NPR 2009-10-12

The top UN official in Afghanistan Kai Eide is acknowledging that there was, what he called, widespread fraud in the country's recent presidential election. But Eide would not be more specific about how much fraud occurred. "Any specific figure at this time will be pure speculation¹." A UN-backed panel is expected to decide this week whether to nullify enough votes to require a run-off between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his top challenger.

Car bomb attacks across parts of Iraq today killed at least 16 people in Anbar province. Dozens of others were wounded. NPR's Quil Lawrence has details from Baghdad.

First, a car bomb exploded inside the parking lot of Ramadi's police station. Then, a suicide bomber², possibly riding a motorcycle, rammed³ into the growing crowd of police and rescue workers. The third blast occurred shortly afterward⁴ outside Ramadi's main hospital, killing⁵ guards who prevented the suicide car bomb from breaching⁶ the gate. Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, was a center of militant⁷ attacks against Americans and the Iraqi government. It was later the birthplace of the awakening⁸ when Sunni Arab tribes turned against Al-Qaeda. The US military paid the tribal⁹ fighters, but that funding is now drying up as US troops draw down and some Anbar residents fear that violence may return, especially in advance of Iraq's national elections in January. Quil Lawrence, NPR News, Baghdad.

Gay men and women of all ages staged to march through the nation's capital today to push for equal rights. NPR's Laura Sullivan was there.

As thousands of people waited for the march to begin, 71-year-old Russell Reish and his partner, 82-year-old Albert Masse, found the only seat in a sea of chanting young faces. "Everybody was so nice to us to let the old folks have the bench.” Reish says he feels invigorated after activism brought on by AIDS in the 80s and 90s. Things are faltered¹⁰ in recent years. "Our generations have yet kind of slowed down. But now I think the young people are energized¹¹ and I think they are going to take the ball and run.” Reish and Masse who have been together for 40 years, say they are hoping younger generations will get the government to finally recognize same sex relationships, even if they don't live to see it. Laura Sullivan, NPR News, Washington.

The Obama administration's special Middle East envoy¹² George Mitchell met again today with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem before concluding his latest trip to that region as the administration tries to restart peace talks there. "We need to re-launch negotiations¹³ that can succeed as soon as possible. And that's been the focus of my trip and of my discussions." Mitchell was speaking to reporters in Jerusalem after his meeting with Netanyahu, but he gave no indication that peace talks will resume any time soon.

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A top official with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the risk of not getting vaccinated¹⁴ against the H1N1 swine flu is greater than any potential risk linked to the vaccine¹⁵ itself. Dr. Anne Schuchat says a good safety record for past flu vaccines¹⁶ bodes¹⁷ well for the new swine flu vaccine. She says there is no problem associated with getting shots for both the swine flu and seasonal¹⁸ flu on the same day. The CDC says 37 states now have widespread outbreaks of the swine flu. Nineteen children in the US have died of the disease in the past week.

Winter has come early to the Canadian prairies this year. And as Dan Karpenchuk reports, the weather is already causing problems there.

From a breezy fall directly to winter is a story for much of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Most regions have had snow and temperatures averaging about ten degrees below normal. A storm in Manitoba dumped more than four inches of snow and poor visibility and blowing snow on Friday night resulted in the United Airlines flight losing its way after landing and taxing off the tarmac and onto the grass where it remains¹⁹ stuck for about 18 hours. The crews said they could not see all of the guiding lights on the runway because of the poor visibility. The airport used the city bus to move the estimated 80 passengers to the terminal because it was too cold for people to walk. There've also been numerous rollovers and accidents around Winnipeg because of the icy roads. Forecasters are predicting much of the same weather across the prairies for the next couple of days. For NPR News, I'm Dan Karpenchuk in Toronto.

In the major league baseball playoffs, the Los Angeles Angels came from behind in the ninth inning to defeat the Boston Red Sox 7-6 today. With that victory, the Angels sweep their series with Boston and advance to the American league championship series. They will play either the New York Yankees or the Minnesota Twins.

1 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

2 bomber   

n.轰炸机，投弹手，投掷炸弹者

参考例句：

• He flew a bomber during the war.他在战时驾驶轰炸机。
• Detectives hunting the London bombers will be keen to interview him.追查伦敦爆炸案凶犯的侦探们急于对他进行讯问。

3 rammed   

v.夯实（土等）( ram的过去式和过去分词 )；猛撞；猛压；反复灌输

参考例句：

• Two passengers were injured when their taxi was rammed from behind by a bus. 公共汽车从后面撞来，出租车上的两位乘客受了伤。
• I rammed down the earth around the newly-planted tree. 我将新栽的树周围的土捣硬。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

5 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

6 breaching   

攻破( breach的过去式 )； 破坏，违反

参考例句：

• The company was prosecuted for breaching the Health and Safety Act. 这家公司被控违反《卫生安全条例》。
• Third, an agency can abuse its discretion by breaching certain principles of judge-made law. 第三，行政机关会因违反某些法官制定的法律原则而构成滥用自由裁量权。

7 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

8 awakening   

n.觉醒，醒悟 adj.觉醒中的；唤醒的

参考例句：

• the awakening of interest in the environment 对环境产生的兴趣
• People are gradually awakening to their rights. 人们正逐渐意识到自己的权利。

9 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

10 faltered   

（嗓音）颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 )； 支吾其词； 蹒跚； 摇晃

参考例句：

• He faltered out a few words. 他支吾地说出了几句。
• "Er - but he has such a longhead!" the man faltered. 他不好意思似的嚅嗫着：“这孩子脑袋真长。”

11 energized   

v.给予…精力，能量( energize的过去式和过去分词 )；使通电

参考例句：

• We are energized by love if we put our energy into loving. 如果我们付出能量去表现爱意，爱就会使我们充满活力。 来自辞典例句
• I am completely energized and feeling terrific. 我充满了活力，感觉非常好。 来自辞典例句

12 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

13 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

14 vaccinated   

[医]已接种的，种痘的，接种过疫菌的

参考例句：

• I was vaccinated against tetanus. 我接种了破伤风疫苗。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child? 你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？

15 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

16 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

17 bodes   

v.预示，预告，预言( bode的第三人称单数 )；等待，停留( bide的过去分词 )；居住；（过去式用bided）等待

参考例句：

• This bodes ill for the failure of the programme. 这是那项计划有凶兆。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• This bodes him no good. 这对他是不祥之兆。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

18 seasonal   

adj.季节的，季节性的

参考例句：

• The town relies on the seasonal tourist industry for jobs.这个城镇依靠季节性旅游业提供就业机会。
• The hors d'oeuvre is seasonal vegetables.餐前小吃是应时蔬菜。

19 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。