NPR 2010-03-30

President Obama is joining other world leaders in condemning¹ today’s suicide bomb attacks on the Moscow subway system, attacks that killed at least 38 people and injured dozens of others. Mr. Obama is calling the bombings “heinous terrorist acts”. He spoke² by phone with his Russian counterpart to express condolences. France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy speaking through an interpreter also made reference to the attacks.

 

“When New York was attacked, it was the world’s democracies who were under attack. And when Moscow is attacked, it is all of us who are attacked. When faced with terrorism and terrorists, we cannot stand divided.”

 

Sarkozy speaking in New York today, one of several US cities that have stepped up security on their transit³ systems following this morning’s attacks which Peter Van Dyk in Moscow reports were carried out by two female suicide bombers⁴.

 

Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has vowed⁵ that the terrorists behind the bombings will be destroyed. The apparently⁶ coordinated⁷ attacks at two Moscow metro⁸ stations during this morning’s rush hour forced Putin to cut short a trip to Siberia. President Dmitry Medvedev said the country’s fight against terrorism would be pursued without hesitation⁹, and he ordered increased security across the country. Terrorist violence has been mostly confined to the largely Muslim North Caucasus region since a series of attacks in 2004, including one on the Moscow subway that killed 39 people. But more than two dozen passengers died last November in a bombing on a Moscow-St. Petersburg express train sparking fears of a widening of militants’ activities. For NPR News, I’m Peter Van Dyk in Moscow.

 

Nine members of an anti-government militia¹⁰ group based in Michigan are facing conspiracy¹¹ and weapons charges. Most of the suspects were arraigned¹² today in Detroit. NPR’s Dina Temple-Raston reports the indictment¹³ says group members regard law enforcement agencies as their enemy.

 

The group’s name is Hutaree, and it is an anti-government extremist militia. Prosecutors¹⁴ say they wanted to kill an unidentified law enforcement officer and then boost the body count by attacking his funeral. They allegedly were prepared to plant roadside bombs along the funeral route to kill more law enforcement officials. FBI agents say this latest plot is not connected to threats that follow passage of health care legislation. Officials have been watching the Hutaree members for several years, as they allegedly stockpiled weapons, ammunition¹⁵ and explosives. Officials said the group was rounded up over the weekend in order to short-circuit operation they had planned for next month. Dina Temple-Raston, NPR News.

 

The Treasury¹⁶ Department says it’s set to begin selling the government’s stake in Citigroup, a move that could net the Treasury more than seven billion dollars in profit. The government got Citigroup’s stock in exchange for 25 billion at loan to bank to keep it afloat during the credit crisis. The Commerce Department says consumer spending has increased for a fifth straight month. Analysts¹⁷ say those numbers were favorable enough to boost stock prices today; the Dow up 44 points just before the close.

 

This is NPR News from Washington.

 

The Justice Department says it has reached a settlement with the school district in Upstate New York in a case involving harassment¹⁸ of a gay teenager. As NPR’s Ari Shapiro reports, federal prosecutors used a novel interpretation¹⁹ of the law known as Title IX to intervene in this case.

 

The high school student in this case was only identified by his first name, Jacob. He was bullied²⁰ for acting²¹ effeminate. His lawyers say school officials knew about the problem and refused to intervene. One teacher allegedly told Jacob to hate himself every day until he changed. In January, the Justice Department stepped in. They argued that Title IX does not only protect students from gender²² discrimination. They said the law also covers discrimination based on gender expression. That is to say, boys who act like girls. It’s a legal argument the government had not made since the Clinton administration. Now the school district has agreed to pay Jacob $50,000, legal fees, and the cost of therapy. The district will also put staff through anti-harassment training. Ari Shapiro, NPR News, Washington.

 

Prosecutors in Massachusetts have charged nine teenagers in connection with the bullying²³ of 15-year-old Phoebe Prince. Investigators²⁴ say the girl was raped²⁵ and then tormented²⁶ for months before she finally killed herself. District Attorney Elizabeth Scheibel.

 

“The investigation²⁷ revealed relentless²⁸ activity directed toward Phoebe, designed to humiliate²⁹ her and to make it impossible for her to remain at school. The bullying for her became intolerable.”

 

Scheibel says the bullying occurred both in person and on line. The case helped prompt Massachusetts lawmakers to pass anti-bullying legislation earlier this month.

 

I’m Craig Windham, NPR News in Washington.
 

1 condemning   

v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的现在分词 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地

参考例句：

• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。
• I concur with the speaker in condemning what has been done. 我同意发言者对所做的事加以谴责。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

2 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。

3 transit   

n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过

参考例句：

• His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
• The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。

4 bombers   

n.轰炸机( bomber的名词复数 )；投弹手；安非他明胶囊；大麻叶香烟

参考例句：

• Enemy bombers carried out a blitz on the city. 敌军轰炸机对这座城市进行了突袭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Royal Airforce sill remained dangerously short of bombers. 英国皇家空军仍未脱离极为缺乏轰炸机的危境。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

6 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。

7 coordinated   

adj.协调的

参考例句：

• The sound has to be coordinated with the picture. 声音必须和画面协调一致。
• The numerous existing statutes are complicated and poorly coordinated. 目前繁多的法令既十分复杂又缺乏快调。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

8 metro   

n.地铁；adj.大都市的；(METRO)麦德隆(财富500强公司之一总部所在地德国，主要经营零售)

参考例句：

• Can you reach the park by metro?你可以乘地铁到达那个公园吗？
• The metro flood gate system is a disaster prevention equipment.地铁防淹门系统是一种防灾设备。

9 hesitation   

n.犹豫，踌躇

参考例句：

• After a long hesitation, he told the truth at last.踌躇了半天，他终于直说了。
• There was a certain hesitation in her manner.她的态度有些犹豫不决。

10 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

11 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

12 arraigned   

v.告发( arraign的过去式和过去分词 )；控告；传讯；指责

参考例句：

• He was arraigned for murder. 他因谋杀罪而被提讯。
• She was arraigned for high treason. 她被控叛国罪。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

13 indictment   

n.起诉；诉状

参考例句：

• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。
• They issued an indictment against them.他们起诉了他们。

14 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。

15 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

16 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

17 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

18 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

19 interpretation   

n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理

参考例句：

• His statement admits of one interpretation only.他的话只有一种解释。
• Analysis and interpretation is a very personal thing.分析与说明是个很主观的事情。

20 bullied   

adj.被欺负了v.恐吓，威逼( bully的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• My son is being bullied at school. 我儿子在学校里受欺负。
• The boy bullied the small girl into giving him all her money. 那男孩威逼那个小女孩把所有的钱都给他。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

22 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

23 bullying   

v.恐吓，威逼( bully的现在分词 )；豪；跋扈

参考例句：

• Many cases of bullying go unreported . 很多恐吓案件都没有人告发。
• All cases of bullying will be severely dealt with. 所有以大欺小的情况都将受到严肃处理。 来自《简明英汉词典》

24 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

25 raped   

v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的过去式和过去分词 )；强奸

参考例句：

• A young woman was brutally raped in her own home. 一名年轻女子在自己家中惨遭强暴。 来自辞典例句
• We got stick together, or we will be having our women raped. 我们得团结一致，不然我们的妻女就会遭到蹂躏。 来自辞典例句

26 tormented   

饱受折磨的

参考例句：

• The knowledge of his guilt tormented him. 知道了自己的罪责使他非常痛苦。
• He had lain awake all night, tormented by jealousy. 他彻夜未眠，深受嫉妒的折磨。

27 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

28 relentless   

adj.残酷的，不留情的，无怜悯心的

参考例句：

• The traffic noise is relentless.交通车辆的噪音一刻也不停止。
• Their training has to be relentless.他们的训练必须是无情的。

29 humiliate   

v.使羞辱，使丢脸[同]disgrace

参考例句：

• What right had they to bully and humiliate people like this?凭什么把人欺侮到这个地步呢？
• They pay me empty compliments which only humiliate me.他们虚情假意地恭维我，这只能使我感到羞辱。