NPR 2008-07-30

Southern Californians have been dealing¹ with more than two dozen aftershocks following a major earthquake that struck today. The quake caused buildings to sway in downtown Los Angeles and triggered some precautionary evacuations. Los Angeles resident Athena Evans was on the phone when the quake hit. “I told my daughter 'Alright, I'm on the fifth foor. I can see things rolling. I need to go.' And I immediately grabbed all my computers and ran down the stairwell. You know, it's pretty bad. It lasted for a long time. I was really amazed at the length. But it wasn't rolling, it was a shaker.”

Geologists³ say the earthquake is among the larger ones to hit an urban area in the US in recent years. NPR's Christopher Joyce reports.

The 5.4-magnitude earthquake struck just before noon today local time near the town of Chino Hills, about 30 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles. Quakes this size are considered moderate and occur about once a year in California. But they are big enough to cause considerable damage to buildings and highway structures. Geologists have tracked the source of this quake to a region  between two well-known faults, the Whittier and the Chino faults. They say there was no evidence of unusual seismic⁴ activity before the quake. Two smaller quakes hit the region about ten minutes after the first one along with numerous aftershocks. The California Northridge earthquake of 1994, which killed 72 people, was a 6.7 magnitude, over 30 times as strong as this quake. Chirstopher Joyce, NPR News.

Alaska Senator Ted² Stevens has been indicted⁵ on seven counts of failing to disclose thousands of dollars in services he received from a company that helped redo his home. A federal indictment⁶ alleges⁷ Stevens failed to report a quarter of a million dollars worth of gifts from a major oil services company and its CEO. Stevens is the Senate's longest-serving Republican and the first sitting senator to face a federal indictment since 1993. He’s up for re-election in November.

The mood of American consumers improved slightly in July. That's according to the Consumer Confidence Index released by the Conference Board today. NPR's John Ydstie reports.

The index moved up nearly one point to 51.9, but it remains⁸ at its lowest level since the recession of the early 1990s. The Present Situation Index was virtually unchanged. But the Expectations Index, which measures the consumer outlook for the next six months, improved a bit. The Conference Board, a private research group, characterized the index as showing no significant improvement or deterioration⁹. Another report today could dampen the mood further. The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index for 20 cities showed the fall in home prices continues to accelerate as they dropped 15.8% on average from a year ago. John Ydstie, NPR News, Washington.

The consumer confidence reports and falling oil prices helped to boost the Wall Street today. The Dow up 266 points. The NASDAQ closed up 55 . This is NPR.

There has been an explosion in a training camp run by the Islamist Hamas group in Gaza. Hamas says at least four of its members have been injured. It's not clear what caused the blast. The camp is near the southern Gaza town of Kahn Younis.

There have been clashes in downtown Belgrade between police and some of the demonstrators protesting a plan to extradite former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic. The clashes broke out when some of the protestors threw flares¹⁰ and stones. Riot police responded with tear gas and baton¹¹ charges. Karadzic is expected to be transferred to the UN War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague. He was arrested last week after years on the run.

A federal judge has temporarily upheld a new Florida law allowing residents to keep guns locked in their vehicles while at work. From member station WLRN in Miami, Phil Latzman has more.

US District Judge Robert Hinkle, who has previously¹² criticized the wording of the new law, has nonetheless allowed it to remain on the books, at least for now. He's issued a preliminary injunction, pending¹³ a court hearing to discuss the merits of the case. The new so-called "guns at work law” was passed by the state legislature this year and went into effect on July 1st. It's been challenged by the Florida Chamber¹⁴ of Commerce and Florida Retail¹⁵ Federation¹⁶, who believed it compromises the safety of workers. Judge Hinkle, who's yet to issue his final ruling, heard arguments against the law last month, and at the same time, commented that it was so badly written. It was "stupid". For NPR News, I'm Phil Latzman in Miami.

The restaurant chains Bennigan's and Steak & Ale have filed for bankruptcy¹⁷ protection. It's not clear how many of the restaurants owned by their parent company will be closed, but locations owned by franchisees¹⁸ were not part of the filing.

1 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

2 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

3 geologists   

地质学家，地质学者( geologist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Geologists uncovered the hidden riches. 地质学家发现了地下的宝藏。
• Geologists study the structure of the rocks. 地质学家研究岩石结构。

4 seismic   

a.地震的，地震强度的

参考例句：

• Earthquakes produce two types of seismic waves.地震产生两种地震波。
• The latest seismic activity was also felt in northern Kenya.肯尼亚北部也感觉到了最近的地震活动。

5 indicted   

控告，起诉( indict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The senator was indicted for murder. 那位参议员被控犯谋杀罪。
• He was indicted by a grand jury on two counts of murder. 他被大陪审团以两项谋杀罪名起诉。

6 indictment   

n.起诉；诉状

参考例句：

• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。
• They issued an indictment against them.他们起诉了他们。

7 alleges   

断言，宣称，辩解( allege的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The newspaper article alleges that the mayor is corrupt. 报纸上断言该市长腐败。
• Steven was tardy this morning and alleges that his bus was late. 史提芬今天早上迟到的说词是公车误点了。

8 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。

9 deterioration   

n.退化；恶化；变坏

参考例句：

• Mental and physical deterioration both occur naturally with age. 随着年龄的增长，心智和体力自然衰退。
• The car's bodywork was already showing signs of deterioration. 这辆车的车身已经显示出了劣化迹象。

10 flares   

n.喇叭裤v.（使）闪耀( flare的第三人称单数 )；（使）（船舷）外倾；（使）鼻孔张大；（使）（衣裙、酒杯等）呈喇叭形展开

参考例句：

• The side of a ship flares from the keel to the deck. 船舷从龙骨向甲板外倾。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He's got a fiery temper and flares up at the slightest provocation. 他是火爆性子，一点就着。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 baton   

n.乐队用指挥杖

参考例句：

• With the baton the conductor was beating time.乐队指挥用指挥棒打拍子。
• The conductor waved his baton,and the band started up.指挥挥动指挥棒，乐队开始演奏起来。

12 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

13 pending   

prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的

参考例句：

• The lawsuit is still pending in the state court.这案子仍在州法庭等待定夺。
• He knew my examination was pending.他知道我就要考试了。

14 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

15 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

16 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

17 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

18 franchisees   

n.特许经营人( franchisee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Works on these franchisees' facilities were moving ahead rapidly. 这些专营设施的工程正迅速推展。 来自互联网
• Another good source of information about a franchise is other franchisees. 另一个了解特许经营的可靠信息源是其他经营者。 来自互联网