NPR 2008-07-13

French President Nicolas Sarkozy says the leaders of Syria and Lebanon have agreed to re-establish normal diplomatic relations for the first time in years. Sarkozy made the announcement, speaking through a translator after a meeting in Paris. (“D'abord，Je voudrais dire¹ combien pour la France, c'est un progrès historique..”) "First, I would like to say that, from the French point of view, the willingness of President Bashar al-Assad to open a diplomatic office in Lebanon and the willingness of Lebanon to open its diplomatic office in Syria  represent historic progress." However, Syrian President Assad seemed cautious about how quickly the changes might occur.

 The UN Refugee Agency is urging the government of South Africa not to forcibly deport² refugees from Zimbabwe. The number of people fleeing Zimbabwe has been on the rise, following the wave of violence aimed at opposition³ supporters during the days leading up to that country's disputed presidential run-off election. Lisa Schlein reports from Geneva.

 The UN Refugee Agency says an increasing number of families are arriving as a result of political violence in Zimbabwe. Several people have shown signs of beatings or torture. Spokeswoman Jennifer Pagonis says many people are entering South Africa illegally. “So, this makes it difficult to give an accurate estimate of the numbers involved. En, they're fearful of arrest and deportation⁴. En, they remain underground, making them vulnerable to other forms of violence and exploitation such as rape⁵ and robbery.” Pagonis says some 17,000 Zimbabweans have been deported⁶ from South Africa through one border post in the last forty days alone. She says these deportations have gone ahead despite earlier calls from the UNHCR to suspend all forcible returns. For NPR News, I'm Lisa Schelein in Geneva.

 Former White House Press Secretary and political commentator⁷ Tony Snow has died of cancer at the age of 53. NPR's Barbara Klein has more.

Snow spent more than 25 years in the news business. He became best known as host of “Fox News Sunday”. In an appearance with Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert earlier this year, Snow said he loved being a journalist.

“Are you a journalist?”

“Well, I used to be. I don't think I am any more.”

“When were you a journalist? Cause I was...”

“I was in journalism⁸ for about 27 years, I mean I...”

“What did you do?”

“I was a newspaper writer for the better part of 20 years. I was a TV host in ‘Fox News Sunday’.”

“That’s what I thought. OK,you,you,you were a legitimate⁹ journalist  going out there, walking the beat. At what point did you say to yourself, ‘this is worthless’.”

(Laughter)“Never.”

Snow was diagnosed with colon¹⁰ cancer in 2005. In a statement,  President Bush said he was saddened by the loss of a dear friend and that the country had lost one of its best writers and commentators¹¹. Barbara Klein, NPR News, Washington."

Legendary¹² cardiovascular surgeon, Dr. Michael DeBakey, has died in Houston at the age of 99. He pioneered heart bypass surgery and other now widely used procedures.

This is NPR News from Washington.

Vice¹³ President Dick Cheney had his annual physical today at the George Washington University Hospital, including an electrocardiogram. Doctors say Cheney's cardiac status is stable. The 67-year-old Cheney has had four heart attacks and quadruple bypass surgery.

North Korea has agreed to complete the dismantling¹⁴ of its main nuclear reactor¹⁵ by the end of October and to allow international inspectors¹⁶ to verify the country's nuclear disarmament. In exchange for the inspections¹⁷, North Korea would get fuel and other economic assistance. The agreement announced at talks in Beijing was short on specifics, however.

NASA is facing a tight timeline to keep this year's spaceshuttle launch schedule on track. Seven astronauts spent time at the Kennedy Space Center this week training for October's mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. As Pat Duggins of member station WMFE reports, a key piece of shuttle hardware remains¹⁸ a concern.

An ocean-going barge¹⁹ is carrying an external fuel tank to the Kennedy Space Center on Florida's Atlantic coast. It’s needed to launch the October mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. The concern for NASA is that two tanks need to be ready to go: one is for Atlantis, and the other is for a rescue shuttle that has to be on NASA's other launch pad. This is especially critical since the Hubble crew can't retreat to the International Space Station in case of launch day damage to the shuttle. Hubble operates in a different orbit and at a higher altitude than the station. The back-up tank is still being assembled near New Orleans and should be delivered in August. The Hubble repair crew will swap²⁰ out batteries in gyroscopes and install new optics on the aging observatory²¹. For NPR News, I'm Pat Duggins, in Orlando.

A wildfire in California's Butte County north of Sacramento is now about 40% contained. Thousands of people who were evacuated²² as a precaution are being allowed to return to their homes.

1 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

2 deport   

vt.驱逐出境

参考例句：

• We deport aliens who slip across our borders.我们把偷渡入境的外国人驱逐出境。
• More than 240 England football fans are being deported from Italy following riots last night.昨晚的骚乱发生后有240多名英格兰球迷被驱逐出意大利。

3 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。

4 deportation   

n.驱逐，放逐

参考例句：

• The government issued a deportation order against the four men.政府发出了对那4名男子的驱逐令。
• Years ago convicted criminals in England could face deportation to Australia.很多年以前，英国已定罪的犯人可能被驱逐到澳大利亚。

5 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

6 deported   

v.将…驱逐出境( deport的过去式和过去分词 )；举止

参考例句：

• They stripped me of my citizenship and deported me. 他们剥夺我的公民资格，将我驱逐出境。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The convicts were deported to a deserted island. 罪犯们被流放到一个荒岛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 commentator   

n.注释者，解说者；实况广播评论员

参考例句：

• He is a good commentator because he can get across the game.他能简单地解说这场比赛，是个好的解说者。
• The commentator made a big mistake during the live broadcast.在直播节目中评论员犯了个大错误。

8 journalism   

n.新闻工作，报业

参考例句：

• He's a teacher but he does some journalism on the side.他是教师，可还兼职做一些新闻工作。
• He had an aptitude for journalism.他有从事新闻工作的才能。

9 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

10 colon   

n.冒号，结肠，直肠

参考例句：

• Here,too,the colon must be followed by a dash.这里也是一样，应当在冒号后加破折号。
• The colon is the locus of a large concentration of bacteria.结肠是大浓度的细菌所在地。

11 commentators   

n.评论员( commentator的名词复数 )；时事评论员；注释者；实况广播员

参考例句：

• Sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 体育解说员翻来覆去说着同样的词语，真叫人腻烦。
• Television sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 电视体育解说员说来说去就是那么几句话，令人厌烦。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 legendary   

adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学）

参考例句：

• Legendary stories are passed down from parents to children.传奇故事是由父母传给孩子们的。
• Odysseus was a legendary Greek hero.奥狄修斯是传说中的希腊英雄。

13 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

14 dismantling   

（枪支）分解

参考例句：

• The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation. 新政府正着手废除其前任所制定的法律。
• The dismantling of a nuclear reprocessing plant caused a leak of radioactivity yesterday. 昨天拆除核后处理工厂引起了放射物泄漏。

15 reactor   

n.反应器；反应堆

参考例句：

• The atomic reactor generates enormous amounts of thermal energy.原子反应堆发出大量的热能。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules.在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

16 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》

17 inspections   

n.检查( inspection的名词复数 )；检验；视察；检阅

参考例句：

• Regular inspections are carried out at the prison. 经常有人来视察这座监狱。
• Government inspections ensure a high degree of uniformity in the standard of service. 政府检查确保了在服务标准方面的高度一致。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 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。

19 barge   

n.平底载货船，驳船

参考例句：

• The barge was loaded up with coal.那艘驳船装上了煤。
• Carrying goods by train costs nearly three times more than carrying them by barge.通过铁路运货的成本比驳船运货成本高出近3倍。

20 swap   

n.交换；vt.交换，用...作交易

参考例句：

• I will swap you my bicycle for your radio.我想拿我的自行车换你的收音机。
• This comic was a swap that I got from Nick.这本漫画书是我从尼克那里换来的。

21 observatory   

n.天文台，气象台，瞭望台，观测台

参考例句：

• Guy's house was close to the observatory.盖伊的房子离天文台很近。
• Officials from Greenwich Observatory have the clock checked twice a day.格林威治天文台的职员们每天对大钟检查两次。

22 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。