NPR 2008-09-13

Hurricane Ike is continuing to move northwest through the Gulf¹ of Mexico. But already winds are picking up with the storm's outer bands pushing waves over Galveston's 17-foot-high seawall even though the storm is more than 100 miles out at sea. In addition to threatening to obliterate² some smaller seaside towns, Ike is threatening skyscrapers³, refineries⁴ and docks of the nation's fourth largest city Houston. Officials have ordered upwards⁵ of a million coastal⁶ residents to evacuate⁷, though it was clear late today that many had apparently⁸ refused to do so. That's despite a warning from the National Weather Service those who stay behind "may face certain death." Officials expect Ike to crash ashore⁹ in the overnight hours. Some 600 miles wide, the storm is taking up almost the entire northern half of the Gulf of Mexico.

People fleeing Ike continued to arrive in Austin, Texas today. Meteorologists say the storm surge could reach up to 22 feet high. From member station KUT in Austin, Crystal Chavez tells us the city has opened 13 shelters.

Most were opened last night after a flood of people came in from the Galveston area. As of 8 o'clock this morning, the Red Cross of Central Texas reports there are currently about 2,500 people staying in Austin. Many of those people arrived on buses from Galveston. People with special needs and who may have disabilities are staying at Austin's Convention Center. Melissa Gray with the Red Cross of Central Texas says people can bring their pets. "We do have some pet-friendly shelters, and so there are areas where they are able to, um, where pet and people are able to, um, stay in the same evacuation center. It's not the same area, but on the same facility, at the same facility, on the same site." Austin is expecting more evacuees¹⁰ today. Central Texas is prepared to open 62 more shelters if needed and can house up to 25,000 evacuees. From NPR News, I'm Crystal Chavez in Austin.

Following reports US Special Operations Forces launched a raid inside Pakistan last week, NPR has learned the helicopter-borne assault was not an isolated¹¹ incident. Sources confirm President Bush has approved a three-phase plan for attacks in Pakistan. NPR's JJ Sunderland has the story.

The gloves have come off, a source told NPR. Last week, a raid by a Navy SEAL team miles inside of Pakistan was just phase one of a three-phase plan the president approved this summer. The intelligence community already had approval to carry out strikes inside of Pakistan, a key US ally. The new plan, though, gives the military authority to operate inside of Pakistan with special forces. A second source says that lawmakers were briefed on the plan earlier this week, and that CIA personnel from around the world have been sent to the area near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border—a surge of sorts aimed at going after Osama bin¹² Laden¹³ and other al-Qaeda figures. Both sources say that people in the intelligence community and on Capitol Hill are raising questions about the political intent of the new plan and wonder why this kind of effort wasn't done earlier. JJ Sutherland, NPR News.

This is NPR.

Officials in Baghdad now say at least 30 people have been killed in a car bomb explosion outside a police station in a mainly Shiite town north of the city. According to a police official, a car laden with explosives blew up near a police station in a commercial area in the town of Dujail. A nearby medical clinic was also reportedly damaged in the blast. Officials say in addition to the dead, more than 40 people were injured in the explosion. The attack was one of the deadliest in months and occurred just before dusk when many people were on the streets after breaking their daily fast during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.

In an opinion issued today, Virginia Supreme¹⁴ Court declared the state's anti-spam law unconstitutional. The Virginia Supreme Court decision reverses the conviction of a man portrayed¹⁵ as one of the world's most prolific¹⁶ spammers. More from Rick Mattioni of member station WVTF in Roanoke.

Four years ago, Jeremy Jaynes became the first person in the US to be convicted for sending unsolicited bulk email and was sentenced to serve nine years in prison. Authorities said as many as 10 million email messages were sent from his home each day. In its unanimous opinion, the State Supreme Court ruled Virginia's anti-spam law violates the free speech protections provided by the First Amendment¹⁷. The court found that the law was overbroad in that it prohibits anonymous¹⁸ transmission of all unsolicited bulk email. That would include religious, political and other constitutionally protected speech. Jaynes sent bulk emails advertising¹⁹ various products including those that promise to aid individuals in selecting stocks and software that erases²⁰ computer Internet searches. For NPR News, I'm Rick Mattioni in Roanoke, Virginia.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 12 points.

1 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

2 obliterate   

v.擦去，涂抹，去掉...痕迹，消失，除去

参考例句：

• Whole villages were obliterated by fire.整座整座的村庄都被大火所吞噬。
• There was time enough to obliterate memories of how things once were for him.时间足以抹去他对过去经历的记忆。

3 skyscrapers   

n.摩天大楼

参考例句：

• A lot of skyscrapers in Manhattan are rising up to the skies. 曼哈顿有许多摩天大楼耸入云霄。
• On all sides, skyscrapers rose like jagged teeth. 四周耸起的摩天大楼参差不齐。

4 refineries   

精炼厂( refinery的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The efforts on closedown and suspension of small sugar refineries, small saccharin refineries and small paper mills are also being carried out in steps. 关停小糖厂、小糖精厂、小造纸厂的工作也已逐步展开。
• Hence the sitting of refineries is at a distance from population centres. 所以，炼油厂的厂址总在远离人口集中的地方。

5 upwards   

adv.向上，在更高处...以上

参考例句：

• The trend of prices is still upwards.物价的趋向是仍在上涨。
• The smoke rose straight upwards.烟一直向上升。

6 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

7 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

8 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

9 ashore   

adv.在(向)岸上，上岸

参考例句：

• The children got ashore before the tide came in.涨潮前，孩子们就上岸了。
• He laid hold of the rope and pulled the boat ashore.他抓住绳子拉船靠岸。

10 evacuees   

n.被疏散者( evacuee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Moreover, for multi-exits, evacuees select a exit based on game theory. 在有多个出口时，疏散人员根据对策论选择出口。 来自互联网
• Evacuees wade through flooded area following heavy monsoon rains in Peshawar on Saturday, July 31, 2010. 撤离灾区涉水通过后在白沙瓦沉重的季风降雨在周六，2010年7月31日。 来自互联网

11 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

12 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

13 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

14 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

15 portrayed   

v.画像( portray的过去式和过去分词 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• Throughout the trial, he portrayed himself as the victim. 在审讯过程中，他始终把自己说成是受害者。
• The author portrayed his father as a vicious drunkard. 作者把他父亲描绘成一个可恶的酒鬼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

16 prolific   

adj.丰富的，大量的；多产的，富有创造力的

参考例句：

• She is a prolific writer of novels and short stories.她是一位多产的作家，写了很多小说和短篇故事。
• The last few pages of the document are prolific of mistakes.这个文件的最后几页错误很多。

17 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

18 anonymous   

adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的

参考例句：

• Sending anonymous letters is a cowardly act.寄匿名信是懦夫的行为。
• The author wishes to remain anonymous.作者希望姓名不公开。

19 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

20 erases   

v.擦掉( erase的第三人称单数 )；抹去；清除

参考例句：

• This command erases all data on the specified partition. 这指令在指定的分区上抹去所有的数据。 来自互联网
• A literary image erases the more indolent images of perception. 文学意象抹除那些感官的懒惰意象。 来自互联网