NPR 2010-03-01

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Lakshmi Singh.

 

Hundreds more Chileans are confirmed dead from one of the worst earthquakes ever in the South American country. Today, President Michelle Bachelet said the death toll¹ had pushed up to 708 across central and coastal² communities shattered by the 8.8 temblor. The BBC's Candace Piette reports the infrastructure³ damage is severe and widespread.

 

The quake, which hit early on Saturday morning, has wrecked⁴ much of Chile's road system and plunged⁵ large parts of Santiago into darkness. To the south near the epicenter of the quake near Concepcion, TV pictures are showing severe damage. Whole apartment buildings and bridges are down. The damage to the road systems and to communications has made it impossible to find out the true scale of the impact of what has been called the worst earthquake in Chile in 50 years. The BBC's Candace Piette reporting.

 

There are also reports of widespread looting, and police had to use tear gas and water cannons⁶ to disperse⁷ the crowds.

 

Congress’s leading Democrats⁸ are calling on the party to unite behind healthcare legislation and get it passed with or without Republican support. They’re expected to use a procedure known as reconciliation⁹, generally reserved for budget measures. But Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey¹⁰ says it may be necessary to overcome GOP opposition¹¹.

 

"I think Americans should know that when we hear the words about reconciliation, it is simple - simply a majority vote, 51 out of 100, on certain budget elements."

 

But Republican Senator John Kyl of Arizona says the reconciliation rule should not be applied¹² to healthcare legislation.

 

"Robert Byrd, who actually wrote the reconciliation rule, has said that its application in this case would be an outrage¹³ that should be, that must be resisted."

 

Senators Menendez and Kyl both appeared on Fox News Sunday.

 

Islamist extremists' websites are posting a posthumous¹⁴ video message from a Jordanian-al-Qaeda double agent, who killed seven CIA operatives in Afghanistan. We have more details from Dale Gavlak in Amman.

 

The video of Jordanian doctor Humam Abu Mulal al-Balawi was apparently¹⁵ filmed shortly before he blew himself up late last year. Al-Balawi spoke¹⁶ of his recruitment by Jordanian intelligence and how he double-crossed them after they sent him to Afghanistan to spy on al-Qaeda. He said he had only expected to kill his Jordanian handler Ali bin¹⁷ Zaid, a member of the royal family. Killing¹⁸ CIA personnel was an incredible game, he said. Al-Balawi called his suicide bombing the best way to teach a lesson to both Jordanian intelligence and the CIA. The blast was one of the worst losses for the CIA and exposed the close cooperation between the US and Jordanian spy services. For NPR News, I'm Dale Gavlak in Amman.

 

Power outages persist in storm-hit northeastern US, 200,000 without power.

 

This is NPR.

 

A ice hockey frenzy¹⁹ comes to ahead this hour when the US and Canada meet each other in the gold-medal game. From Vancouver, NPR's Dianna Douglas reports.

 

All the hockey fans, who were left unsatisfied by the first Canada-US game and they were mostly Canadians, have gotten their wish for a rematch. This time, the winner takes the gold. Canada felt hard to the US in the preliminaries and has fought their way back from the brink²⁰ of elimination²¹ to get into the gold-medal game. The US team has played with discipline and focus, and has won decisive victories in every game so far at this Olympics. This game will settle the hockey question for the next four years, although it won't decide the overall winner of the Olympics medals race. That is a question of accounting²². The US will take home the most medals while Canada has won the most golds. Dianna Douglas, NPR News, Vancouver.

 

The president of Toyota is trying to repair his company's image with the trip to the world's largest automaker in the coming week. Akio Toyoda is due to speak to reporters in Beijing tomorrow to ease consumer concerns over the safety of the Japanese company's cars and trucks. Toyota has recalled millions of vehicles worldwide over acceleration²³ and braking problems. The majority of the recalls are in the US. Toyota's executives were grilled²⁴ by US lawmakers last week, and they're expecting a similar reception from Canada's parliament.

 

Haiti's struggle to rebuild from an earthquake in January is further complicated this weekend by severe flooding along the southern peninsula. Authorities say at least eight people are dead. They also say that a prison flooded is prompting them to evacuate²⁵ hundreds of inmates²⁶.

 

I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News, Washington.

 

1 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。

2 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

3 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

4 wrecked   

adj.失事的，遇难的

参考例句：

• the hulk of a wrecked ship 遇难轮船的残骸
• the salvage of the wrecked tanker 对失事油轮的打捞

5 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

6 cannons   

n.加农炮，大炮，火炮( cannon的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Cannons bombarded enemy lines. 大炮轰击了敌军阵地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• One company had been furnished with six cannons. 某连队装备了六门大炮。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 disperse   

vi.使分散；使消失；vt.分散；驱散

参考例句：

• The cattle were swinging their tails to disperse the flies.那些牛甩动着尾巴驱赶苍蝇。
• The children disperse for the holidays.孩子们放假了。

8 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》

9 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

10 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。

11 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。

12 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

13 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。

14 posthumous   

adj.遗腹的；父亡后出生的；死后的，身后的

参考例句：

• He received a posthumous award for bravery.他表现勇敢，死后受到了嘉奖。
• The legendary actor received a posthumous achievement award.这位传奇男星在过世后获得终身成就奖的肯定。

15 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。

16 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

17 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

18 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。

19 frenzy   

n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动

参考例句：

• He was able to work the young students up into a frenzy.他能激起青年学生的狂热。
• They were singing in a frenzy of joy.他们欣喜若狂地高声歌唱。

20 brink   

n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿

参考例句：

• The tree grew on the brink of the cliff.那棵树生长在峭壁的边缘。
• The two countries were poised on the brink of war.这两个国家处于交战的边缘。

21 elimination   

n.排除，消除，消灭

参考例句：

• Their elimination from the competition was a great surprise.他们在比赛中遭到淘汰是个很大的意外。
• I was eliminated from the 400 metres in the semi-finals.我在400米半决赛中被淘汰。

22 accounting   

n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表

参考例句：

• A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
• There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。

23 acceleration   

n.加速，加速度

参考例句：

• All spacemen must be able to bear acceleration.所有太空人都应能承受加速度。
• He has also called for an acceleration of political reforms.他同时呼吁加快政治改革的步伐。

24 grilled   

adj. 烤的, 炙过的, 有格子的 动词grill的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• He was grilled for two hours before the police let him go. 他被严厉盘查了两个小时后，警察才放他走。
• He was grilled until he confessed. 他被严加拷问，直到他承认为止。

25 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

26 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》