NPR 2008-05-16

For a crowd of 150 people waiting outside the California Supreme¹ Court today in San Francisco, it was an emotional moment .The crowd erupted with cheers when word came down that the state court, on a four-to-three vote, had decided² to overturn a state law banning same sex marriage . Speaking after the announcement, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom told gay marriage supporters the court's ruling was long overdue³. "It's about civil rights. It's about time in California.”  With the decision by the State Supreme Court , California becomes only the second state in the nation , besides Massachusetts, to officially sanction gay marriage .Opponents ,meanwhile, have vowed⁴ to work to try and get a measure on the ballot⁵ that would place laws prohibiting gay marriage in California's constitution.

US House voted today to bring the troops home from Iraq and rejected additional war funding .NPR’s Debbie Elliott has more.

A bill to provide 163 billion dollars to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan failed after House Republicans sat out the vote in protest of how Democrats⁷ handled the legislation. Leaders bypassed the usual committee process to push through Democratic priorities, along with the spending bill. One amendment⁸ changes war policy and includes a non-binding timeline to bring troops home, another extends jobless benefits and uses a surtax on millionaires to give veterans a free college education. The White House has promised to veto the two amendments⁹, and the war funding measure is set to come up again in the Senate next week. Debbie Elliott, NPR News, the Capitol.
 
On Capitol Hill today,  President Bush drew both praise and criticism for an assertion he made in a speech before the Israeli Knesset. The president’s claim that (quote) "Some seem to believe we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals¹⁰" was seen by many as a veiled attack on Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama. More from NPR's David Welna.

Citing an unnamed senator who rued¹¹ not having spoken with Adolf Hitler before the Nazis¹² invaded Poland, President Bush derided¹³, what he called, "the false comfort of appeasement¹⁴". Connecticut independent Senator Joe Lieberman issued a statement saying Mr. Bush (quote) "got it exactly right", adding that the commander-in-chief must be able to distinguish between America's friends and enemies. But another Senator ,Michigan Democrat⁶ Carl Levin, chided the president. "For him to use purple prose, such as "somebody is appeasing¹⁵", it seems to me is totally inappropriate. It has no place to be said anywhere ." Joe Biden, the Democrat who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said for the president to call appeasers those who rightly see the need for change is truly delusional¹⁶. And for him to have done so abroad, truly disgraceful. David Welna, NPR News,the Capitol.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day up 94 points today to close at 12,992. The NASDAQ gained 37 points to end the session at 2,533. The Standard & Poor's 500 added 14 points today .

This is NPR.
 
The power is slowly starting to come back on in parts of earthquake-ravaged China, though with an estimated 12,000 people still believed to be buried beneath rubble¹⁷ following Monday’s earthquake there. There are fears the death toll¹⁸ could reach as high as 50,000 people. Chinese authorities say the confirmed death toll has now risen to nearly 20,000. Electricity was restored to some areas that lost power after the quake. Though, Chinese state media says other areas near the quake’s epicenter remain blacked out. China is easing up on resistance to foreign help, allowing teams from Japan and long-time foe¹⁹ Taiwan to join in rescue efforts there .
 
The director of a museum in Thailand died yesterday in custody²⁰ at a federal prison near Seattle. Roxanna Brown was 62 years old. From member station KUOW in Seattle, Phyllis Fletcher reports.

Brown had been scheduled to speak in Seattle at the University of Washington last week. But federal authorities arrested her first in a Seattle hotel. A US attorney charged her with wire fraud. The charges were the result of an undercover operation that sent a federal agent to a gallery in Los Angeles. The agent allegedly got Brown's signature on a form that inflated²¹ the appraised²² value of antiquities²³ from Thailand. Charging papers accuse Brown of overstating values for tax purposes. Brown's brother told the Associated Press that Brown apparently²⁴ died of a heart attack, that the stress of the arrest was to blame, and that his sister said she was not guilty. A spokesperson for the US Attorney's Office in Seattle says the prison medical staff checked Brown on Monday. For NPR News, I'm Phyllis Fletcher in Seattle.

CBS has agreed to pay 1.8 billion dollars for online news and information provider, CNet, in a deal that would significantly expand the media giant's online reach. The price represents a 40% premium²⁵ over the company's closing stock price.

1 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 overdue   

adj.过期的，到期未付的；早该有的，迟到的

参考例句：

• The plane is overdue and has been delayed by the bad weather.飞机晚点了，被坏天气耽搁了。
• The landlady is angry because the rent is overdue.女房东生气了，因为房租过期未付。

4 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

5 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

6 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。

7 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》

8 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

9 amendments   

（法律、文件的）改动( amendment的名词复数 )； 修正案； 修改； （美国宪法的）修正案

参考例句：

• The committee does not adequately consult others when drafting amendments. 委员会在起草修正案时没有充分征求他人的意见。
• Please propose amendments and addenda to the first draft of the document. 请对这个文件的初稿提出修改和补充意见。

10 radicals   

n.激进分子( radical的名词复数 )；根基；基本原理；[数学]根数

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals. 一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The worry is that the radicals will grow more intransigent. 现在人们担忧激进分子会变得更加不妥协。 来自辞典例句

11 rued   

v.对…感到后悔( rue的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He rued the day they had bought such a large house. 他懊悔他们买了这样大的一所房子。
• She rued the trip with him. 她后悔不该和他去旅行。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

12 Nazis   

n.（德国的）纳粹党员( Nazi的名词复数 )；纳粹主义

参考例句：

• The Nazis worked them over with gun butts. 纳粹分子用枪托毒打他们。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Nazis were responsible for the mass murder of Jews during World War Ⅱ. 纳粹必须为第二次世界大战中对犹太人的大屠杀负责。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 derided   

v.取笑，嘲笑( deride的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• His views were derided as old-fashioned. 他的观点被当作旧思想受到嘲弄。
• Gazing up to the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity. 我抬头疑视着黑暗，感到自己是一个被虚荣心驱使和拨弄的可怜虫。 来自辞典例句

14 appeasement   

n.平息，满足

参考例句：

• Music is an appeasement to shattered nerves. 音乐可抚慰受重创的神经。
• There can be no appeasement with ruthlessness. 对残暴行为是不能姑息的。 来自演讲部分

15 appeasing   

安抚，抚慰( appease的现在分词 )； 绥靖（满足另一国的要求以避免战争）

参考例句：

• Mr. Chamberlain had cherished the hope of appeasing and reforming him and leading him to grace. 张伯伦先生则满心想安抚他，感化他，教他温文知礼。
• A pleasing preacher is too often an appeasing preacher. 一昧讨好的传道人通常是姑息妥协的传道人。

16 delusional   

妄想的

参考例句：

• You became delusional and attacked several people trying to escape. 你产生了错觉并攻击了许多人还试图逃走。 来自电影对白
• He is incoherent, delusional, suffering auditory hallucinations. 他出现无逻辑的，妄想的，幻听的症状。 来自电影对白

17 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。

18 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

19 foe   

n.敌人，仇敌

参考例句：

• He knew that Karl could be an implacable foe.他明白卡尔可能会成为他的死敌。
• A friend is a friend;a foe is a foe;one must be clearly distinguished from the other.敌是敌，友是友，必须分清界限。

20 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。

21 inflated   

adj.（价格）飞涨的；（通货）膨胀的；言过其实的；充了气的v.使充气（于轮胎、气球等）( inflate的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）膨胀；（使）通货膨胀；物价上涨

参考例句：

• He has an inflated sense of his own importance. 他自视过高。
• They all seem to take an inflated view of their collective identity. 他们对自己的集体身份似乎都持有一种夸大的看法。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 appraised   

v.估价( appraise的过去式和过去分词 )；估计；估量；评价

参考例句：

• The teacher appraised the pupil's drawing. 老师评价了那个学生的画。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He appraised the necklace at ￡1000. 据他估计，项链价值1000英镑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

23 antiquities   

n.古老( antiquity的名词复数 )；古迹；古人们；古代的风俗习惯

参考例句：

• There is rest and healing in the contemplation of antiquities. 欣赏古物有休息和疗养之功。 来自辞典例句
• Bertha developed a fine enthusiasm for the antiquities of London. 伯沙对伦敦的古迹产生了很大的热情。 来自辞典例句

24 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

25 premium   

n.加付款；赠品；adj.高级的；售价高的

参考例句：

• You have to pay a premium for express delivery.寄快递你得付额外费用。
• Fresh water was at a premium after the reservoir was contaminated.在水库被污染之后，清水便因稀而贵了。