NPR 2010-12-10

In Britain, thousands of students are crowded around Parliament in protest at today's vote to triple university tuition. The plan to cap tuition fees to the equivalent of $14,000 was approved 323-302 in the House of Commons, where supporters said the cost was still far lower than what college students have to pay in the US. That was hardly enough to quell¹ anger outside Parliament, where police in riot gear tussled with some students.

Meanwhile, a huge battle over the budget is playing out at the US Capitol. House Democrats² are refusing to consider the current form of the tax bill compromise that President Obama struck this week with Republicans, saying it's much a resolution passed today. They accuse the president of going back on his pledge to do away with the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. President Obama says he still succeeded in protecting cuts for the middle class. And the GOP says the wealthiest taxpayers³ who are capable of generating jobs should not be penalized⁴.

The Senate today put off action on a measure that would give a path to citizenship⁵ to some young immigrants in the US illegally. We have more on this from NPR's Brian Naylor.

The Senate voted to delay for now action on the DREAM Act. The bill would give an estimated two million immigrants who came to the country with their parents legal status, if they graduate from high school and go on to attend college or serve in the military for two years. The measure has been a political priority for Democratic leaders and has the backing of the Obama administration and the military. Some Republicans, though, say it's a back-door form of amnesty that would take jobs away from US-born workers. The measure was approved by the House and could come up again for a vote in the Senate, but supporters there have conceded they lack the 60 votes necessary to begin debate on the bill under the rules of the chamber⁶. Brian Naylor, NPR News, Washington.

In the latest unauthorized release from Wikileaks, when Somali pirates hijacked⁷ a ship filled with Russian tanks last year, the Kenyan government claimed it had ordered them. But as NPR's Frank Langfitt tells us, according to Wikileaks, satellite photos showed that earlier tank shipments had gone to southern Sudan.

It was an embarrassing discovery, the secret shipment of 30 Soviet-era tanks. The pirates made the most of it. They released the Ukrainian freighter and its cargo⁸ for more than three million dollars. Ukraine tried to insist the tanks were for Kenya, but the United States apparently⁹ knew better and showed the Ukrainians the satellite images according to Wikileaks. The exchange was made public this week by Britain's Guardian¹⁰ newspaper. The United States was worried about an arms race in Sudan. North and South Sudan had fought Africa's longest civil war. Next month, the South is scheduled to vote on independence. The situation is tense and there are reports of a military buildup on both sides of the border, including tanks. Frank Langfitt, NPR News, Nairobi.

This is NPR.

In Iraq, old rules banning alcohol are resurfacing as religious conservatives take aim at a nightclub and restaurant culture in Baghdad. NPR's Deborah Amos has the latest from the Iraqi capital.

Iraq was one of the first predominantly Muslim countries to legalize the sale of alcohol back in the 1930s. In post-Saddam Iraq, the reoccurring ban is a symbol of the struggle between secular¹¹ Iraq and Islamist political parties. The growing power of the Islamists is bad news for Iraq's Christians¹³, says Younadim Kanna, a Christian¹² leader in parliament.

"We'll test to the measures. One is a very bad signal of our freedom of people, freedom."

In Iraq, Christians are the only religious group allowed to sell alcohol, so the ban is an economic hardship, says Kanna.

"Lower jobs for those families."

Deborah Amos, NPR News, Baghdad.

Actor Wesley Snipes is now in federal prison, serving a three-year sentence for failing to file income tax returns. The 48-year-old arrived at a minimum-security prison camp in northwest Pennsylvania today after last-minute appeals fell through. The site houses 300 nonviolent inmates¹⁴.

Parts of Europe are dealing¹⁵ with major travel headaches after heavy snowfall and ice. Paris on accumulation of four inches of snow yesterday; bus service was shut down in the city; many flights were canceled or delayed. Unable to leave Paris, the singer Shakira had to cancel last night's concert in Frankfurt, where 11,000 fans were told to go home.

At last check on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 18 points at 11,355; NASDAQ up seven at 2,616.

I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News.

1 quell   

v.压制，平息，减轻

参考例句：

• Soldiers were sent in to quell the riots.士兵们被派去平息骚乱。
• The armed force had to be called out to quell violence.不得不出动军队来镇压暴力行动。

2 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

4 penalized   

对…予以惩罚( penalize的过去式和过去分词 )； 使处于不利地位

参考例句：

• You will be penalized for poor spelling. 你拼写不好将会受到处罚。
• Team members will be penalized for lateness. 队员迟到要受处罚。

5 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

6 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

7 hijacked   

劫持( hijack的过去式和过去分词 )； 绑架； 拦路抢劫； 操纵（会议等，以推销自己的意图）

参考例句：

• The plane was hijacked by two armed men on a flight from London to Rome. 飞机在从伦敦飞往罗马途中遭到两名持械男子劫持。
• The plane was hijacked soon after it took off. 那架飞机起飞后不久被劫持了。

8 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

9 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

10 guardian   

n.监护人；守卫者，保护者

参考例句：

• The form must be signed by the child's parents or guardian. 这张表格须由孩子的家长或监护人签字。
• The press is a guardian of the public weal. 报刊是公共福利的卫护者。

11 secular   

n.牧师，凡人；adj.世俗的，现世的，不朽的

参考例句：

• We live in an increasingly secular society.我们生活在一个日益非宗教的社会。
• Britain is a plural society in which the secular predominates.英国是个世俗主导的多元社会。

12 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

13 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

14 inmates   

n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• One of the inmates has escaped. 被收容的人中有一个逃跑了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The inmates were moved to an undisclosed location. 监狱里的囚犯被转移到一个秘密处所。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。