NPR 2009-08-09

Searchers are looking for the bodies of nine people who were aboard a sightseeing helicopter and a small plane that collided in midair over New York's Hudson River today. From member station WNYC, Marc Garber reports.

 Rescue helicopters are hovering¹ as emergency crews work on both sides of the river, and police divers² are in the water. The helicopter was carrying about a half dozen people when it collided with a plane around noon, sending debris³ into the river and onto the Hoboken New Jersey⁴ waterfront. The Piper PA-32 plane took off from Teterboro Airport in New Jersey, and the helicopter was a Eurocopter AS350 owned by Liberty Tours, a sightseeing and charter company. For NPR News, I'm Marc Garber in New York.

 New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg says the crash was simply not survivable.

 I think it's fair to say that this has changed from a rescue to a recovery mission, and that probably was what we could have started out with the instant it happened." Bloomberg says his main concern now is for the safety of the divers looking for the bodies of the victims. Two bodies have been recovered so far.

 Sonia Sotomayor has been sworn in as the nation's newest Supreme⁵ Court Justice. Her left hand rested on a Bible held by her mother as she repeated the words stated by Chief Justice John Roberts.

 "I, Sonia Sotomayor do solemnly swear. . . "

 ". . . that I will administer justice, without respect to persons. "

 ". . . that I will administer justice, without respect to persons. "

 ". . . and do equal right to the poor and to the rich. "

 ". . . and do equal right to the poor and to the rich. "

 It was the second swearing-in of the day for Sotomayor who becomes the first Hispanic and only the third woman ever to serve on the Supreme Court. Earlier she took an oath in a private ceremony in a conference room at the Supreme Court.

 At a mass trial in Iran today, a French researcher and an Iranian employee of the British Embassy in Teheran confessed to involvement in the unrest that followed the Iranian presidential election. The trial has been condemned⁶ by the European Union and the governments of Britain and France. Teri Schultz has more from Brussels.

 Action against one EU country, citizen or embassy staff is considered an action against all of the EU. That's the message of the current EU President Sweden to Teheran as a French teacher and an Iranian employee of the British Embassy was said to have confessed to crimes that carry the death penalty in Iran. Clotilde Reiss, who taught French in Isfahan for five months, was charged with acting⁷ against Iran's national security, by taking part in protests against the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The Iranian news agency reports Reiss acknowledged writing a one-page summary of the situation in Isfahan and giving it to the French Embassy. British Embassy employee Hossein Rassam is also said to have confessed to spying for the United States. The British government calls the trial "an outrage⁸". Iranian opposition⁹ groups say the confessions¹⁰ were coerced¹¹. For NPR News, I'm Teri Schultz in Brussels.

 This is NPR News from Washington.

 Reports from Indonesia say police have killed the man believed to be behind last month's hotel bombings in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta. Nine people were killed in that attack. Noordin Top was reportedly killed early this morning after a 16-hour standoff with police in Central Java. NPR's Michael Sullivan has the story.

 Noordin Top was the most wanted man in Southeast Asia. The man authorities say helped plan the 2002 Bali bombings, the 2003 attack on the JW Marriott in Jakarta, and last month near simultaneous bombings of the Marriott and Ritz Carlton. The Bali bombings alone killed 202 people, mainly Australian tourists. Indonesian security forces have arrested hundreds of militants¹² in the past several years, but Noordin Top had repeatedly eluded¹³ police until today. He was once a senior operative in the Southeast Asian terror network Jemaah Islamiyah but split with JI a few years back and formed his own violent group. Noordin Top had many skills including the ability to plan operations and raise money for them.  But his most frightening skill, analysts¹⁴ say, was his ability to recruit new members to the cause and persuade them to become suicide bombers¹⁵. Michael Sullivan, NPR News, Hanoi.

 President Obama is accusing critics of congressional proposals for overhauling¹⁶ the nation's health care system of resorting to misleading information and what he called "outlandish rumors¹⁷ to try to scuttle¹⁸ the legislation".

 "As we draw close to finalizing¹⁹ and passing real health insurance reform, the defenders²⁰ of the status quo and political point-scorers in Washington are growing fiercer in their opposition.” Mr. Obama made the statement in his weekly radio and Internet address today.

 I'm Craig Windham, NPR News in Washington

1 hovering   

鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫

参考例句：

• The helicopter was hovering about 100 metres above the pad. 直升机在离发射台一百米的上空盘旋。
• I'm hovering between the concert and the play tonight. 我犹豫不决今晚是听音乐会还是看戏。

2 divers   

adj.不同的；种种的

参考例句：

• He chose divers of them,who were asked to accompany him.他选择他们当中的几个人，要他们和他作伴。
• Two divers work together while a standby diver remains on the surface.两名潜水员协同工作，同时有一名候补潜水员留在水面上。

3 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

4 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

5 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

6 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

7 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

8 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

9 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

10 confessions   

n.承认( confession的名词复数 )；自首；声明；（向神父的）忏悔

参考例句：

• It is strictly forbidden to obtain confessions and to give them credence. 严禁逼供信。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Neither trickery nor coercion is used to secure confessions. 既不诱供也不逼供。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 coerced   

v.迫使做( coerce的过去式和过去分词 )；强迫；（以武力、惩罚、威胁等手段）控制；支配

参考例句：

• They were coerced into negotiating a settlement. 他们被迫通过谈判解决。
• He was coerced into making a confession. 他被迫招供。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 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。

13 eluded   

v.（尤指机敏地）避开( elude的过去式和过去分词 )；逃避；躲避；使达不到

参考例句：

• The sly fox nimbly eluded the dogs. 那只狡猾的狐狸灵活地躲避开那群狗。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The criminal eluded the police. 那个罪犯甩掉了警察的追捕。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

14 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

15 bombers   

n.轰炸机( bomber的名词复数 )；投弹手；安非他明胶囊；大麻叶香烟

参考例句：

• Enemy bombers carried out a blitz on the city. 敌军轰炸机对这座城市进行了突袭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Royal Airforce sill remained dangerously short of bombers. 英国皇家空军仍未脱离极为缺乏轰炸机的危境。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 overhauling   

n.大修；拆修；卸修；翻修v.彻底检查( overhaul的现在分词 )；大修；赶上；超越

参考例句：

• I had no chance of overhauling him. 我没有赶上他的可能。 来自辞典例句
• Some sites need little alterations but some need total overhauling. 有些网站需要做出细微修改，而有些网站就需要整体改版。 来自互联网

17 rumors   

n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷

参考例句：

• Rumors have it that the school was burned down. 有谣言说学校给烧掉了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Rumors of a revolt were afloat. 叛变的谣言四起。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 scuttle   

v.急赶，疾走，逃避；n.天窗；舷窗

参考例句：

• There was a general scuttle for shelter when the rain began to fall heavily.下大雨了，人们都飞跑着寻找躲雨的地方。
• The scuttle was open,and the good daylight shone in.明朗的亮光从敞开的小窗中照了进来。

19 finalizing   

vt.完成（finalize的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• You may edit registered information any time during the finalizing period. 您可以在规定期限内随时编辑修改注册资料。 来自互联网
• Natsun Trimming & Ironing, Finalizing the Perfection. 40南山整烫，完美在此定格。 来自互联网

20 defenders   

n.防御者( defender的名词复数 )；守卫者；保护者；辩护者

参考例句：

• The defenders were outnumbered and had to give in. 抵抗者寡不敌众，只能投降。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• After hard fighting,the defenders were still masters of the city. 守军经过奋战仍然控制着城市。 来自《简明英汉词典》