NPR 2008-05-13

In China, state media report upwards¹ of 10,000 people were killed in Monday's powerful earthquake. The quake struck in mid-afternoon when schools and offices were full. NPR's Laura Sydell reports from Shanghai.

In some areas of Sichuan Province, eighty percent of the buildings collapsed². The earthquake was in a mountainous region, about 60 miles from the province's capital, Chengdu. The quake also toppled at least eight schools in the region and about 900 teenagers were buried in the rubble³ of a collapsed three-story school building. Chemical plants and at least one hospital were also flattened⁴, trapping hundreds of people. Hundreds of miles away in Shanghai, buildings shook and office workers ran to the street. There were several aftershocks and one was felt strongly in Beijing, where the city is preparing for the Summer Olympics scheduled to begin in less than three months. This is the worst earthquake to hit China in decades. Laura Sydell, NPR News, Shanghai, China.

Emergency officials are continuing to assess the damage from the latest string of tornado⁵ touchdowns in the nation's heartland. A series of twisters that hit over the weekend Oklahoma and Missouri are now blamed for 22 deaths. The town of Picher, Oklahoma, damage was so severe, some officials are now saying the town of 800 might not be rebuilt. Missouri's governor surveyed damage in three counties in that state today where a powerful tornado, estimated to be packing winds of 170 miles an hour, killed 15 people Saturday.

Federal authorities say more than 300 workers have been arrested in Southeast Iowa at the nation's largest kosher meat-packing facility. From Iowa Public Radio, Jeff Schmidt reports.

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents executed search warrants at the Agriprocessors's plant for evidence related to identity theft and fraudulent use of social security numbers. US attorney Matt Dummermuth says coordination⁶ for the raid has been in place since last fall. "This is not the first time this office has been part of a criminal worksite enforcement operation. However, this is the largest operation of its type, and the coordination and logistical planning efforts have been going on for months." Dummermuth says plant workers taken into custody⁷ will be held at a temporary detention⁸ hall at a fairground site in Northern Iowa. The Department of Human Services is providing caregiver assistance for children of detained family members. For NPR News, I'm Jeff Schmidt in Iowa City.

On the eve of West Virginia's primary, Barack Obama told an audience there that disagreeing with the war does not mean disrespecting the troops. "Some of us may disagree with our decision to start this war in Iraq, but all of us stand united in our support for the brave men and women who wage it. That's how it should be." Obama was speaking in Charleston, West Virginia. His rival, Hillary Clinton, was also campaigning in the state today.

On Wall Street, The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 130 points. This is NPR News.

In the mid-Atlantic region of the country, heavy rains are causing problems. In the Washington DC suburb of Camp Springs, Maryland, a number of homes had to be evacuated⁹ today after a sinkhole, up to 30 feet wide and ten feet deep, opened up. Flood warnings were also up in parts of Western Maryland, where some roads had to be closed. In some areas, up to four inches of rain has fallen since yesterday, causing creeks¹⁰ to overflow¹¹ their banks and leaving high amounts of standing¹² water along many roadways.

New Tribune Chairman Sam Zell is struggling to meet the company's debt payments and is already shopping around the Chicago Cubs¹³ and Wrigley Field. Now as NPR's David Folkenflik reports, Zell has reached a deal to sell one of the Tribune's largest newspapers.

Sam Zell took over Tribune in December, saying he didn't intend to sell any of the company's papers. On Monday, Cablevision, one of the nation's largest cable providers, agreed to buy 97 percent of the Long Island daily Newsday from Tribune in a deal valuing the paper at 632 million dollars. That trumped¹⁴ the offers of New York tabloid¹⁵ owners Rupert Murdoch and Mort Zuckerman. Tribune will retain a three-percent stake in Newsday to avoid paying taxes. Advertising¹⁶ revenues at Tribune's papers have plummeted¹⁷. And if conditions don't improve, the company may have to consider the sale of some of its other papers, such as The Los Angeles Times, The Baltimore Sun and The Hartford Courant. Tribune could also sell its stake in the highly popular Food Network. David Folkenflik, NPR News, New York.

The firm, Research In Motion, is launching new high-end version of its popular Blackberry communications device. Dubbed¹⁸ the Blackberry Bold, the new smart phone will support high-speed cellular¹⁹ network and will also support GPS, WiFi and a number of other multi-media applications. It's expected to sell for between $300 and $400.

1 upwards   

adv.向上，在更高处...以上

参考例句：

• The trend of prices is still upwards.物价的趋向是仍在上涨。
• The smoke rose straight upwards.烟一直向上升。

2 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。

3 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

4 flattened   

[医]（水）平扁的，弄平的

参考例句：

• She flattened her nose and lips against the window. 她把鼻子和嘴唇紧贴着窗户。
• I flattened myself against the wall to let them pass. 我身体紧靠着墙让他们通过。

5 tornado   

n.飓风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• A tornado whirled into the town last week.龙卷风上周袭击了这座城市。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。

6 coordination   

n.协调，协作

参考例句：

• Gymnastics is a sport that requires a considerable level of coordination.体操是一项需要高协调性的运动。
• The perfect coordination of the dancers and singers added a rhythmic charm to the performance.舞蹈演员和歌手们配合得很好，使演出更具魅力。

7 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

8 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

9 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

10 creeks   

n.小湾( creek的名词复数 )；小港；小河；小溪

参考例句：

• The prospect lies between two creeks. 矿区位于两条溪流之间。 来自辞典例句
• There was the excitement of fishing in country creeks with my grandpa on cloudy days. 有在阴雨天和姥爷一起到乡村河湾钓鱼的喜悦。 来自辞典例句

11 overflow   

v.(使)外溢，(使)溢出；溢出，流出，漫出

参考例句：

• The overflow from the bath ran on to the floor.浴缸里的水溢到了地板上。
• After a long period of rain,the river may overflow its banks.长时间的下雨天后，河水可能溢出岸来。

12 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。

13 cubs   

n.幼小的兽，不懂规矩的年轻人( cub的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a lioness guarding her cubs 守护幼崽的母狮
• Lion cubs depend on their mother to feed them. 狮子的幼仔依靠母狮喂养。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 trumped   

v.（牌戏）出王牌赢（一牌或一墩）( trump的过去分词 )；吹号公告，吹号庆祝；吹喇叭；捏造

参考例句：

• That woman trumped up various baseless charges against him. 那个女人捏造种种毫无根据的罪名指控他。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Several of his colleagues trumped up a complaint to get him removed from the job. 他的几位同事诬告他，使他丟掉了工作。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 tabloid   

adj.轰动性的，庸俗的；n.小报，文摘

参考例句：

• He launched into a verbal assault on tabloid journalism.他口头对小报新闻进行了抨击。
• He believes that the tabloid press has behaved disgracefully.他认为小报媒体的行为不太光彩。

16 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

17 plummeted   

v.垂直落下，骤然跌落( plummet的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Share prices plummeted to an all-time low. 股票价格暴跌到历史最低点。
• A plane plummeted to earth. 一架飞机一头栽向地面。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 dubbed   

v.给…起绰号( dub的过去式和过去分词 )；把…称为；配音；复制

参考例句：

• Mathematics was once dubbed the handmaiden of the sciences. 数学曾一度被视为各门科学的基础。
• Is the movie dubbed or does it have subtitles? 这部电影是配音的还是打字幕的？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 cellular   

adj.移动的；细胞的，由细胞组成的

参考例句：

• She has a cellular telephone in her car.她的汽车里有一部无线通讯电话机。
• Many people use cellular materials as sensitive elements in hygrometers.很多人用蜂窝状的材料作为测量温度的传感元件。