NPR 2010-04-12

President Obama is holding meetings with world leaders on the eve of a nuclear security summit in Washington, D.C. One notable absence from this week’s conference is the prime minister of Israel. Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent decision to keep expanding settlements in the West Bank over U.S. objections is straining relations. But Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is downplaying any notion that Israel’s absence makes matters worse, “We have a deep and very close relationship between the United States and Israel that goes back many years. That doesn’t mean we’re gonna agree on anything. We don’t agree with any of our friends on everything.” Clinton appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press”. Security surrounding the summit is getting tighter, as NPR’s Danielle Karson reports.

 

Wall-high chain-link fences are already up around Washington, D.C.’s Convention Center where the summit is being held. The security perimeter¹ will be tight for good reason. It will be the largest gathering² of world leaders hosted by a U.S. president since the 1945 San Francisco Conference that led to the founding of the United Nations. Once they get down to business tomorrow, the White House has laid out an ambitious goal. It wants to make the security of nuclear materials every country's business, not just the bilateral³ effort between the U.S. and Russia. President Obama campaigned on a pledge to rid the world of nuclear weapons. His goal is to secure all nuclear material within four years. For NPR News, I’m Danielle Karson in Washington.

 

Poland enters a week of mourning following the plane crash in western Russia that killed its president. All 96 people onboard died in the accident, which occurred as the pilot attempted to land in heavy fog. Russian officials say 24 bodies have been identified so far. Peter Van Dyke⁴ has details from Moscow.

 

The bodies of Polish President Lech Kaczynski and his wife Maria were identified by his twin brother Jaroslaw, the leader of Poland’s Law and Justice Party. The plane was carrying a delegation⁵ of top public figures to a ceremony for the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre⁶ when thousands of Polish officers were killed by Soviet⁷ secret police. Russian officials were reported saying the pilot ignored air traffic control instructions not to land. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is overseeing the investigation⁸ and recordings⁹ of communications between the cockpit and the ground or being replayed from the plane’s black boxes. Most of the bodies recovered at the crash site have been flown to Moscow to be identified. For NPR News, I’m Peter Van Dyke in Moscow.

 

Tens of thousands of Poles are paying final respects to their leader whose death yesterday sent shockwaves across the nation. The body of Polish President Lech Kaczynski returned today to Poland from Russia. Again, his plane had crashed and dozens of Poland’s top brass¹⁰ were also killed on that flight. Their bodies are being identified and are expected to return to Poland in the coming days.

 

This is NPR.

 

National elections are underway in Sudan. The long-awaited vote is expected to favor incumbent¹¹ President Omar al-Bashir who came to power in a military coup¹², but Bashir’s anticipated victory maybe undermined by a lack of strong competition. NPR’s Gwen Tompkins reports that many in the political opposition¹³ are boycotting¹⁴ the process.

 

Omar al-Bashir voted Sunday at the St. Francis School in Khartoum near the army headquarters compound where he lives. Election’s rules forbid candidates from making statements on election day, so he did not speak to the press, along queue of army soldiers and police waited patiently to vote. But for many Sudanese, who have also waited 24 years to participate in multi-party elections, the choices have dwindled¹⁵. Most of Bashir’s strongest competitors have dropped out of the race, citing vote rigging on the part of the ruling party. Bashir says his opponents are complaining because he’s more popular than they are. International monitors are witnessing the vote, but a worrying sign appears to be that the indelible ink being used to mark people as having voted once is not so indelible. It appears to rub off fairly easily. Gwen Tompkins, NPR News, Khartoum.

 

The president of Chile where earthquake recovery is still underway is looking for advice from New Orleans’ post-Hurricane Katrina. President Sebastian Pinera toured the Louisiana City today with Mayor Ray Nagin. Pinera says it’ll take several years for Chile to recover from February’s 8.8-magnitude quake. That temblor triggered a tsunami¹⁶ and devastated¹⁷ many coastal¹⁸ areas.

 

In Iraq, the coalition¹⁹ led by the Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is calling for a recount of votes from last month’s elections. They say that up to 750,000 votes have been tainted²⁰ from fraud.

 

1 perimeter   

n.周边，周长，周界

参考例句：

• The river marks the eastern perimeter of our land.这条河标示我们的土地东面的边界。
• Drinks in hands,they wandered around the perimeter of the ball field.他们手里拿着饮料在球场周围漫不经心地遛跶。

2 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

3 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

4 dyke   

n.堤，水坝，排水沟

参考例句：

• If one sheep leap over the dyke,all the rest will follow.一只羊跳过沟，其余的羊也跟着跳。
• One ant-hole may cause the collapse of a thousand-li dyke.千里长堤，溃于蚁穴。

5 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

6 massacre   

n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀

参考例句：

• There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在战争中，这里的村民惨遭屠杀。
• If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘记了大屠杀，大屠杀就有可能再次发生！

7 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

8 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。

9 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐

10 brass   

n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器

参考例句：

• Many of the workers play in the factory's brass band.许多工人都在工厂铜管乐队中演奏。
• Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc.黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。

11 incumbent   

adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的

参考例句：

• He defeated the incumbent governor by a large plurality.他以压倒多数票击败了现任州长。
• It is incumbent upon you to warn them.你有责任警告他们。

12 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

13 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。

14 boycotting   

抵制，拒绝参加( boycott的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• They're boycotting the shop because the people there are on strike. 他们抵制那家商店，因为那里的店员在罢工。
• The main opposition parties are boycotting the elections. 主要反对党都抵制此次选举。

15 dwindled   

v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Support for the party has dwindled away to nothing. 支持这个党派的人渐渐化为乌有。
• His wealth dwindled to nothingness. 他的钱财化为乌有。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

17 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

18 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。

19 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

20 tainted   

adj.腐坏的；污染的；沾污的；感染的v.使变质( taint的过去式和过去分词 )；使污染；败坏；被污染，腐坏，败坏

参考例句：

• The administration was tainted with scandal. 丑闻使得政府声名狼藉。
• He was considered tainted by association with the corrupt regime. 他因与腐败政府有牵连而名誉受损。 来自《简明英汉词典》