NPR 2008-08-17

President Bush is hailing Russia's signing of a ceasefire agreement with the former Soviet¹ Republic of Georgia. He called on Russia to withdraw its troops immediately. And he cautioned Russia against trying to take over two breakaway regions. They are at the heart of the conflict in Georgia. NPR's Jim Zarroli reports.

The president said the international community is clear that South Ossetia and Abkhazia are part of Georgia. And he said Russia's decision to lay claim to them was a major issue in resolving the conflict. Speaking at his ranch² in Crawford, Texas, he said there's no room for debate on this matter. "We'll continue to stand behind Georgia's democracy. We'll continue to insist that Georgia's sovereignty and independence and territorial⁴ integrity be respected." The president also said that Moscow's decision to sign a ceasefire agreement was a hopeful step. Jim Zarroli NPR news.

But Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters any withdrawal⁵ of troops will depend on what he called "additional security measures" being put in place, although he did not elaborate. And Lavrov added that Russian forces will stay in Georgia as long as they are needed. NPR's Gregory Feifer is in the key Georgian city that is occupied by Russian troops.

In the Georgian city of Gori, although food is scarce, people say they are surviving that they haven't enough food to get by. The food is being handed out by the Russian forces occupying the city, as say, sort of gesture of good will. I guess, I guess that you can call it that. But the Georgians are certainly grateful for that and anything they can get. NPR's Gregory Feifer in Gori, Georgia.

Florida's governor has issued a disaster declaration as Tropical Storm Fay churns its way toward the state. Forecasters say it could reach hurricane strength over the next day or so before reaching the Florida Keys. In Key West, public information officer Becky Herrin says it's time for people to start getting ready. "We need people to begin putting their hurricane plans in place and deciding what they are going to do individually, and getting their supplies together, deciding if they are going to leave or if they are going to stay. " Herrin says the entire island chain is vulnerable because it's basically at sea level.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is indicating that congressional Democrats⁶ may be willing to support some additional offshore⁷ oil drilling. "We'll consider opening portions of the Outer Continental⁸ Shelf for drilling with appropriate safeguards and without taxpayer⁹ subsidies¹⁰ to Big Oil. " But Pelosi in the Democrat's radio address said drilling is just part of the Democrat's plan for winning the nation from dependence³ on foreign oil and for our bringing down high gas prices. "Our plan will reduce the price at the pump within 10 days by releasing oil from the 700 million barrel federal stockpile" The Bush administration though and Republican presidential candidate John McCain oppose using oil from the nation's strategic petroleum¹¹ reserve to help put down repressure on oil prices.

This is NPR News from Washington.

Firefighters are dropping retardant chemicals and digging containment¹² lines around five wild fires sparked by a lightning storm in California's Los Padres National Forest. All of the blazes are burning out of control, but so far no evacuations have been ordered.

Canada is facing an embarrassing security breach¹³ after a sensitive government document was found on a street in Ottawa. More from Dan Karpenchuk.

The document, made up of 131 pages, was found on a rain-soaked street in a brown envelope. It was titled " Nemesis¹⁴", a classified database used by officers to track and prosecute¹⁵ polluters and environmental law breakers. It detailed¹⁶ a number of the system's failings and even described how the data could be attacked by industrial hackers¹⁷, and environmental activists¹⁸ or organized crime. If someone were able to shut down or corrupt¹⁹ the system, officers might not be able to prosecute cases. One analyst²⁰ says the document was labeled "Protected B", meaning it was not top secret, but should still be handled with special care. A spokesperson for Environment Canada would not give details about how the document ended up on the street, but said the department will look into the incident. For NPR news, I'm Dan Karpenchuk in Toronto.

Mega-swimmer Michael Phelps goes after a record-breaking 8th gold medal at the Beijing Olympics tonight as he swims in the 4*100 meter medley²¹ relay. Also today 41-year-old American swimmer Dara Torres competing in her 5th Olympics will go for gold in the 50m freestyle event. In other action, the US men's basketball team remained undefeated, trouncing world champion Spain. Venus and Serena Williams have clinched²² at least a silver medal in Doubles Tennis. And in men's water polo, the US upset world champion Croatia.

1 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

2 ranch   

n.大牧场，大农场

参考例句：

• He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
• The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。

3 dependence   

n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属

参考例句：

• Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
• He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。

4 territorial   

adj.领土的，领地的

参考例句：

• The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
• They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。

5 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

6 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》

7 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。

8 continental   

adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的

参考例句：

• A continental climate is different from an insular one.大陆性气候不同于岛屿气候。
• The most ancient parts of the continental crust are 4000 million years old.大陆地壳最古老的部分有40亿年历史。

9 taxpayer   

n.纳税人

参考例句：

• The new scheme will run off with a lot of the taxpayer's money.这项新计划将用去纳税人许多钱。
• The taxpayer are unfavourably disposed towards the recent tax increase.纳税者对最近的增加税收十分反感。

10 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 petroleum   

n.原油，石油

参考例句：

• The Government of Iran advanced the price of petroleum last week.上星期伊朗政府提高了石油价格。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

12 containment   

n.阻止，遏制；容量

参考例句：

• Your list might include such things as cost containment,quality,or customer satisfaction.你的清单上应列有诸如成本控制、产品质量、客户满意程度等内容。
• Insularity and self-containment,it is argued,go hand in hand.他们争论说，心胸狭窄和自我封闭是并存的。

13 breach   

n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破

参考例句：

• We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
• He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。

14 nemesis   

n.给以报应者，复仇者，难以对付的敌手

参考例句：

• Uncritical trust is my nemesis.盲目的相信一切害了我自己。
• Inward suffering is the worst of Nemesis.内心的痛苦是最厉害的惩罚。

15 prosecute   

vt.告发；进行；vi.告发，起诉，作检察官

参考例句：

• I am trying my best to prosecute my duties.我正在尽力履行我的职责。
• Is there enough evidence to prosecute?有没有起诉的足够证据？

16 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

17 hackers   

n.计算机迷( hacker的名词复数 )；私自存取或篡改电脑资料者，电脑“黑客”

参考例句：

• They think of viruses that infect an organization from the outside.They envision hackers breaking into their information vaults. 他们考虑来自外部的感染公司的病毒，他们设想黑客侵入到信息宝库中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Arranging a meeting with the hackers took weeks againoff-again email exchanges. 通过几星期电子邮件往来安排见面，他们最终同意了。 来自互联网

18 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

20 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

21 medley   

n.混合

参考例句：

• Today's sports meeting doesn't seem to include medley relay swimming.现在的运动会好象还没有混合接力泳这个比赛项目。
• China won the Men's 200 metres Individual Medley.中国赢得了男子200米个人混合泳比赛。

22 clinched   

v.（尤指两人）互相紧紧抱[扭]住( clinch的过去式和过去分词 )；解决（争端、交易），达成（协议）

参考例句：

• The two businessmen clinched the deal quickly. 两位生意人很快达成了协议。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Evidently this information clinched the matter. 显然，这一消息使问题得以最终解决。 来自辞典例句