NPR 2009-5-26

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack¹ Speer.

North Korea's latest nuclear test has drawn² global condemnation³, the underground test prompting an emergency session at the United Nations with the Security Council condemning⁴ the North's actions. Speaking at the White House today, President Obama, for his part, called the test "a threat to international peace and security and a blatant⁵ violation⁶ of the international law."

"We will work with our friends and allies to stand up to this behavior. And we will redouble our efforts toward a more robust⁷ international non-proliferation regime that all countries have responsibilities to meet. In this effort, the United States will never waver from our determination to protect our people and the peace and security of the world."

According to some monitors, the blast was roughly equal to the power of the US atomic bomb dropped on the Japanese city of Nagasaki during World War Two. It is also far larger than a previous nuclear test done in 2006.

President Obama went to Arlington National Cemetery⁸ today where he laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns. There were also Memorial Day celebrations across the country today. At a ceremony of a cemetery outside the old state hospital Athens Ohio where mentally ill veterans were treated, they had a ceremony. Fred Kight from member station WOUB Athens was there.

Nearly 2,000 Athens' mental health center patients are buried here. At least 25 are known to be veterans. There could be more, but most of the graves are marked only with numbers. However, over the years, a local group has gained access to records to match the numbers with names and patient information. The most recent veterans are from the Korean War. Reverend Jim Parker says they should not be forgotten.

"We come here and ask God to be with us to take care of this ground, so that it will be honored in the future."

Officials say many soldiers here were admitted as patients because they suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder⁹. For NPR News, I'm Fred Kight in Athens, Ohio.

More than two million people have now been displaced because of the fighting in northwestern Swat Valley in Pakistan. From Islamabad, NPR's Julie McCarthy reports.

Citing provincial¹⁰ government statistics, the UN says that nearly 2.4 million people have registered with authorities as the civilian¹¹ population fled the ongoing¹² anti-Taliban offensive. The number is expected to fluctuate after cross checks in the coming days. Nonetheless, it's a staggering number of people left homeless. As the influx¹³ of displaced people reached other regions, unrest has erupted. Riots and strikes have upset the poor city of Karachi in the southern province of Sindh. The Sindhi nationalist parties are disturbed the prospect¹⁴ of Pashtuns from the northwest Swat Valley, upsetting the ethnic¹⁵ balance of the province dominated by Sindhis. Dangerous ethnic violence adds pressure on the military for a quick end to the conflict before the fallout from it starts to destabilize the country even more. Julie McCarthy, NPR News, Islamabad.

This is NPR.

New York City police are continuing to investigate an early morning blast outside a Starbucks on the Upper East Side. Officials say it appears the explosive device which destroyed a sidewalk bench was made from fireworks. No one was hurt in the blast. Investigators¹⁶ are looking in the similarities between the explosion and others that have occurred in the city over the past several years.

UN Relief and Works Agency or UNRWA reports conditions for hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip continued to deteriorate¹⁷ because of the Israeli blockade of essential goods. The group said the blockade is having a serious impact on the refugees' health and well-being¹⁸. Lisa Schlein reports from Geneva.

UNRWA Health Director Guido Sabatinelli says before Israel's military incursion into Gaza, his agency was able to import 4,000 essential items through the border. Now only 40 items are allowed.

"So UNRWA cannot repair the health centers that were damaged, neither our warehouse¹⁹. We cannot repair the schools, because the building materials are, is, not allowed to, admitted to enter."

Sabatinelli says Israel's closure policy is making it difficult for the Palestinian refugees to reach health facilities and get treatment. He says people have less money to buy food. As a result, 30% of children are anemic, as are 50% of pregnant women. For NPR News, I'm Lisa Schlein in Geneva.

Coast Guard officials said they are continuing to search for a Louisiana man believed to have gone overboard from a cruise ship in the Gulf²⁰ of Mexico. They say 18-year-old Bruce O'Krepki is believed to have gone over the side of the Carnival²¹ Fantasy around 9:45 pm Sunday, some 150 miles southwest of Tampa.

I'm Jack Speer, NPR News in Washington

1 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

2 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

3 condemnation   

n.谴责; 定罪

参考例句：

• There was widespread condemnation of the invasion. 那次侵略遭到了人们普遍的谴责。
• The jury's condemnation was a shock to the suspect. 陪审团宣告有罪使嫌疑犯大为震惊。

4 condemning   

v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的现在分词 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地

参考例句：

• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。
• I concur with the speaker in condemning what has been done. 我同意发言者对所做的事加以谴责。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5 blatant   

adj.厚颜无耻的；显眼的；炫耀的

参考例句：

• I cannot believe that so blatant a comedy can hoodwink anybody.我无法相信这么显眼的一出喜剧能够欺骗谁。
• His treatment of his secretary was a blatant example of managerial arrogance.他管理的傲慢作风在他对待秘书的态度上表露无遗。

6 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

7 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。

8 cemetery   

n.坟墓，墓地，坟场

参考例句：

• He was buried in the cemetery.他被葬在公墓。
• His remains were interred in the cemetery.他的遗体葬在墓地。

9 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

10 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

11 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

12 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

13 influx   

n.流入，注入

参考例句：

• The country simply cannot absorb this influx of refugees.这个国家实在不能接纳这么多涌入的难民。
• Textile workers favoured protection because they feared an influx of cheap cloth.纺织工人拥护贸易保护措施，因为他们担心涌入廉价纺织品。

14 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

15 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

16 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》

17 deteriorate   

v.变坏；恶化；退化

参考例句：

• Do you think relations between China and Japan will continue to deteriorate?你认为中日关系会继续恶化吗？
• He held that this would only cause the situation to deteriorate further.他认为，这只会使局势更加恶化。

18 well-being   

n.安康，安乐，幸福

参考例句：

• He always has the well-being of the masses at heart.他总是把群众的疾苦挂在心上。
• My concern for their well-being was misunderstood as interference.我关心他们的幸福，却被误解为多管闲事。

19 warehouse   

n.仓库；vt.存入仓库

参考例句：

• We freighted the goods to the warehouse by truck.我们用卡车把货物运到仓库。
• The manager wants to clear off the old stocks in the warehouse.经理想把仓库里积压的存货处理掉。

20 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。

21 carnival   

n.嘉年华会，狂欢，狂欢节，巡回表演

参考例句：

• I got some good shots of the carnival.我有几个狂欢节的精彩镜头。
• Our street puts on a carnival every year.我们街的居民每年举行一次嘉年华会。