NPR 2010-05-09

BP's attempt at securing a chamber¹ around the source of an expanding oil spill in the Gulf² of Mexico may be in trouble. In a news briefing moments ago, CEO Doug Suttles said ice crystals had formed inside the containment³ dome⁴ when it was placed over the leak source. The chamber's been moved to the side.

"The dome is currently sitting on the seabed while we evaluate options to deal with the hydrate issue. We believe that it'll probably take the next two days to look for opportunities to try to overcome this challenge."

The operation's never been tried before this deep underwater. Coast Guard Rear Admiral Mary Landry reminds the public it's also a short-term fix.

"This dome is no silver bullet to stop the leak and we continue to work on all fronts with more than 10,000 personnel now and the support of the governmental, international, scientific and industry experts. This is an all-hands-on-deck evolution."

Separately, crews conducted several controlled burns yesterday. But winds have picked up, since then, preventing any burns of the thickest concentrations of oil from the spill today.

Recovery is likely to come slowly to severely⁵ flooded parts of Tennessee. But as Anne Marshall reports, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is pledging long-term help.

"Thank you guys for doing what you're doing."

Secretary Napolitano greeted volunteers and reassured⁶ flood victims of the government support during her stop in Nashville. She says federal wheels are in motion. FEMA is completing home inspections⁷ and four million dollars has already been allocated⁸ to individuals. Napolitano says FEMA and other federal agencies will be in Tennessee for several months and her trip is just a beginning.

"We want to make sure we're going into every area. We've got eyes on the ground, mass on target in terms of knowing where the damages are and who needs help."

Napolitano says President Obama is being briefed daily on the floods. Thirty have died across the state and damages are estimated at $1.5 billion. For NPR News, I'm Anne Marshall in Nashville.

There's been an explosion at a coal mine in Siberia. Russian authorities say about 200 miners were underground at the time. The Reuters news service is reporting possible fatalities⁹.

People flying between Europe and North America are running into flight delays because of a spreading ash cloud from a volcanic¹⁰ eruption¹¹ in Iceland. A massive plume¹² stretches across much of the northern Atlantic. Planes are being rerouted north and south off the 1,200-mile-long cloud, adding about an hour to normal flight schedules. The cloud has reached northern Spain, forcing several airports to shut down today.

The Palestine Liberation Organization is supporting indirect talks with Israel, clearing the path now for the first negotiations¹³ in a year and a half. US envoy¹⁴ George Mitchell is expected to shuttle between Israeli and Palestinian leaders. The West Bank's Fatah rulers support the plan. However, Hamas which runs Gaza is opposed.

This is NPR.

An Iranian civilian¹⁵ that France refused to extradite to the United States is back home in Iran after a year's detention¹⁶ in Paris. Eleanor Beardsley reports that a French court rejected US allegations that the engineer was buying sensitive technology and illegally exporting it to Iran.

Majid Kakavand spoke¹⁷ to reporters earlier this week just after the French court's decision.

"It is a great moment for me because the image that the Americans had made for me, now everybody can understand, was not true."

The 37-year-old engineer was taken into custody¹⁸ in March, 2009 as he arrived in Paris for a vacation. He was arrested after US authorities accused him of buying electronics components¹⁹ from companies in New Jersey²⁰, Alabama and California through a Malaysian firm and exporting them illegally to Iran. The US said the technology could be used for military purposes, but a French appeals court rejected those allegations after the country's intelligence services concluded that the electronics components could not be considered potentially dangerous. For NPR News, I'm Eleanor Beardsley in Paris.

This weekend, eurozone leaders have been putting final touches on a plan to keep Greece's debt crisis from spreading to Spain and Portugal. The turmoil²¹ was a factor in the Dow's record plunge²² two days ago.

President Obama says the new healthcare law is already delivering results. In his weekly address, he notes that insurance companies are being held more accountable to patients, and that small businesses and senior citizens can collect on tax credits and rebates²³. But GOP critics warn the quality of healthcare will suffer and economic recovery will be compromised.

This morning, a Staten Island ferry crashed into a pier²⁴. Authorities say dozens of people were injured, at least one of them seriously.
 

1 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

2 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

3 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。

4 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。

5 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

6 reassured   

adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The captain's confidence during the storm reassured the passengers. 在风暴中船长的信念使旅客们恢复了信心。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The doctor reassured the old lady. 医生叫那位老妇人放心。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 inspections   

n.检查( inspection的名词复数 )；检验；视察；检阅

参考例句：

• Regular inspections are carried out at the prison. 经常有人来视察这座监狱。
• Government inspections ensure a high degree of uniformity in the standard of service. 政府检查确保了在服务标准方面的高度一致。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 allocated   

adj. 分配的 动词allocate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The Ford Foundation allocated millions of dollars for cancer research. 福特基金会拨款数百万美元用于癌症研究。
• More funds will now be allocated to charitable organizations. 现在会拨更多的资金给慈善组织。

9 fatalities   

n.恶性事故( fatality的名词复数 )；死亡；致命性；命运

参考例句：

• Several people were injured, but there were no fatalities. 有几个人受伤，但没有人死亡。
• The accident resulted in fatalities. 那宗意外道致多人死亡。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 volcanic   

adj.火山的；象火山的；由火山引起的

参考例句：

• There have been several volcanic eruptions this year.今年火山爆发了好几次。
• Volcanic activity has created thermal springs and boiling mud pools.火山活动产生了温泉和沸腾的泥浆池。

11 eruption   

n.火山爆发；（战争等）爆发；（疾病等）发作

参考例句：

• The temple was destroyed in the violent eruption of 1470 BC.庙宇在公元前1470年猛烈的火山爆发中摧毁了。
• The eruption of a volcano is spontaneous.火山的爆发是自发的。

12 plume   

n.羽毛；v.整理羽毛，骚首弄姿，用羽毛装饰

参考例句：

• Her hat was adorned with a plume.她帽子上饰着羽毛。
• He does not plume himself on these achievements.他并不因这些成就而自夸。

13 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

14 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

15 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

16 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

17 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。

18 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

19 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

20 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。

21 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。

22 plunge   

v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲

参考例句：

• Test pool's water temperature before you plunge in.在你跳入之前你应该测试水温。
• That would plunge them in the broil of the two countries.那将会使他们陷入这两国的争斗之中。

23 rebates   

n.退还款( rebate的名词复数 )；回扣；返还（退还的部份货价）；折扣

参考例句：

• The VAT system offers advantages, such as rebates on exports. 增值税有其优点，如对出口商品实行回扣。 来自辞典例句
• In more recent years rate rebates have been introduced for households. 近年地方税的减免已适用于家庭。 来自辞典例句

24 pier   

n.码头；桥墩，桥柱；[建]窗间壁，支柱

参考例句：

• The pier of the bridge has been so badly damaged that experts worry it is unable to bear weight.这座桥的桥桩破损厉害，专家担心它已不能负重。
• The ship was making towards the pier.船正驶向码头。