NPR 2008-06-01

The Democratic Party's Rules and Bylaws Committee appears headed for a compromise concerning the Florida and Michigan dilemma¹. Those two states held their primaries earlier than party rules allowed. The deal was reportedly reached after committee members conferred during their lunch break. Now back in public session, the panel has voted to seat all of Florida's delegates. Rick Pluta has more.

The committee voted nearly unanimously to send full delegation² from Florida to the party's presidential nominating convention in Denver. But each of those delegates is only going to have half a vote. And what that does is that it allowed the delegation to be seated at the convention, but it still punishes Florida for holding a renegade presidential primary in January that broke the party's rules. It's expected the committee will vote on a similar arrangement for Michigan later on this evening. However, that situation is complicated because Barack Obama's name did not appear on the ballot³ there. Rick Pluta reporting from Washington. One of Clinton's key supporters on the committee, Harold Ickes, has just said that Clinton reserves the right to take the dispute over Michigan's delegates to the Rules Committee at the convention in August.

The space shuttle Discovery is in orbit after a successful launch today from the Kennedy Space Center. Discovery (is) on a two-week mission to the International Space Station. NPR's Nell Greenfieldboyce has more.

The skies were clear and blue over Florida. And there were no technical glitches⁴ to troubleshoot. So, NASA could count down to a picture-perfect launch. "Three, two, one! Booster ignition and lift-off of shuttle Discovery!" Discovery will arrive at the space station on Monday. The shuttle is delivering a new science lab built in Japan. It's the size of a bus and will be the biggest room on the station. The astronauts will install that module⁵ and do other chores, one will be "to fix the station's balky toilet." The shuttle is bringing up a replacement⁶ pump that NASA is hoping will get the toilet back to normal. Nell Greenfieldboyce, NPR News.

President Bush will give the commencement address at Furman University in South Carolina this evening. Faculty⁷ members at the small liberal arts school have been at odds⁸ with students over Mr. Bush's visit there. From Greenville, South Carolina, Julie Rose has the story.

Senior class officers and many of today's graduates at Furman University say it's an honour to have the president at their commencement. The majority of their teachers disagree. Some thirty faculty will skip the graduation in protest. A few dozen others, including Judy Grisel, will stand in opposition⁹ as the president speaks. "Wouldn't it be lovely to go to the beach for the weekend with my family and just forget about this whole mess? But I, I feel like, in some ways, that's not a responsible action for an American citizen at this time." As the president begins his speech, Grisel and her colleagues plan to remove their regalia and reveal white T-shirts with the words "We object". For NPR News, I'm Julie Rose in Greenville, South Carolina.

This is NPR News from Washington.

US military deaths in Iraq have fallen this month, the lowest monthly level in more than four years. Officials say 21 American troops have been killed this month, four of them in non-hostile incidents. That's just one more than the lowest monthly figure of the war set in February ,2004.

A crane collapse¹⁰ that killed two construction workers in New York City yesterday has led city officials to convene¹¹ a safety summit today. From member station WNYC, Brian Zoomhuggin has the story.

The crane was turning to pick up a load of materials from the street when it tipped over, crashed into an apartment building and tumbled to the street. Construction workers on the job say the turntable, which is used to help the crane change direction, appeared to fall off before the collapse. The city's acting¹² Buildings Commissioner¹³, Robert LiMandri, says investigators¹⁴ will focus on a particular weld that failed. The department has suspended several construction operations across the city for the weekend and called an emergency meeting of industry experts today to discuss crane safety. Friday's collapse was the second deadly crane accident in less than three months. More than two dozen construction workers have been killed during the past year. For NPR News, I'm Brian Zoomhuggin in New York.

The Atlantic hurricane season officially begins tomorrow, but the season's first named storm has already made landfall at the border between Belize and Mexico. Tropical Storm Arthur dumping heavy rain on the region as it moves inland.

A clean-up is underway in parts of Indianapolis today after a tornado¹⁵ touched down on the city's east side late yesterday. The twister damaged a number of homes and knocked out power to tens of thousands of businesses and homes.

A UN official says cyclone¹⁶ victims in Myanmar who leave relief camps are at risk of not getting the food they need. But the country's military rulers are reportedly clearing those camps.

1 dilemma   

n.困境，进退两难的局面

参考例句：

• I am on the horns of a dilemma about the matter.这件事使我进退两难。
• He was thrown into a dilemma.他陷入困境。

2 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

3 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。

4 glitches   

n.小过失，差错( glitch的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Manufacturing glitches have limited the factory's output. 生产中的故障影响了该厂的产量。 来自辞典例句
• Another kind of period variation,\"Glitches,\" are seen in several pulsars. 在几个脉冲星中还看到了周期的另一种变化，即“自转突快”现象。 来自辞典例句

5 module   

n.组件，模块，模件；(航天器的)舱

参考例句：

• The centre module displays traffic guidance information.中央模块显示交通引导信息。
• Two large tanks in the service module held liquid oxygen.服务舱的两个大气瓶中装有液态氧。

6 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。

7 faculty   

n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员

参考例句：

• He has a great faculty for learning foreign languages.他有学习外语的天赋。
• He has the faculty of saying the right thing at the right time.他有在恰当的时候说恰当的话的才智。

8 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

9 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

10 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。

11 convene   

v.集合，召集，召唤，聚集，集合

参考例句：

• The Diet will convene at 3p.m. tomorrow.国会将于明天下午三点钟开会。
• Senior officials convened in October 1991 in London.1991年10月，高级官员在伦敦会齐。

12 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

13 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。

14 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 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。

16 cyclone   

n.旋风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• An exceptionally violent cyclone hit the town last night.昨晚异常猛烈的旋风吹袭了那个小镇。
• The cyclone brought misery to thousands of people.旋风给成千上万的人带来苦难。