NPR 2008-03-10

From NPR news in Washington, I'm Korva Coleman.

 Barack Obama is the winner of yesterday's Democratic caucuses² in Wyoming. He picks up seven delegates to the Democratic National Convention this summer. Hillary Clinton won another five delegates. Wyoming is the least populated state in the country, and usually sees extremely light turnout for its Democratic caucuses. Yesterday thousands of people participated.

 In Illinois, Democrat¹ has won a special election to a congressional seat vacated by former speaker of the House Dennis Hastert. Democrat Bill Foster defeated Republican Jim Oberweis in a close race. Foster will serve out the rest of Hastert's term in office. It ends in January.

 People in Spain are voting in national elections. 35 million people are eligible⁴ to choose between two parties with radically⁵ different agendas. Jerome Socolovsky has more from Madrid.

 At polling stations across the country, voters are slipping paper ballots⁶ with their choice of party into clear plexiglass boxes. The choice is between the Spanish Socialist⁷ Workers' Party led by Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and the conservative Popular Party led by Mariano Rajoy. The two men have been bitter rivals since the bombing of commuter⁸ trains in Madrid four years ago. That attack is thought to have helped the socialists⁹ win the last election. Since then, Zapatero has dramatically changed the national agenda. He's reopened the debate about the Franco dictatorship, allowed gays and lesbians to marry and is forcing companies to appoint women as board members. For NPR news, I'm Jerome Socolovsky in Madrid.

 Heavy rain has pounded parts of the east coast this weekend. Authorities had to shut down a section of the New Jersey¹⁰ Turnpike for a few hours yesterday to allow crews to clear downed power lines. Two trains into New York City are closed until today because of downed trees. In the west, the problem is heavy snow. Ohio's capital Columbus has been socked by a late winter storm that's hit the nation's mid¹¹ section. Fred Kight of member station WOUB has more.

 The National Weather Service says more than 20 inches of snow has fallen on Columbus , and that tops the previous record of 15 inches in a single storm set in 1910. Making things worse, 35-mile-per-hour winds which cut visibility and cause drifting. Road crews around Ohio have been struggling to keep up. In Canton, two snowplows got stuck while others broke down under the workload¹². Storm closed highways and counties imposed states of emergency to keep people off roads. Governor Ted³ Strickland says almost 2,000 crashes have been reported to the highway patrol. All flights of the Cleveland Airport have been cancelled. It's scheduled to reopen early Sunday. For NPR news, I'm Fred Kight in Athens, Ohio.

 Daylight Saving Time began today at two o' clock, your time. Clocks should have been set one hour ahead. This is NPR.

 Some California prosecutors¹³ are investigating so-called immigration consultants¹⁵ for allegedly taking advantage of migrants seeking citizenship¹⁶ or trying to avoid deportation¹⁷. Bob Hensley of member station KXJZ reports.

 The Fresno County District Attorney's office has filed charges against five immigration consultants, claiming they've failed to comply with Consumer Protection Laws. Prosecutors charged the defendants¹⁸ lacked insurance bond and background check required by California law, and made false or misleading statements about the services they could offer. Advocates say unsuspecting victims have sometimes paid as much as 10,000 dollars to a consultant¹⁴ and received little if any assistance. Two of the defendants say they have ordered their business practices to comply with the law. The consultants face fines if convicted. An investigation¹⁹ was initiated²⁰ following complaints from immigration lawyers and inquiries²¹ from Spanish-language media. For NPR news, I'm Bob Hensley in Modesto, California.

 The ruling party in Malaysia has suffered big loss in national elections. The National Front Coalition²² lost races in five state governments and dropped about a third of the seats in Parliament. It was a stunning²³ loss although the Party still controls the government. The National Front Party has governed Malaysia since independence from Britain more than 50 years ago.

 The European Space Agency has sent a cargo²⁴ ship into space. The Jules Verne, as the ship is called, is headed for the International Space Station with supplies. When it's empty, the astronauts will fill it with trash and send it back into Earth's atmosphere, where it's supposed to burn up over the ocean. Jules Verne is first of nine planned cargo ship trips into space spread over several years.

 I'm Korva Coleman, NPR news in Washington.

1 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。

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 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

4 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

5 radically   

ad.根本地，本质地

参考例句：

• I think we may have to rethink our policies fairly radically. 我认为我们可能要对我们的政策进行根本的反思。
• The health service must be radically reformed. 公共医疗卫生服务必须进行彻底改革。

6 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》

7 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

8 commuter   

n.(尤指市郊之间)乘公交车辆上下班者

参考例句：

• Police cordoned off the road and diverted commuter traffic. 警察封锁了道路并分流交通。
• She accidentally stepped on his foot on a crowded commuter train. 她在拥挤的通勤列车上不小心踩到了他的脚。

9 socialists   

社会主义者( socialist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The socialists saw themselves as true heirs of the Enlightenment. 社会主义者认为自己是启蒙运动的真正继承者。
• The Socialists junked dogma when they came to office in 1982. 社会党人1982年上台执政后，就把其政治信条弃之不顾。

10 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

11 mid   

adj.中央的，中间的

参考例句：

• Our mid-term exam is pending.我们就要期中考试了。
• He switched over to teaching in mid-career.他在而立之年转入教学工作。

12 workload   

n.作业量，工作量

参考例句：

• An assistant one day a week would ease my workload.每周有一天配一个助手就会减轻我的工作负担。
• He's always grousing about the workload.他总是抱怨工作量大。

13 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

14 consultant   

n.顾问；会诊医师，专科医生

参考例句：

• He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
• Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来，加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。

15 consultants   

顾问( consultant的名词复数 )； 高级顾问医生，会诊医生

参考例句：

• a firm of management consultants 管理咨询公司
• There're many consultants in hospital. 医院里有很多会诊医生。

16 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

17 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。

18 defendants   

被告( defendant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The courts heard that the six defendants had been coerced into making a confession. 法官审判时发现6位被告人曾被迫承认罪行。
• As in courts, the defendants are represented by legal counsel. 与法院相同，被告有辩护律师作为代表。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

19 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

20 initiated   

n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入

参考例句：

• He has not yet been thoroughly initiated into the mysteries of computers. 他对计算机的奥秘尚未入门。
• The artist initiated the girl into the art world in France. 这个艺术家介绍这个女孩加入巴黎艺术界。

21 inquiries   

n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending further inquiries. 他获得保释，等候进一步调查。
• I have failed to reach them by postal inquiries. 我未能通过邮政查询与他们取得联系。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

22 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

23 stunning   

adj.极好的；使人晕倒的

参考例句：

• His plays are distinguished only by their stunning mediocrity.他的戏剧与众不同之处就是平凡得出奇。
• The finished effect was absolutely stunning.完工后的效果非常美。

24 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。