NPR 2010-12-22

New rules for Internet service providers today from the Federal Communications Commission. They are designed to keep broadband landline companies from interfering¹ with information flow to their customers. NPR's Paul Brown reports the plan largely exempts² wireless³ Internet providers.

The FCC Chairman, Democrat⁴ Julius Genachowski, characterizes the so-called "net neutrality" rules as a workable compromise, denying wire-line Internet service providers the power to slow or block the flow of content to their subscribers. The two other Democrats⁵ voting yes say the protections are too weak, especially for people who depend primarily on wireless Internet service the rules largely don't affect. And the FCC's two Republicans say the commission should stay out of the issue. They say it doesn't have legal standing⁶ to regulate the Internet, and claim the chairman, with President Obama's blessing⁷, is inventing a problem that doesn't need to fix. The rules may face heavy scrutiny⁸ from the incoming House of Representatives with its GOP majority and legal challenges. Paul Brown, NPR News, Washington.

A new arms treaty with Russia seems to have enough Republican support to pass the Senate. A handful of GOP lawmakers announced their support today. NPR's Ari Shapiro reports.

Two-thirds of the Senate must vote to ratify⁹ the so-called "New START" treaty. The White House is lobbying fiercely for the agreement. President Obama has called many senators, as have Republican former secretaries of state and military leaders who endorsed¹⁰ the treaty. Now it seems to White House spokesman Robert Gibbs that those efforts have paid off.

"We remain extremely confident that this is a treaty that the Senate will believe is in the best interest of our national security."

Passage of this treaty will be the latest in a series of legislative¹¹ victories for President Obama during a lame¹² duck session that also included a tax-cut deal with Republicans and the repeal¹³ of "don't ask, don't tell". Ari Shapiro, NPR News, the White House.

Iraqi lawmakers have taken a critical step forward toward forming a new government after a nine-month power struggle. NPR's Kelly McEvers reports second-term Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has nominated most of his top cabinet posts.

Maliki's nominations¹⁴ to key cabinet posts were unanimously approved by the Iraqi parliament. The move ended a long political stalemate after parliamentary elections in March here were too close to call. Maliki, a Shia, has ceded¹⁵ some power to his political rivals in Sunni and Kurdish parties. But he has yet to name the top security posts. This in a country just a few years beyond a civil war where insurgents¹⁶ still attack officials and civilians¹⁷. Kelly McEvers, NPR News, Baghdad.

2010 census¹⁸ findings are out today. They show population growth in the South and West, and that will reshape the political landscape as some states pick up seats in Congress and others will lose some.

On Wall Street at this hour, the Dow is up 50 points at 11,528; the NASDAQ is up 17.

This is NPR News.

Six straight days of heavy rains have taken their toll¹⁹ on southern California. NPR's Karen Grigsby Bates reports residents in some parts of the region are digging and even sawing their way through the damage.

Parts of greater Los Angeles and Orange Counties have received so much rain so quickly from a series of winter storms that tree damages become a problem. Reports from the region say large trees were ripped loose from supersaturated earth and toppled onto cars, homes and into streets. Luckily, no injuries have been reported. Several areas of the region have suffered power outages in the last two days. And flash flooding has prompted rescues. One woman in San Bernardino County was pulled from her truck after water rose to her dashboard. And emergency personnel retrieved²⁰ four hikers from an Orange County canyon²¹ when they couldn't return to their vehicle. The forecast for Wednesday, more rain. Karen Grigsby Bates, NPR News.

Colorado is also getting slammed by a winter storm creating blizzard²² conditions.  Stacey Stegman of Colorado's Transportation Department says many drivers aren't taking precautions.

"The biggest problem we've seen is, either semis that aren't chained up and they've been sliding off the road, or just general vehicles taking people going a little bit too fast for conditions, and then when you see one person start to lose control, it kind of spirals."

Parts of the state could see eight feet of snow by Friday.

European airports are still struggling to get flights off the ground days after a major snowfall. Only one runway is operating at London's Heathrow, Europe's busiest. Prime Minister David Cameron is offering troops to help. The EU's top transportation official says the failure to respond to severe whether conditions by Europe's airports is unacceptable and is threatening tighter regulation.

1 interfering   

adj. 妨碍的 动词interfere的现在分词

参考例句：

• He's an interfering old busybody! 他老爱管闲事！
• I wish my mother would stop interfering and let me make my own decisions. 我希望我母亲不再干预，让我自己拿主意。

2 exempts   

使免除[豁免]( exempt的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• This privilege, however, exempts only predecisional documents. 然而，此特权只免除那些文件在作出决定之前的披露责任。
• Function effectiveness: After then special-purpose, exempts the flushing formula. 功能效用：便后专用，免冲洗配方。

3 wireless   

adj.无线的；n.无线电

参考例句：

• There are a lot of wireless links in a radio.收音机里有许多无线电线路。
• Wireless messages tell us that the ship was sinking.无线电报告知我们那艘船正在下沉。

4 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

5 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》

6 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

7 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。

8 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

9 ratify   

v.批准，认可，追认

参考例句：

• The heads of two governments met to ratify the peace treaty.两国政府首脑会晤批准和平条约。
• The agreement have to be ratify by the board.该协议必须由董事会批准。

10 endorsed   

vt.& vi.endorse的过去式或过去分词形式v.赞同( endorse的过去式和过去分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• The committee endorsed an initiative by the chairman to enter discussion about a possible merger. 委员会通过了主席提出的新方案，开始就可能进行的并购进行讨论。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The government has broadly endorsed a research paper proposing new educational targets for 14-year-olds. 政府基本上支持建议对14 岁少年实行新教育目标的研究报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

12 lame   

adj.跛的，(辩解、论据等)无说服力的

参考例句：

• The lame man needs a stick when he walks.那跛脚男子走路时需借助拐棍。
• I don't believe his story.It'sounds a bit lame.我不信他讲的那一套。他的话听起来有些靠不住。

13 repeal   

n.废止，撤消；v.废止，撤消

参考例句：

• He plans to repeal a number of current policies.他计划废除一些当前的政策。
• He has made out a strong case for the repeal of the law.他提出强有力的理由，赞成废除该法令。

14 nominations   

n.提名，任命( nomination的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Nominations are invited for the post of party chairman. 为党主席职位征集候选人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Much coverage surrounded his abortive bids for the 1960,1964, and 1968 Republican Presidential nominations. 许多消息报道都围绕着1960年、1964年和1968年他为争取提名为共和党总统候选人所做努力的失败。 来自辞典例句

15 ceded   

v.让给，割让，放弃( cede的过去式 )

参考例句：

• Cuba was ceded by Spain to the US in 1898. 古巴在1898年被西班牙割让给美国。
• A third of the territory was ceded to France. 领土的三分之一割让给了法国。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

17 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。

18 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

19 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

20 retrieved   

v.取回( retrieve的过去式和过去分词 )；恢复；寻回；检索（储存的信息）

参考例句：

• Yesterday I retrieved the bag I left in the train. 昨天我取回了遗留在火车上的包。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He reached over and retrieved his jacket from the back seat. 他伸手从后座上取回了自己的夹克。 来自辞典例句

21 canyon   

n.峡谷，溪谷

参考例句：

• The Grand Canyon in the USA is 1900 metres deep.美国的大峡谷1900米深。
• The canyon is famous for producing echoes.这个峡谷以回声而闻名。

22 blizzard   

n.暴风雪

参考例句：

• The blizzard struck while we were still on the mountain.我们还在山上的时候暴风雪就袭来了。
• You'll have to stay here until the blizzard blows itself off.你得等暴风雪停了再走。