NPR 2010-11-09

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Lakshmi Singh.
A radical¹ Sunni Muslim cleric born in the US is urging religious scholars to promote holy war against American and Israeli interests in the Middle East. NPR's Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson is in Cairo and reports the cleric also accuses Iran of trying to exert control over Arabs in the region.
The plea by Anwar al-Awlaki appeared in a 23-minute video posted on Monday on Islamic websites. He called on Muslim clerics to do more to encourage attacks on foreign forces in Muslim countries. He also warns Sunni Arabs in the Gulf² region to resist the spread of Shiite-run Iran's influence. Awlaki is linked to al-Qaeda, although his role with the group is unclear. He is wanted dead or alive by the United States and Yemen. He's also been tried in absentia in Yemen for plotting attacks on foreigners. Officials believe the video was made before the failed plot to mail bombs to the United States. Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson, NPR News, Cairo.
A Connecticut man convicted in the 2007 deaths of a woman and her two daughters is getting the death penalty. A jury decided³ today Steven Hayes should be executed. But Dr. William Petit, husband and father of the victims, says he cried over the verdict.
"I was very much insulted, when people asked me last year that if the death penalty were rendered would that somehow give me closure. Absolutely not. You know, this is not about revenge. You know, vengeance⁴ belongs to the Lord. This is about justice."Authorities say Hayes and a codefendant who will be tried next year broke into Petit's home and beat him. They are accused of sexually assaulting and killing⁵ Petit's wife, and prosecutors⁶ say the defendants⁷ also killed the couple's 11 and 17-year-old daughters, who were tied to their beds and doused⁸ in gasoline before the men set the house on fire.
A new study sheds light on what happened to much of the oil that spilled into the Gulf of Mexico this summer. NPR's Debbie Elliott reports it was eaten up by oil-munching bacteria.
Senior scientist Monty Graham at Alabama's Dauphin Island Sea Lab tracked how oil carbon moved through microscopic⁹ sea life in the northern Gulf in the wake of the BP oil spill. He says it worked quickly through the ecosystem¹⁰.
"A large fraction of the oil actually probably became food for bacteria and then, then the bacteria in turn got work up through the food web in the Gulf of Mexico."Graham says there's no evidence that toxic¹¹ elements of the oil have contaminated the food chain. His findings were published in Environmental Research Letters. Debbie Elliott, NPR News.
By the way, a presidentially-appointed commission mostly agrees with BP's own findings about its role in the disaster. In conclusions released today, the commission's chief counsel says the panel could not identify any case when an individual chose dollars over safety.
The Dow's down more than 40 at 11,403.
This is NPR.
Coral reefs are among the world's most endangered ecosystems¹². Almost 20% have disappeared as a result of disease, overfishing and other factors. New research finds that the reefs are struggling to reproduce and recover, as KQED's Amy Standen tells us.
Coral reefs look like they are made of rock or sand, but they are actually formed by tiny sea creatures whose skeletons form the scaffolding of a vast ocean ecosystem. But the ocean is changing, becoming more acidic as it absorbs carbon dioxide emitted by cars and power plants and other sources. And says Rebecca Albright, a Ph.D candidate at the University of Miami.
"The more acidic the oceans become, the more difficult it is for corals to successfully reproduce."Albright says these problems are exacerbating¹³ the challenges that coral already faced.
"If you are losing something at an unprecedented¹⁴ rate, you need to be replacing what you are losing at an equal rate, or else you have a net loss."The key, she says, will be finding ways to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the air. For NPR News, I'm Amy Standen.
Thailand says it has regained¹⁵ control of its borders with Myanmar after witnessing largest one-day influx¹⁶ of refugees in several years. Authorities say thousands of people fled Myanmar after a widely disputed parliamentary election that appeared to lean heavily in the military regime's favor. At least ten people were hurt in clashes along the border. President Obama, who's traveling through Asia, accuses Myanmar's rulers of stealing the election. He also called on the regime to free democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who's been in detention¹⁷ for years. Her house arrest term expired Saturday.

1 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

2 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。

3 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。

4 vengeance   

n.报复，报仇，复仇

参考例句：

• He swore vengeance against the men who murdered his father.他发誓要向那些杀害他父亲的人报仇。
• For years he brooded vengeance.多年来他一直在盘算报仇。

5 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。

6 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

7 defendants   

被告( defendant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The courts heard that the six defendants had been coerced into making a confession. 法官审判时发现6位被告人曾被迫承认罪行。
• As in courts, the defendants are represented by legal counsel. 与法院相同，被告有辩护律师作为代表。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

8 doused   

v.浇水在…上( douse的过去式和过去分词 )；熄灯[火]

参考例句：

• The car was doused in petrol and set alight. 这辆汽车被浇上汽油点燃了。
• He doused the lamp,and we made our way back to the house. 他把灯熄掉，我们就回到屋子里去。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 microscopic   

adj.微小的，细微的，极小的，显微的

参考例句：

• It's impossible to read his microscopic handwriting.不可能看清他那极小的书写字迹。
• A plant's lungs are the microscopic pores in its leaves.植物的肺就是其叶片上微细的气孔。

10 ecosystem   

n.生态系统

参考例句：

• This destroyed the ecosystem of the island.这样破坏了岛上的生态系统。
• We all have an interest in maintaining the integrity of the ecosystem.维持生态系统的完整是我们共同的利益。

11 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

12 ecosystems   

n.生态系统( ecosystem的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There are highly sensitive and delicately balanced ecosystems in the forest. 森林里有高度敏感、灵敏平衡的各种生态系统。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Madagascar's ecosystems range from rainforest to semi-desert. 马达加斯加生态系统类型多样，从雨林到半荒漠等不一而足。 来自辞典例句

13 exacerbating   

v.使恶化，使加重( exacerbate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• This pedagogical understretch is exacerbating social inequalities. 这种教学张力不足加重了社会不平等。 来自互联网
• High fertilizer prices are exacerbating the problem. 高涨的肥料价格更加加剧了问题的恶化。 来自互联网

14 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

15 regained   

复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地

参考例句：

• The majority of the people in the world have regained their liberty. 世界上大多数人已重获自由。
• She hesitated briefly but quickly regained her poise. 她犹豫片刻，但很快恢复了镇静。

16 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。

17 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。