NPR 2009-06-11

A suspected white supremacist who opened fire inside Washington DC's Holocaust¹ Museum, killing² a guard before being wounded by other guards, is in critical condition today. Authorities say the alleged³ gunman tentatively identified as 88-year-old James von Brunn appeared to have acted alone. David Schlosser is a spokesman of the US Park Police. He says the incident took place early this afternoon East Coast time.

“At about ten minutes to one this afternoon, a man entered the Holocaust Museum and he was armed with a long gun. I don't know whether that long gun was a rifle or a shotgun. It's only described as a long gun. “

The dead guard has now been identified as Stephen Tyrone Johns. In a statement, museum official said there are  “no words to express our shock and grief over the day's events."  Officials say the Holocaust Museum which closed in the aftermath of today's shooting will remain closed tomorrow.

The World Health Organization is taking steps to declare the first flu pandemic of the century. An emergency meeting on the issue is slated⁴ for tomorrow. NPR's Richard Knox reports.

Today WHO Director-General Margaret Chan asked officials in eight nations whether a new flu strain derived⁵ from pig, bird, and human viruses is spreading widely there. They include Australia, Canada, Chile, Japan, Mexico, the United Kingdom and the United States. Chan reportedly was told there's widespread transmission of the new virus in some, though evidence is inconclusive in others. By the WHO's definition, a pandemic means widespread community transmission of a new flu virus in two or more regions of the world. Chan has the authority to decide if a flu pandemic has started. She has called a meeting of an emergency Committee tomorrow to help her decide. If she does declare a flu pandemic, she is expected to call it a moderate pandemic. Richard Knox, NPR News.

Five American contractors⁷ in Baghdad may soon be released from Iraqi custody⁸ after an Iraqi judge decided⁹ there was insufficient¹⁰ evidence to charge them with any crime. NPR's Quil Lawrence reports from Baghdad.

Iraqi police took the Americans into custody on June 3rd after searching their residence with help from the FBI. The search was in connection with a gruesome murder last month of another US private contractor⁶, 60-year-old Houston native James Kitterman. But it was never clear that the arrest of the five Americans was directly related to the murder. The US embassy in Baghdad stated that they were held for an unrelated matter, but the embassy refused to elaborate citing the privacy of the detained men. This is the first time Iraq has exercised its authority over US civilians¹² in the country. Since January 1st, a new security agreement puts all American civilians under Iraqi jurisdiction¹³. Troops serving in Iraq still answer to the American military code of justice. Quil Lawrence, NPR News, Baghdad.

On Wall Street today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 24 points to end the session at 8,739. The NASDAQ lost seven points today. The S&P 500 dropped three points to close at 939.

This is NPR.

Chrysler in a remarkably¹⁴ fast 42-day restructuring process has now lined up with the Italian automaker Fiat¹⁵. In a statement released today Fiat said its CEO Sergio Marchionne has been named the CEO of the new company. The company also said it plans to soon reopen closed Chrysler factories idled during the company's Chapter 11 bankruptcy¹⁶, something that costs the automaker around 100 million dollars a day. In addition to the naming of the CEO, the federal government in a wire transfer gave the new Chrysler company 6.6 billion dollars in exit financing.

Hollywood actors have approved a new contract that increases their pay by more than 6% over the next two years. It also includes compensation for work done on the internet. NPR's Neda Ulaby reports.

Almost 80% of Screen Actors Guild¹⁷ members voted to approve the contract against the wishes of union higher-ups. SAG¹⁸ officials wanted to hold out for better terms and go on strike if the studios failed to cooperate. But the overwhelming support for the contract suggests that the membership simply wants to work. Top stars like Tom Hanks, George Clooney and Sally Field publicly supported the deal. The new contract is almost certain to speed movie and television production which has been hampered¹⁹ over the past two years by labor¹¹ unrest and infighting. The deal takes effect immediately. The president of the Screen Actors Guild predicted it will have “a devastating²⁰ impact" and said he hoped members will see a better contract in 2011. Neda Ulaby, NPR News.

The Boston Globe's biggest union, after rejecting a package of pay and benefit cuts, has filed a complaint with federal regulators challenging a planned 23% pay cut. The guild in its complaint called on the paper and owner New York Times Company, to resume talks.

1 holocaust   

n.大破坏；大屠杀

参考例句：

• The Auschwitz concentration camp always remind the world of the holocaust.奥辛威茨集中营总是让世人想起大屠杀。
• Ahmadinejad is denying the holocaust because he's as brutal as Hitler was.内贾德否认大屠杀，因为他像希特勒一样残忍。

2 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。

3 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

4 slated   

用石板瓦盖( slate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Yuki is working up an in-home phonics program slated for Thursdays, and I'm drilling her on English conversation at dinnertime. Yuki每周四还有一次家庭语音课。我在晚餐时训练她的英语口语。
• Bromfield was slated to become U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. 布罗姆菲尔德被提名为美国农业部长。

5 derived   

vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取

参考例句：

• Many English words are derived from Latin and Greek. 英语很多词源出于拉丁文和希腊文。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He derived his enthusiasm for literature from his father. 他对文学的爱好是受他父亲的影响。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 contractor   

n.订约人，承包人，收缩肌

参考例句：

• The Tokyo contractor was asked to kick $ 6000 back as commission.那个东京的承包商被要求退还6000美元作为佣金。
• The style of house the contractor builds depends partly on the lay of the land.承包商所建房屋的式样，有几分要看地势而定。

7 contractors   

n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

9 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

10 insufficient   

adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的

参考例句：

• There was insufficient evidence to convict him.没有足够证据给他定罪。
• In their day scientific knowledge was insufficient to settle the matter.在他们的时代，科学知识还不能足以解决这些问题。

11 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

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 jurisdiction   

n.司法权，审判权，管辖权，控制权

参考例句：

• It doesn't lie within my jurisdiction to set you free.我无权将你释放。
• Changzhou is under the jurisdiction of Jiangsu Province.常州隶属江苏省。

14 remarkably   

ad.不同寻常地，相当地

参考例句：

• I thought she was remarkably restrained in the circumstances. 我认为她在那种情况下非常克制。
• He made a remarkably swift recovery. 他康复得相当快。

15 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。

16 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

17 guild   

n.行会，同业公会，协会

参考例句：

• He used to be a member of the Writers' Guild of America.他曾是美国作家协会的一员。
• You had better incorporate the firm into your guild.你最好把这个公司并入你的行业协会。

18 sag   

v.下垂，下跌，消沉；n.下垂，下跌，凹陷，[航海]随风漂流

参考例句：

• The shelf was beginning to sag beneath the weight of the books upon it.书架在书的重压下渐渐下弯。
• We need to do something about the sag.我们须把下沉的地方修整一下。

19 hampered   

妨碍，束缚，限制( hamper的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The search was hampered by appalling weather conditions. 恶劣的天气妨碍了搜寻工作。
• So thought every harassed, hampered, respectable boy in St. Petersburg. 圣彼德堡镇的那些受折磨、受拘束的体面孩子们个个都是这么想的。

20 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。