NPR 2009-05-10

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

Cooler, moist weather conditions have been helping¹ hundreds of firefighters working to contain a stubborn wildfire in the hills above Santa Barbara, California. The blaze is now about 30% contained. And Santa Barbara Fire Department spokesman John Ahlman says evacuation orders have been lifted for most of the more than 30,000 people who had left their homes.

"Temperatures at the fire line were reduced and so that was a trigger point for the incident command team to say yes, it's time to, and safe to let folks back into their homes in the warning areas."

But Frank Stoltze of member station KPCC says not everyone has been allowed back in.

"Some folks who live way up in the hills above Santa Barbara still can not go home. Fire officials concerned that hot embers may get stirred up by whatever afternoon winds there might be and flames may start again. But so far that's not predicted by forecasters those heavy winds that we saw over the last few days."
Frank Stoltze reporting from University of California, Santa Barbara.

The cleanup is underway in the Midwest following powerful storms that left a wide swath of damage and killed at least five people. Three governors have declared states of emergency, among them, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon.

"...peak of the currency, some houses are all the way leveled to the ground, others they've begun to put tarps over the top of the holes in the roof. But clearly it was a very broad storm that stayed for a while, so that together thing as it was a storm that stayed right on top of these areas for as much as 30 minutes."

In Missouri and Illinois more than 100,000 homes and businesses are still without electricity.

Jacob Zuma was sworn in as South Africa's new President, its 4th leader since apartheid. Zuma praised his predecessors² and promised not to rest in his efforts to help the nation. NPR's Ofeibea Quist-Arcton has the story.

Jacob Zuma thanked former president Nelson Mandela for healing the wounds of the past in South Africa and for building a rainbow nation. He pledged to continue on that path. In a gesture of reconciliation³ towards his long time political rival, former president Thabo Mbeki, Zuma called him "my friend who laid the foundation for economic growth." He said now was a moment of renewal⁴ for South Africa and made this pledge to his compatriots.

"For as long as there are people who are unable to find work, we shall not rest, and we dare not falter⁵."

But delivering on homes, water, food, education and employment to millions of needy⁶ South Africans remains⁷ a monumental challenge. Ofeibea Quist-Arcton, NPR News, Johannesburg.

Pakistan's Prime Minister is calling the country's latest offense⁸ against militants⁹ in the Taliban's stronghold Swat Valley a war of the country's survival. Pakistani warplanes and troops killed dozens of militants today in an effort to purge¹⁰ the valley of the Taliban.

This is NPR News from Washington.

The group Human Rights Watch says Sri Lanka's military has been indiscriminately shelling hospitals in the island's war zone where government forces are on the verge¹¹ of defeating Tamil Tiger separatists. Some 50,000 civilians¹² are trapped in the conflict area. NPR's Philip Reeves has more.

Human Rights Watch cites 30 attacks on permanent and makeshift hospitals, including one last weekend in which 68 people were killed. It says these hospitals were clearly marked and yet came under artillery¹³ or air attack. The Rights group says in some cases, the Sri Lanka military may have been targeting Tamil Tiger fighters near the hospitals. In others, witnesses said there were no rebels in the vicinity. Human Rights Watch accuses both sides of breaking the laws of war and says the Tamil Tigers have used tens of thousands of civilians as human shields. But it says the Sri Lanka government cannot use the rebels’ atrocities¹⁴ to justify¹⁵ its own unlawful acts. And one Sri Lanka commander who's responsible for shelling hospitals may be prosecuted¹⁶ for war crimes. The Sri Lanka military denies any such attacks. Philip Reeves, NPR News.

The number of confirmed cases of swine flu in the US has risen to just over 2250, with about one hundred of those people having to be hospitalized. The vast majority of the cases have been mild but Doctor Anne Schuchat at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says "For now, people should remain vigilant¹⁷."

"It's too soon for us to say whether we are, whether in some communities, things are getting better. Our indicators¹⁸ suggest that things are, they were still accelerating, we were still seeing an increase in cases."

This swine flu outbreak has now caused 48 deaths in Mexico. Costa Rica reported its first swine flu death today.

I'm Craig Windham, NPR News in Washington.

1 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

2 predecessors   

n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身

参考例句：

• The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation. 新政府正着手废除其前任所制定的法律。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Will new plan be any more acceptable than its predecessors? 新计划比原先的计划更能令人满意吗？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

4 renewal   

adj.(契约)延期，续订，更新，复活，重来

参考例句：

• Her contract is coming up for renewal in the autumn.她的合同秋天就应该续签了。
• Easter eggs symbolize the renewal of life.复活蛋象征新生。

5 falter   

vi.(嗓音)颤抖，结巴地说；犹豫；蹒跚

参考例句：

• His voice began to falter.他的声音开始发颤。
• As he neared the house his steps faltered.当他走近房子时，脚步迟疑了起来。

6 needy   

adj.贫穷的，贫困的，生活艰苦的

参考例句：

• Although he was poor,he was quite generous to his needy friends.他虽穷，但对贫苦的朋友很慷慨。
• They awarded scholarships to needy students.他们给贫苦学生颁发奖学金。

7 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。

8 offense   

n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪

参考例句：

• I hope you will not take any offense at my words. 对我讲的话请别见怪。
• His words gave great offense to everybody present.他的发言冲犯了在场的所有人。

9 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。

10 purge   

n.整肃，清除，泻药，净化；vt.净化，清除，摆脱；vi.清除，通便，腹泻，变得清洁

参考例句：

• The new president carried out a purge of disloyal army officers.新总统对不忠诚的军官进行了清洗。
• The mayoral candidate has promised to purge the police department.市长候选人答应清洗警察部门。

11 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

12 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

13 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

14 atrocities   

n.邪恶，暴行( atrocity的名词复数 )；滔天大罪

参考例句：

• They were guilty of the most barbarous and inhuman atrocities. 他们犯有最野蛮、最灭绝人性的残暴罪行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The enemy's atrocities made one boil with anger. 敌人的暴行令人发指。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

15 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？

16 prosecuted   

a.被起诉的

参考例句：

• The editors are being prosecuted for obscenity. 编辑因刊载污秽文字而被起诉。
• 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》。

17 vigilant   

adj.警觉的，警戒的，警惕的

参考例句：

• He has to learn how to remain vigilant through these long nights.他得学会如何在这漫长的黑夜里保持警觉。
• The dog kept a vigilant guard over the house.这只狗警醒地守护着这所房屋。

18 indicators   

（仪器上显示温度、压力、耗油量等的）指针( indicator的名词复数 )； 指示物； （车辆上的）转弯指示灯； 指示信号

参考例句：

• The economic indicators are better than expected. 经济指标比预期的好。
• It is still difficult to develop indicators for many concepts used in social science. 为社会科学领域的许多概念确立一个指标仍然很难。