。
• This hormone interacts closely with other hormones in the body.这种荷尔蒙与体內其他荷尔蒙紧密地相互作用。

12 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。

13 analyze   

vt.分析，解析 (=analyse)

参考例句：

• We should analyze the cause and effect of this event.我们应该分析这场事变的因果。
• The teacher tried to analyze the cause of our failure.老师设法分析我们失败的原因。

14 squad   

n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组

参考例句：

• The squad leader ordered the men to mark time.班长命令战士们原地踏步。
• A squad is the smallest unit in an army.班是军队的最小构成单位。

15 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》

16 deportation   

n.驱逐，放逐

参考例句：

• The government issued a deportation order against the four men.政府发出了对那4名男子的驱逐令。
• Years ago convicted criminals in England could face deportation to Australia.很多年以前，英国已定罪的犯人可能被驱逐到澳大利亚。