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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
A bomb exploded early today in a mid-town Manhattan abortion1 clinic, slightly injuring two passers-by, but it did not stop those at the center from performing abortions2 later in the day. The bombing caused about $10,000 in damage. Police say several phone calls to the bomb squad3 warned of the attack, but no one has claimed responsibility.
America's trade deficit4 grew at a slower pace again last month. The gap between imports and exports expanded by $12,500,000,000 in September, $2,000,000,000 less than the August deficit increase. It's the second straight monthly decline in the growth of the trade deficit. Commerce Department says the figure showed that the administration's policy of lowering the dollar may be paying off. The administration has also tried with mixed success, to persuade allies with big trade surpluses to stimulate6 their economies to expand export markets for US goods.
There are new details today on Austrian President Kurt Waldheim's involvement in the German army during WWII. The full text of the 1947 Yugoslav indictment7 of Waldheim for war crimes was made public. NPR's Mike Shuster has details. "The indictment charges Waldheim with participating in the planning of German reprisals9 against Yugoslavian citizens in 1944 and 1945. At the time, Waldheim was a lieutenant10 in a German Intelligence unit, and the indictment says Waldheim helped plan attacks that resulted in the burning of at least twenty villages and the execution of hundreds of Yugoslavian citizens. It has been known that Waldheim had been indicted11 in Yugoslavia almost forty years ago. But the specifics of the indictment were not known until today. Yesterday, Waldheim, through a spokesman, admitted that he had been part of a unit that carried out a massacre12 in Yugoslavia in 1942. But Waldheim denied a Washington Post report today that the Yugoslav and Soviet13 governments had used the file on Waldheim to blackmail14 him into becoming a communist agent. The Post quotes intelligence sources in Yugoslavia as saying the blackmail had been successful. This is Mike Shuster in New York."
More important details emerged today about the case of Austrian President Kurt Waldheim's involvement it the German army during WWII. In 1947, the former United Nations Secretary General was indicted in Yugoslavia for war crimes. Today, the full text of that indictment became available. Also today, reports that Yugoslavia and that Soviet Union may have blackmailed16 Waldheim during his diplomatic career. NPR's Mike Shuster has a report.
Until now, it has been known that Yugoslavia indicted Waldheim forty years ago for war crimes, for murder and massacres17 in the shooting of hostages. But until today, the specific crimes Waldheim was accused of were not known, nor was it known what these accusations18 were based on. The indictment, a translation of which was released today by the Simon Wiesenfeld Center in the United States, specifies19 at least a score of villages in Yugoslavia that were targeted by the German army for reprisals in 1944 and 1945. The indictment, according to Mark Weitzman, a spokesman for the Wiesenfeld Center, charges that Waldheim actually participated in the planning for those reprisals. "They lay a list of twenty-one villages and towns directly there. And I'll quote. Many more similar crimes can be cited: May 1944, village was burned; Macednia, September-October '44, shot civilians20 in many villages. Even more detailed21: village of Smola where four persons were shot; Garbervo, twenty-four houses burned, two people shot."
In 1944 and 45, the German army undertook a series of reprisals in the Yugoslav regions of Basnia, Mecedonia and Montenegro in retaliation22 for partisan23 attacks on German army units. The reprisals usually involved the execution of local civilians: ten Yugoslavians for each German killed and the torching of villages.
The indictment of Waldheim makes the argument that Hitler ordered the policy of reprisal8 in the Balkans, but that all the details—the quota24 of hostages taken, the specific arrests and executions, the specific villages burned—were for the local German army intelligence units to work out. Waldheim was a lieutenant in one of those units.
The indictment does not specify25 his presence, but there's no question about it, issuing responsibility to him, I mean, just to sum up the indictment, and I'll read: "On the basis of all that has been set forth26, the state commission confirms that Lieutenant Kurt Waldheim is a war criminal responsible for the war crimes described and assessed above."
Throughout his campaign last spring for the Austrian Presidency27, Waldheim maintained that he was only a supply officer and an interpreter in his unit in the Balkans. But yesterday through a spokesman, Waldheim admitted that he was connected with a unit that carried out a massacre in Yugoslavia in 1942. The spokesman did not address the allegations in the indictment made public today.
The Washington Post reported today that the Yugoslav and Soviet governments may have used the indictment and the investigative file it was based on to blackmail Waldheim into becoming a communist agent. The Post quotes former Yugoslav intelligence and government officials as saying they were involved in an effort to blackmail Waldheim in 1948. One former official, according to the Post , says that Moscow informed the Yugoslav government in 1948 that Waldheim had been recruited. The Post report also suggests that the dossier, an indictment of Waldheim, might have been complied with the sole aim of comprising him, not prosecuting28 him. Waldheim was never tried for war crimes. A spokesman for Waldheim denied that he had ever been reproached for communist recruitment. Under some pressure from Congress, there has been a review of the Waldheim case at the Justice Department for several months. Today, Attorney General Meese said that if Waldheim were to express a desire to visit the US, the details of his case that emerged today would be additional facts in the government's review of the whole matter. This is Mike Shuster in New York.
There's been yet another merger29 in the airline industry. The Delta30, the sixth largest carrier in the United States, will join wings with Western, which ranks ninth. By one standard, that will create the nation's third largest airline. The merger, agreed to by Western yesterday, makes sense, according to Con5 Hitchcock of the Aviation Consumer Action Project.
"The reason that the merger makes sense for a company like Delta is that Delta's based primarily in eastern United States, with a hub in Atlanta and some in Cincinnati and Dallas and Fort Worth. But it doesn't really have a western presence. Western is based in Salt Lake City and has also got a lot of presence in Los Angeles. And if you can merge15 the two together successfully, there's the chance you'll have a successful large carrier that can compete with United and American and other companies that are bigger than Delta."
"What about the urge to merge? We've had an incredibly large number of mergers31 just in the last six months or so."
"There's feeling in some sectors32 of the airline industry that if you want to be a survivor33, if you want to be around, you have to get bigger. You have to get into a number of markets, and the easy way to do that is to buy off your competitors rather than try to expand from within. And in some senses, it is easier to go out and raise the money rather than do things like try to get into the congested airports. You've got airports like Chicago and Denver and Los Angeles that are fairly crowded, that it's just difficult to go in a big way and establish yourself and attract a lot of customers. And it's easier to go out and buy a company with an established market position than try to work your way up from ground zero."
"What about a time factor? Is there any reason we're seeing all these merges34 now? Deregulation's been with us since 1978. Why now?"
"I think there are a couple of reasons why there are so many airline merges now. First of all, there's sort of a herd35 mentality36. When United picked up Pan Am's Pacific routes earlier this year, that set off a ripple37 effect. Northwest said, well, we're going to buy Republic in order to get bigger and compete, TWA Ozark, etc. etc." There really is a wave. Secondly38, there's the perception in the industry that the Department of Transportation which has to approve airline mergers, is more lenient39 than the Justice Department would be. But D.O.T. only has that authority for another two years. And there's concern that if you don't do it now, the Justice Department may stop you if you try a couple years from now. The third reason is related to the tax bill. The tax bill that's pending40 in Congress will take away some of the benefits that make mergers easy to finance, staring on January 1st. So I think you're going to see a number of mergers in a lot of other industries as well between now and December 31st.
"When deregulation came into being, there was a lot of talk that what would happen is, you would have four or five major airlines, a number of very successful regional airlines and the commuters. It seems as though that trend is here."
"We seem to be headed in that direction, and it's unfortunate. I mean, deregulation was supposed to be more airlines competing for consumers' business, not fewer. There is inevitably41 …"
"Well, there are more."
"There are more, but the big ones are getting bigger. And there are some advantages in the sense that you can travel from one city to another on a singer airline without having to change lines and that sort of thing. But the drawback is the industry shrinks, is that you have fewer mavericks42, or fewer airlines that might say, 'Gee43, let's start a price war to raise some more traffic.' It can get very comfortable very quickly, and I'm not sure that's in the consumer's interest in the long term."
"Thanks very much. Con Hitchcock of the Aviation Consumer Action Project."
收听单词发音 |
1
abortion
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| n.流产，堕胎 | |
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abortions
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| n.小产( abortion的名词复数 )；小产胎儿；（计划）等中止或夭折；败育 | |
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squad
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| n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组 | |
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deficit
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| n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差 | |
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con
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| n.反对的观点，反对者，反对票，肺病；vt.精读，学习，默记；adv.反对地，从反面；adj.欺诈的 | |
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stimulate
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| vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋 | |
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indictment
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| n.起诉；诉状 | |
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reprisal
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| n.报复，报仇，报复性劫掠 | |
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reprisals
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| n.报复（行为）( reprisal的名词复数 ) | |
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lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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indicted
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| 控告，起诉( indict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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massacre
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| n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀 | |
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13
Soviet
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| adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃 | |
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14
blackmail
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| n.讹诈，敲诈，勒索，胁迫，恫吓 | |
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merge
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| v.(使)结合，(使)合并，(使)合为一体 | |
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blackmailed
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| 胁迫，尤指以透露他人不体面行为相威胁以勒索钱财( blackmail的过去式 ) | |
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17
massacres
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| 大屠杀( massacre的名词复数 )； 惨败 | |
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accusations
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| n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名 | |
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specifies
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| v.指定( specify的第三人称单数 )；详述；提出…的条件；使具有特性 | |
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civilians
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| 平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓 | |
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detailed
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| adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的 | |
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retaliation
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| n.报复，反击 | |
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partisan
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| adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒 | |
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quota
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| n.（生产、进出口等的）配额，（移民的）限额 | |
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specify
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| vt.指定，详细说明 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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presidency
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| n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期) | |
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prosecuting
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| 检举、告发某人( prosecute的现在分词 )； 对某人提起公诉； 继续从事（某事物）； 担任控方律师 | |
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merger
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| n.企业合并，并吞 | |
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delta
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| n.（流的）角洲 | |
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mergers
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| n.（两个公司的）合并( merger的名词复数 ) | |
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sectors
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| n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形 | |
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survivor
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| n.生存者，残存者，幸存者 | |
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merges
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| （使）混合( merge的第三人称单数 )； 相融； 融入； 渐渐消失在某物中 | |
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35
herd
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| n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起 | |
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mentality
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| n.心理，思想，脑力 | |
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ripple
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| n.涟波，涟漪，波纹，粗钢梳；vt.使...起涟漪，使起波纹； vi.呈波浪状，起伏前进 | |
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38
secondly
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| adv.第二，其次 | |
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39
lenient
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| adj.宽大的，仁慈的 | |
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pending
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| prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的 | |
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inevitably
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| adv.不可避免地；必然发生地 | |
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42
mavericks
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| 未烙印的牲畜( maverick的名词复数 )； 标新立异的人，不合常规的人 | |
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43
gee
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| n.马；int.向右！前进！，惊讶时所发声音；v.向右转 | |
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