NPR 2009-10-10

President Obama says he's humbled¹ at being selected the winner of this year's Nobel Peace Prize. He said he doesn't believe he deserves the award, but will accept it as a call to action for all nations. The Nobel Committee cited Mr. Obama for what it called extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy² and cooperation. Several European leaders are urging the president to seize the surprise honor as an opportunity to intensify³ his efforts. NPR's Rob Gifford has more on that from London.

 The stunning⁴ announcement of the award to President Obama is being interpreted by many in Europe as a bid to encourage his diplomatic overtures⁵ to Washington's enemies. World leaders as well as former winners of the Nobel Peace Prize said they hoped the honor would spur peaceful dialogue and efforts to rid the world of nuclear weapons. French President Nicolas Sarkozy said the prize marked "America's return to the hearts of the world's peoples". German Chancellor⁶ Angela Merkel said it was an incentive⁷ to President Obama and to us all to do more for peace while former UN chief Kofi Annan called it an unexpected but inspired choice. The spokesman for the Taliban in Afghanistan, however, condemned⁸ the award, saying President Obama had not taken a single step towards peace in Afghanistan. Rob Gifford, NPR News, London.

 In Pakistan, at least 49 people were killed today by a car bomb in the northwestern city of Peshawar. Police said most of the dead were bus passengers. Pakistan’s security minister said today's attack and one earlier this week in Islamabad could be traced to the Taliban's stronghold of South Waziristan near the Afghan border and he vowed⁹ the government would increase force against militants¹⁰ in the region.

 While lawmakers on Capitol Hill try to come up with legislation to overhaul¹¹ the US health system, a small but significant fix enacted¹² last year has just taken effect. NPR's Julie Rovner reports.

 The new law protects the health insurance of college students who become seriously ill and must drop out of school. In most cases, young adults can't stay on their parents’ health insurance plan after they turn 18 unless they are going to school full time. If they are sick and no longer in school, it can be virtually impossible for them to get health insurance. The new law is named for a New Hampshire college student who was diagnosed with colon¹³ cancer in 2004. 20-year-old Michelle Morse was forced to remain a full-time¹⁴ student against her doctor's orders while undergoing debilitating¹⁵ chemotherapy. She died in 2005. Under the new law, students who receive health insurance as dependent on their parents’ plan can take up to a year of medical leave without losing that coverage¹⁶. Julie Rovner, NPR News, Washington.

 On Wall Street today, the Dow climbed 78 points to close at 9,864. The Dow was up 4% on the week. The NASDAQ picked up 15 points today to close at 2,139. It was up 4.5% on the week.

 This is NPR.

 The Commerce Department reports the trade deficit¹⁷ unexpectedly shrank in August. The US trade gap fell 3.5% to under 31 billion dollars. Analysts¹⁸ had expected the gap to widen.

 Competitors in golf and rugby now have the chance to add Olympic medals to their trophy¹⁹ cases. The International Olympic Committee returned both sports to the Olympic schedule today. NPR's Howard Berkes has details.

 A week after putting the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, the International Olympic Committee added golf and rugby to the Rio Games. That came after golf superstar Tiger Woods told IOC members he’d likely compete in the Olympics along with other champions. And it came despite a warning from IOC member Anita DeFrantz of the United States. She said that adding golf could harm the Olympic image, because some of the sport's major events are held at the clubs that continue to discriminate²⁰. Golf was in the Olympics more than a century ago. It's been more than 80 years for rugby which returns in a seven-player format²¹ conducive²² to Olympic television coverage. Officials from both sports promised to schedule other major tournaments around the Olympics, so the games' competitions get the spotlight²³. Howard Berkes, NPR News.

 NASA says it’s successfully slammed two spacecraft into the moon early today in search of water. The crash site was a large crater²⁴ that scientists believe could be hiding deposits of ice. The first rocket struck the crater and exploded sending debris²⁵ flying. A second spacecraft followed to collect information from the debris and later also crashed into the moon. NASA scientists say they got a lot of interesting data and will be examining it for signs of water in the coming weeks.

1 humbled   

adj. 卑下的，谦逊的，粗陋的 vt. 使 ... 卑下，贬低

参考例句：

• The examination results humbled him. 考试成绩挫了他的傲气。
• I am sure millions of viewers were humbled by this story. 我相信数百万观众看了这个故事后都会感到自己的渺小。

2 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

3 intensify   

vt.加强；变强；加剧

参考例句：

• We must intensify our educational work among our own troops.我们必须加强自己部队的教育工作。
• They were ordered to intensify their patrols to protect our air space.他们奉命加强巡逻，保卫我国的领空。

4 stunning   

adj.极好的；使人晕倒的

参考例句：

• His plays are distinguished only by their stunning mediocrity.他的戏剧与众不同之处就是平凡得出奇。
• The finished effect was absolutely stunning.完工后的效果非常美。

5 overtures   

n.主动的表示，提议；（向某人做出的）友好表示、姿态或提议( overture的名词复数 )；（歌剧、芭蕾舞、音乐剧等的）序曲，前奏曲

参考例句：

• Their government is making overtures for peace. 他们的政府正在提出和平建议。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He had lately begun to make clumsy yet endearing overtures of friendship. 最近他开始主动表示友好，样子笨拙却又招人喜爱。 来自辞典例句

6 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

7 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

8 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

9 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

10 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

11 overhaul   

v./n.大修，仔细检查

参考例句：

• Master Worker Wang is responsible for the overhaul of this grinder.王师傅主修这台磨床。
• It is generally appreciated that the rail network needs a complete overhaul.众所周知，铁路系统需要大检修。

12 enacted   

制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• legislation enacted by parliament 由议会通过的法律
• Outside in the little lobby another scene was begin enacted. 外面的小休息室里又是另一番景象。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

13 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。

14 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

15 debilitating   

a.使衰弱的

参考例句：

• The debilitating disease made him too weak to work. 这个令他衰弱的病，使他弱到没有办法工作。
• You may soon leave one debilitating condition or relationship forever. 你即将永远地和这段霉运说拜拜了。

16 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

17 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

18 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

19 trophy   

n.优胜旗，奖品，奖杯，战胜品，纪念品

参考例句：

• The cup is a cherished trophy of the company.那只奖杯是该公司很珍惜的奖品。
• He hung the lion's head as a trophy.他把那狮子头挂起来作为狩猎纪念品。

20 discriminate   

v.区别，辨别，区分；有区别地对待

参考例句：

• You must learn to discriminate between facts and opinions.你必须学会把事实和看法区分出来。
• They can discriminate hundreds of colours.他们能分辨上百种颜色。

21 format   

n.设计，版式；[计算机]格式，DOS命令:格式化(磁盘)，用于空盘或使用过的磁盘建立新空盘来存储数据；v.使格式化，设计，安排

参考例句：

• Please format this floppy disc.请将这张软盘格式化。
• The format of the figure is very tasteful.该图表的格式很雅致。

22 conducive   

adj.有益的，有助的

参考例句：

• This is a more conducive atmosphere for studying.这样的氛围更有利于学习。
• Exercise is conducive to good health.体育锻炼有助于增强体质。

23 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

24 crater   

n.火山口，弹坑

参考例句：

• With a telescope you can see the huge crater of Ve-suvius.用望远镜你能看到巨大的维苏威火山口。
• They came to the lip of a dead crater.他们来到了一个死火山口。

25 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。