NPR 2008-06-02

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has won the Puerto Rico primary by a two-to-one margin¹ over Barack Obama today. That leaves just two primaries left Tuesday in South Dakota and Montana. At a victory rally in San Juan this afternoon, Clinton said when all the votes are counted, the outcome of the Democratic race will still not be settled. “I will lead the popular vote. He will maintain a slight lead in the delegate count. The decision will fall on the shoulders of those leaders in our party empowered by the rules to vote at the Democratic convention.” Those leaders are the so-called "superdelegates" and Clinton would have to convince the vast majority of them to support her, something that even some of her own backers consider unlikely. 

 Australia has withdrawn² more than 500 troops from Iraq today, effectively ending that country’s combat role there. The decision to bring the troops home came after public support for the war eroded³ in Australia. NPR’s Corey Flintoff has the story from Baghdad.

 Australia was among the first countries to commit troops to the US-led force in Iraq and it kept them there for more than five years. Former Prime Minister John Howard was considered a good friend and strong ally of President Bush. But his popularity at home crumbled⁴ largely because of his support for Australian involvement in the war. Howard was defeated in his re-election bid last fall by Labor⁵ Party leader Kevin Rudd, who made a campaign promise to bring the combat troops home by the middle of this year. Australian defense⁶ officials say they will still keep hundreds of troops, a warship⁷ and some surveillance planes in the region to help protect Iraq’s offshore⁸ oil platforms, as well as some troops to provide security for diplomats⁹ and officials. Corey Flintoff, NPR News, Baghdad.

 A massive fire at Universal Studios near Los Angeles has destroyed sound stages, backlot sets and a huge vault¹⁰ of videotapes of movies and TV shows. Patricia Nazario of member station KPCC says firefighters have finally gained the upper hand over the blaze.

 ‘”It is contained and it is still burning. Firefighters right now are just focusing their efforts on that one structure---the video library vault. All throughout the day, there have been about 500 firefighters on the scene. Now, there are about 300 to 350 on that one building. And they are focusing their efforts there. They, you know, it’s a, it’s a wooden building with the metal siding. And basically, the black smoke we are seeing is the plastic from the containers that hold those videos. ” Patricia Nazario reporting from the scene of the fire. Five firefighters have been injured battling the blaze.

 Legendary designer Yves Saint Laurent has died at his home in Paris at the age of 71 after a long illness. He was hailed as the most influential¹¹ designer of his times.

 This is NPR News in Washington.

 Myanmar’s military rulers are defending their response to the cyclone¹² that devastated¹³ that country last month. But Defense Secretary Robert Gates today accused Myanmar’s government of "criminal neglect" for blocking large-scale international assistance to cyclone victims. Gates said it’s likely that four US navy ships loaded with supplies will be withdrawn from the region in a matter of days because Myanmar has so far denied permission for the vessels¹⁴ to ferry their cargo¹⁵ to storm-stricken areas. A UN official today said at least 200,000 cyclone victims have yet to receive any emergency food supplies.

 Israel has released a Lebanese man who had been jailed in Israel for spying for the Hezbollah group. Hezbollah later released the remains¹⁶ of Israeli soldiers who were killed during the 2006 war. NPR’s Linda Gradstein has the story.

 Israel today freed Nasim Nisr after he completed a six-year jail term for spying for Hezbollah and transferred him to UN officials at the Israeli-Lebanese border. Shortly afterward¹⁷, Hezbollah handed over the remains of an unspecified number of Israeli soldiers, although Israeli officials said this had not been expected. The exchange raised speculation¹⁸ that a broader deal for the release of about ten Lebanese prisoners in Israel in exchange for two Israeli soldiers captured almost two years ago is imminent¹⁹. The capture of those two soldiers sparked the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah. There has been no sign of life from the soldiers. And Israeli officials now believe they were wounded during the capture and died soon afterwards. Linda Gradstein, NPR News, Jerusalem.

 The crew of the space shuttle Discovery has sent images of the orbiter’s wings back to Mission Control as part of a check to see if there was any damage from debris²⁰ that broke off during launch yesterday.

1 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

2 withdrawn   

vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出

参考例句：

• Our force has been withdrawn from the danger area.我们的军队已从危险地区撤出。
• All foreign troops should be withdrawn to their own countries.一切外国军队都应撤回本国去。

3 eroded   

adj. 被侵蚀的，有蚀痕的 动词erode的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The cliff face has been steadily eroded by the sea. 峭壁表面逐渐被海水侵蚀。
• The stream eroded a channel in the solid rock. 小溪在硬石中侵蚀成一条水道。

4 crumbled   

（把…）弄碎， （使）碎成细屑( crumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 衰落； 坍塌； 损坏

参考例句：

• He crumbled the bread in his fingers. 他用手指把面包捻碎。
• Our hopes crumbled when the business went bankrupt. 商行破产了，我们的希望也破灭了。

5 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

6 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

7 warship   

n.军舰，战舰

参考例句：

• He is serving on a warship in the Pacific.他在太平洋海域的一艘军舰上服役。
• The warship was making towards the pier.军舰正驶向码头。

8 offshore   

adj.海面的，吹向海面的；adv.向海面

参考例句：

• A big program of oil exploration has begun offshore.一个大规模的石油勘探计划正在近海展开。
• A gentle current carried them slowly offshore.和缓的潮流慢慢地把他们带离了海岸。

9 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 vault   

n.拱形圆顶，地窖，地下室

参考例句：

• The vault of this cathedral is very high.这座天主教堂的拱顶非常高。
• The old patrician was buried in the family vault.这位老贵族埋在家族的墓地里。

11 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

12 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。

13 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

14 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

15 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。

16 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

17 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

18 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

19 imminent   

adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的

参考例句：

• The black clounds show that a storm is imminent.乌云预示暴风雨即将来临。
• The country is in imminent danger.国难当头。

20 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。