NPR 2010-05-03

New York City police are searching for a white man in his 40s who may have been behind a failed car bombing in Times Square last night. They're poring over hundreds of hours of video surveillance from the area. The device was found in a Nissan Pathfinder with a license¹ plate from a truck found in a junk yard. Police Commissioner² Raymond Kelly says so far, there is no evidence of a Taliban connection.

"Although a Taliban bomb maker³ has claimed on the Internet that the car bomb was placed in Times Square to avenge⁴ the deaths of Mujahideen fighters, we have no evidence to support this claim. Another claim of responsibility emailed to a local news organization is being investigated."

Authorities say the bomb began to detonate last night but never exploded.

President Obama's spending the day on the front lines of an oil spill clean-up that's shaping up to be a bigger environmental threat than BP initially⁵ thought. The company's chairman says BP's safety record did not play a role in the drilling rig explosion that triggered that spill. Near Venice, Louisiana, NPR's Cheryl Corley has details.

There's been little success stopping the flow from BP's ruptured⁶ well on the floor of the sea near the Louisiana coast. And BP Chairman Lamar McKay says it's uncertain how much oil has been released despite estimates of 5,000 barrels a day. During an appearance on ABC('s) "This Week", McKay said the accident did not happen because of lead safety measures. He blamed it on a failed piece of equipment, a blowout preventer which apparently⁷ malfunctioned⁸. McKay says BP is throwing every resource the company has at trying to plug a well that's a mile beneath the sea.

"As you can imagine, this is like doing open-heart surgery at 5,000 feet in the dark with robot-controlled submarines."

McKay says a containment⁹ dome¹⁰ that could be placed over the well is expected to be deployed¹¹ in six to eight days, but it's uncertain when that will become operational. Cheryl Corley, NPR News.

Top officials in the Obama administration continue their attacks on Arizona's new immigration law, but a proponent¹² is warning of disinformation. More from NPR's Allison Keyes.

Former Arizona Governor and now Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says she thinks the law "certainly could invite profiling" and she thinks it's the wrong way to go. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tells NBC's "Meet the Press" the law definitely invites racial profiling.

"I don't think there's any doubt about that because clearly, as I understand the way the law is being explained. If you're a legal resident, you still have to carry papers. Well, how is a law enforcement official supposed to know?"

But former Arizona Republican Congressman¹³ J.D. Hayworth, a current candidate for the US Senate, says the law's designed to enforce federal law. Hayworth calls allegations of the law as racist¹⁴ in nature overblown rhetoric¹⁵ that's meant to move this from a question of enforcement to one of ethnicity.

This is NPR.

The Associated Press reports Tennessee's governor is confirming seven deaths from this weekend's storms. The extent of flood damage is still unknown. The flood's already forced evacuation of hundreds of homes and western Tennessee was expecting several more inches of rain today.

Under the weight of heavy debt, Greece is announcing sharp pay cuts and tax hikes. In Athens, NPR's Sylvia Poggioli explains new austerity measures are key to Greece getting an unprecedented¹⁶ multi-billion-euro rescue package from the European Union and the International Monetary¹⁷ Fund.

In a somber¹⁸ setting, Prime Minister George Papandreou addressed the nation on live TV. Visibly tired after weeks of pounding by the markets and rating agencies, Papandreou called on Greeks to make great sacrifices in order to avoid bankruptcy¹⁹. Later, Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou detailed²⁰ some of the new austerity measures. He said savings²¹ of nearly $40 billion through 2012 would be achieved through public sector²² wage and pension cuts, higher taxes and streamlining government. Civil servants and pensioners²³' annual bonuses will be capped. Taxes on alcohol, tobacco and gasoline will be raised and the top bracket sales tax will rise to 23%. Trade union leaders harshly criticized the new measures and then call for a general strike on Wednesday in protest. Sylvia Poggioli, NPR News, Athens.

More reports today of violence out of Afghanistan. Authorities say there was a bomb attack on a minivan south of the capital. The Associated Press reports at least seven people were killed in the roadside blast in a Taliban stronghold. More than a dozen people are said to be injured.

1 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

2 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

3 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

4 avenge   

v.为...复仇，为...报仇

参考例句：

• He swore to avenge himself on the mafia.他发誓说要向黑手党报仇。
• He will avenge the people on their oppressor.他将为人民向压迫者报仇。

5 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

6 ruptured   

v.（使）破裂( rupture的过去式和过去分词 )；（使体内组织等）断裂；使（友好关系）破裂；使绝交

参考例句：

• They reported that the pipeline had ruptured. 他们报告说管道已经破裂了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The wall through Berlin was finally ruptured, prefiguring the reunification of Germany. 柏林墙终于倒塌了，预示着德国的重新统一。 来自辞典例句

7 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。

8 malfunctioned   

发生故障(malfunction的过去式与过去分词)

参考例句：

• Is there any way the dye pack malfunctioned back at the bank? 什么能使爆色板在银行内就失效？ 来自电影对白
• The malfunctioned roller of his mouse is under repair. 他鼠标的滚轴失灵了，正在修呢。 来自互联网

9 containment   

n.阻止，遏制；容量

参考例句：

• Your list might include such things as cost containment,quality,or customer satisfaction.你的清单上应列有诸如成本控制、产品质量、客户满意程度等内容。
• Insularity and self-containment,it is argued,go hand in hand.他们争论说，心胸狭窄和自我封闭是并存的。

10 dome   

n.圆屋顶，拱顶

参考例句：

• The dome was supported by white marble columns.圆顶由白色大理石柱支撑着。
• They formed the dome with the tree's branches.他们用树枝搭成圆屋顶。

11 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

12 proponent   

n.建议者；支持者；adj.建议的

参考例句：

• Stapp became a strong early proponent of automobile seat belts.斯塔普是力主在汽车上采用座椅安全带的早期倡导者。
• Halsey was identified as a leading proponent of the values of progressive education.哈尔西被认为是进步教育价值观的主要支持者。

13 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

14 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。

15 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

16 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

17 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

18 somber   

adj.昏暗的，阴天的，阴森的，忧郁的

参考例句：

• He had a somber expression on his face.他面容忧郁。
• His coat was a somber brown.他的衣服是暗棕色的。

19 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

20 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

21 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

22 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

23 pensioners   

n.领取退休、养老金或抚恤金的人( pensioner的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He intends to redistribute income from the middle class to poorer paid employees and pensioners. 他意图把中产阶级到低薪雇员和退休人员的收入做重新分配。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I am myself one of the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. 我自己就是一个我们的高贵的施主遗留基金的养老金领取者。 来自辞典例句