NPR 2009-05-04

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Crag Windham.

 Health officials in the United States and abroad say the expanding swine flu outbreak still appears generally mild, but infections are widespread enough that some may expect the outbreak will soon be declared a pandemic. There have been 226 confirmed cases in the US spread over 30 states. The medium age of people who've gotten the disease in this country is 17. NPR's Richard Knox has more on this story.

 One US official assumes the new virus is circulating throughout the United States, even if cases aren't confirmed everywhere yet. The Official stress the vast majority of cases are no more serious than seasonal¹ flu.  At least 30 Americans are hospitalized with the new flu. Janet Napolitano, the Secretary of Homeland Security, said today on CBS's "Face the Nation" that the world is already in a flu pandemic. She predicts the World Health Organization will soon raise the alert level to phase six, an official pandemic.

 "When you talk about Level 6, which they very well could go to this week, all that means it is widespread throughout the world."

 Napolitano stressed that pandemic just meant widespread transmission of a new disease, not necessarily that it's dangerous. Richard Knox, NPR News.

 Union leaders representing workers at the Boston Globe are meeting with negotiators for the newspaper’s owner, the New York Times Company, trying to reach / agreement on a concession² package that management says  is needed to keep the Globe operating. The Times company has set a midnight deadline and said unless the union has agreed to twenty million dollars in concessions³ by then the Globe will be closed down.

 Former Senator and Presidential candidate John Edwards has acknowledged that federal investigators⁴ are examining how he handled his campaign funds. More from NPR's Ina Jaffe.

 In a statement first sent to the Raleigh News & Observer, John Edwards said "I am confident that no funds from my campaign were used improperly⁵", adding that he had given authorities access to people and information in order to get the issue resolved. In 2006, Edwards's Political Action Committee paid Rielle Hunter 100,000 dollars for video production. Edwards later acknowledged that he and Hunter had had an affair. The next year, Edwards' PAC paid Hunter an additional 14,000 dollars at the time when he had less than 8,000 dollars in the till. On the same day, Edwards' presidential campaign fund paid his PAC about 14,000 dollars. It is a federal crime to use PAC money for personal use. The United States attorney George Holding will neither confirm nor deny that there is an investigation⁶ underway. Ina Jaffe, NPR News.

 Italian automaker Fiat⁸ says it is in talks with General Motors about buying GM's European operations. Fiat says GM Europe could be combined with assets of Chrysler that it is pushing to acquire to create a new auto⁷ company with estimated annual sales of more than $100 million. GM Europe includes Opel, Swedish carmaker Saab and British firm Vauxhall.

 This is NPR News.

 France's navy has captured 11 suspected Somali pirates after they mistook a French naval⁹ ship for a commercial vessel¹⁰ and prepared an assault. Eleanor Beardsley reports.

 A navy spokesperson said the pirates were heading for the naval ship in three small boats to attack it. But the naval frigate¹¹, the Nivose, put its own craft and commandos into water and sent out a helicopter to overpower the pirate vessels¹². The incident took place about 600 miles off the Somali coast in the Indian Ocean. The navy said the pirates were using the two smaller boats for attacks and the third was the mother ship which it used to transport supplies such as gasoline, water and food. Guns and rockets were also found on board. The Nivose has captured pirates in three separate raids in the last two weeks. Naval forces from France, the US, Europe and Asia have been deployed¹³ to protect merchant ships from increasingly bold pirate attacks in the Gulf¹⁴ of Aden. For NPR News, I'm Eleanor Beardsley in Paris.

 An avalanche¹⁵ in the Austrian Alps has killed 6 mountain climbers from the Czech Republic. Bruce Konviser has the story from Prague.

 The climbers were at about 10,000 feet when a wall of snow thundered down the mountain side on Saturday. Rescuers spotted¹⁶ the avalanche shortly after it occurred, but poor weather prevented them from reaching the site until today. Dozens of people are killed every year by avalanches¹⁷ in the Alpine¹⁸ mountains. But this year has been especially bad because of heavy snows. One member of the climbing party who chose not to make the climb yesterday has identified the bodies of his compatriots. The climbers were about 1,500 feet from the mountain's summit when the avalanche occurred. For NPR News, I'm Bruce Konviser in Prague.

1 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。

2 concession   

n.让步，妥协；特许(权)

参考例句：

• We can not make heavy concession to the matter.我们在这个问题上不能过于让步。
• That is a great concession.这是很大的让步。

3 concessions   

n.（尤指由政府或雇主给予的）特许权( concession的名词复数 )；承认；减价；（在某地的）特许经营权

参考例句：

• The firm will be forced to make concessions if it wants to avoid a strike. 要想避免罢工，公司将不得不作出一些让步。
• The concessions did little to placate the students. 让步根本未能平息学生的愤怒。

4 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 improperly   

不正确地，不适当地

参考例句：

• Of course it was acting improperly. 这样做就是不对嘛！
• He is trying to improperly influence a witness. 他在试图误导证人。

6 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

7 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

8 fiat   

n.命令，法令，批准；vt.批准，颁布

参考例句：

• The opening of a market stall is governed by municipal fiat.开设市场摊位受市政法令管制。
• He has tried to impose solutions to the country's problems by fiat.他试图下令强行解决该国的问题。

9 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

10 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

11 frigate   

n.护航舰，大型驱逐舰

参考例句：

• An enemy frigate bore down on the sloop.一艘敌驱逐舰向这只护航舰逼过来。
• I declare we could fight frigate.我敢说我们简直可以和一艘战舰交战。

12 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

13 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

14 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。

15 avalanche   

n.雪崩，大量涌来

参考例句：

• They were killed by an avalanche in the Swiss Alps.他们在瑞士阿尔卑斯山的一次雪崩中罹难。
• Higher still the snow was ready to avalanche.在更高处积雪随时都会崩塌。

16 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

17 avalanches   

n.雪崩( avalanche的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The greatest dangers of pyroclastic avalanches are probably heat and suffocation. 火成碎屑崩落的最大危害可能是炽热和窒息作用。 来自辞典例句
• Avalanches poured down on the tracks and rails were spread. 雪崩压满了轨道，铁轨被弄得四分五裂。 来自辞典例句

18 alpine   

adj.高山的；n.高山植物

参考例句：

• Alpine flowers are abundant there.那里有很多高山地带的花。
• Its main attractions are alpine lakes and waterfalls .它以高山湖泊和瀑布群为主要特色。