NPR 2008-03-22

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Barbara Kline.

 

The State Department is apologizing to all three presidential candidates for security breaches¹ by contractors³ and a State Department trainee⁴. Spokesman Sean McCormack today acknowledged passport files were accessed without permission several times over the past year. NPR's Michele Kelemen has more.

 

After news emerged that two State Department contractors were fired and one disciplined for looking into Obama's passport file, department officials looked for more unauthorized breaches. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack says the contractor² who was disciplined in one Obama incident also looked into Senator McCain's file. And last summer when the State Department was scrambling⁵ to clear a backlog⁶ of passport applications, one trainee checked out Clinton's file instead of following the teacher's advice to type in the name of a family member to see how the system works. "That person was admonished⁷, " McCormack says. The files contain the original applications for passport or renewals⁸. The State Department is looking into whether there was any political motivation behind the breaches. Michele Keleman, NPR News, Washington.

 

Former Democratic presidential contender Bill Richardson endorsed⁹ Barack Obama for his party's nomination¹⁰ today. The New Mexico governor joined Obama at a rally in Oregon where he called on Americans to elect a "once-in-a-lifetime leader" and praised Obama for his speech this week on race in America. The nation's only Hispanic Governor Richardson could bring more Latino support to Obama. 

 

A federal appeals court has thrown out a lawsuit¹¹ filed by a Democratic activist¹² in Florida against the National Democratic Party. The lawsuit charged the DNC violated the constitutional rights of Florida voters when it stripped the state of its delegates to the national convention. From Miami, NPR's Greg Allen reports.

 

A three-judge panel of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta sentenced an opinion that the lawsuit was interesting and raised potentially significant questions regarding constitutional protections of the right to vote. But the judges said the plaintiff, Victor Dimaio, had not shown that the DNC decision stripping Florida of its delegates caused him an actual injury and that he lacks standing¹³ to bring the case. The judges didn't rule on the merits of Dimaio's case however, leaving open to Florida Democrats¹⁴ the possibility of a further legal challenge. The National Democratic Party announced it was stripping Florida of all its delegates to the national convention after the state held the January primary earlier than allowed under party rules. Michigan is in a similar situation. With the Democratic nominating contest still tight, whether and how the delegates from those two states are awarded is vital to the campaigns of both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

 

The Pentagon says the outgoing head of US Central Command Admiral William Fallon will not testify in front of Congress next month on the situation in Iraq. Fallon resigned his command earlier this month after a magazine reported he opposed the White House's position on Iran. Some members of Congress had requested to hear from Fallon. The Pentagon says its decision to turn down the request has nothing to do with his views on Iran or his unexpected resignation.

 

The Minnesota Department of Transportation has closed a bridge in the city of Saint Cloud for safety reasons. The bridge has a similar design as the one that collapsed¹⁶ last year in Minneapolis. From Minnesota Public Radio Tom Weber has details.

 

The bridge carries about 31,000 cars a day over the Mississippi River in Saint Cloud. It's also a steel truss bridge just like the one that collapsed about 70 miles downriver last year in Minneapolis. Minnesota's transportation commissioner¹⁷ says inspectors¹⁸ found bending in the Saint Cloud bridge's gusset plates. That's key, because weak gusset plates have been cited as a factor in the Minneapolis bridge collapse¹⁵ and both bridges were designed by the same company. Gusset plates hold beams together where they come together at one point. The Saint Cloud bridge was inspected last year after the Minneapolis disaster in part because its design is almost the same, but no deficiencies were found at that time. For NPR News, I'm Tom Weber, in Saint Paul.

 

The National Weather Service has issued more flood advisories¹⁹ and warnings for the nation's mid-section from Arkansas through Ohio. After several days of heavy rain, even more is expected to fall this weekend as rivers in many areas continue to rise.

 

I'm Barbara Kline, NPR News, in Washington.

 

1 breaches   

破坏( breach的名词复数 )； 破裂； 缺口； 违背

参考例句：

• He imposed heavy penalties for breaches of oath or pledges. 他对违反誓言和保证的行为给予严厉的惩罚。
• This renders all breaches of morality before marriage very uncommon. 这样一来，婚前败坏道德的事就少见了。

2 contractor   

n.订约人，承包人，收缩肌

参考例句：

• The Tokyo contractor was asked to kick $ 6000 back as commission.那个东京的承包商被要求退还6000美元作为佣金。
• The style of house the contractor builds depends partly on the lay of the land.承包商所建房屋的式样，有几分要看地势而定。

3 contractors   

n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 trainee   

n.受训练者

参考例句：

• The trainee checked out all right on his first flight.受训者第一次飞行完全合格。
• Few of the trainee footballers make it to the top.足球受训人员中没有几个能达到顶级水平。

5 scrambling   

v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Scrambling up her hair, she darted out of the house. 她匆忙扎起头发，冲出房去。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• She is scrambling eggs. 她正在炒蛋。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 backlog   

n.积压未办之事

参考例句：

• It will take a month to clear the backlog of work.要花一个月的时间才能清理完积压的工作。
• Investment is needed to reduce the backlog of repairs.需要投资来減轻积压的维修工作。

7 admonished   

v.劝告( admonish的过去式和过去分词 )；训诫；（温和地）责备；轻责

参考例句：

• She was admonished for chewing gum in class. 她在课堂上嚼口香糖，受到了告诫。
• The teacher admonished the child for coming late to school. 那个孩子迟到，老师批评了他。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 renewals   

重建( renewal的名词复数 )； 更新； 重生； 合同的续订

参考例句：

• Number of circulations excluding renewals. 7th out of 10 libraries. 借阅数目（不包括续借）。在10间图书馆中排行第七。
• Certification Renewals shall be due on July 1 of the renewal year. 资格认证更新在更新年的7月1日生效。

9 endorsed   

vt.& vi.endorse的过去式或过去分词形式v.赞同( endorse的过去式和过去分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• The committee endorsed an initiative by the chairman to enter discussion about a possible merger. 委员会通过了主席提出的新方案，开始就可能进行的并购进行讨论。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The government has broadly endorsed a research paper proposing new educational targets for 14-year-olds. 政府基本上支持建议对14 岁少年实行新教育目标的研究报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 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。

11 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

12 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

13 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

14 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》

15 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

16 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。

17 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

18 inspectors   

n.检查员( inspector的名词复数 )；（英国公共汽车或火车上的）查票员；（警察）巡官；检阅官

参考例句：

• They got into the school in the guise of inspectors. 他们假装成视察员进了学校。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Inspectors checked that there was adequate ventilation. 检查员已检查过，通风良好。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 advisories   

n.（有关进展、动向、建议等的）报告( advisory的名词复数 )；公告；通告；通报

参考例句：

• Compliance with Practice Advisories is optional. 是否遵守实务公告由审计师自行选择决定。 来自互联网
• Hardened-PHP: not as such a PHP security information website, but it does have security advisories. 增强PHP:不仅仅是一个PHP安全新的网站，它还提供安全建议。 来自互联网