NPR 2010-06-16

Another setback¹ for BP today: a small fire broke out on a ship that's been drawing up crude from the source of the mammoth² oil spill in the Gulf³ of Mexico. The fire's out; no one was injured. But NPR's Richard Harris says it did stop containment⁴ efforts for a while.

The drill ship Discoverer Enterprise has been handling about 15,000 barrels of the oil a day that BP has been recovering from its broken well, but at about 9:30 local time this morning, the oil company says a small fire broke out on the top of the ship's derrick. BP suspects it was caused by a lightning strike. The company says it expects to resume capturing oil again soon. BP had actually been hoping to install a second collection system on another ship today in order to reduce the amount of oil spilling into the Gulf. It's unclear whether the fire has disrupted those plans. Richard Harris, NPR News.

President Obama plans to deliver his first Oval Office speech tonight at 8:00 PM Eastern Time about the government's response to the oil spill.

Britain's new Prime Minister David Cameron is apologizing for Northern Ireland's Bloody⁵ Sunday.

"What happened on Bloody Sunday was both unjustified and unjustifiable. It was wrong."

Cameron addressing parliament today about a landmark⁶ report on the 1972 killings⁷ of 13 Catholic protesters at the hands of British troops. The report finds that all those who were shot during a civil rights march in Londonderry were unarmed.

In Osh, Kyrgyzstan, people grief-stricken as they gathered around the bodies of those killed in ethnic⁸ rioting since it started last week. At least 176 people are reported to have been killed in clashes. Tens of thousands of minority Uzbeks have already fled Kyrgyzstan.

A contentious⁹ US Senate hearing on Afghanistan ended abruptly¹⁰ today when the key witness, General David Petraeus, collapsed¹¹ in the seat as he was being questioned. NPR's David Welna has more.

General Petraeus earlier assured senators on the Armed Services Committee that progress was being made by US forces in Afghanistan. Arizona Republican John McCain did not sound convinced.

"I think you're one of America's great heroes, but I continue to worry a great deal about the message we're sending in the region, about whether we're actually going to stay or not, and whether we're going to do what's necessary to succeed rather than set an arbitrary timeline, and the best way to..."

Petraeus had suddenly slumped¹² forward at the witness table. He was helped out of the hearing room on his feet. His spokesman says it appears the general fainted. The rest of the hearing was postponed¹³ until tomorrow. David Welna, NPR News, the Capitol.

US stocks continue to wrap up gains. At last check, Dow Jones Industrial Average was up more than 200 points at 10,404. NASDAQ Composite Index gained 60 at 2,306.

From Washington, this is NPR.

Big oil executives may be trying to distance themselves from the firestorm-surrounding BP. On Capitol Hill today, the heads of Chevron¹⁴, Shell and Exxon Mobil raised questions about BP's equipment and procedures that may have led to the spill in the Gulf of Mexico, but lawmakers complained that the nation's five largest oil companies follow identical and inadequate¹⁵ spill response plans.

Wildcat strikes by South African Labor¹⁶ Unions are an increasing problem for the 2010 World Cup soccer tournament. South African police now have had to take over security at four stadiums because of walkouts. Vicky O'Hara has more from Johannesburg.

South Africa's powerful unions say they're not using the World Cup to extract concessions¹⁷, but that is what happened in the weeks before the tournament. Unions staged crippling strikes against natural rail on the country's ports and cargo¹⁸ rail. The cost to the economy was considerable. The unions walked away with wage increases well beyond the rate of inflation. Yesterday, walkouts forced police to take over security at the stadium in Cape¹⁹ Town and stranded²⁰ hundreds of soccer fans in Soweto. Today, the labor strife²¹ increased. Security workers walked out at stadiums in Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg and Soweto. A spokesman for the World Cup organizing committee says until further notice, police will provide security at the four World Cup venues²². For NPR News, I'm Vicky O'Hara in Johannesburg.

The search for flash flood victims in Arkansas has been winding²³ down. Twenty people are confirmed dead. State police say no search crews were out this morning. Meanwhile, Associated Press is reporting the death of one person from the Oklahoma floods.
 

1 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。

2 mammoth   

n.长毛象；adj.长毛象似的，巨大的

参考例句：

• You can only undertake mammoth changes if the finances are there.资金到位的情况下方可进行重大变革。
• Building the new railroad will be a mammoth job.修建那条新铁路将是一项巨大工程。

3 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。

4 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。

5 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

6 landmark   

n.陆标，划时代的事，地界标

参考例句：

• The Russian Revolution represents a landmark in world history.俄国革命是世界历史上的一个里程碑。
• The tower was once a landmark for ships.这座塔曾是船只的陆标。

7 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

8 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

9 contentious   

adj.好辩的，善争吵的

参考例句：

• She was really not of the contentious fighting sort.她委实不是好吵好闹的人。
• Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.从那时起，他们总想方设法避开有争议的问题。

10 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。

11 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

12 slumped   

大幅度下降，暴跌( slump的过去式和过去分词 )； 沉重或突然地落下[倒下]

参考例句：

• Sales have slumped this year. 今年销售量锐减。
• The driver was slumped exhausted over the wheel. 司机伏在方向盘上，疲惫得睡着了。

13 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。

14 chevron   

n.V形臂章；V形图案

参考例句：

• He wore shoulderstrap rank slides with sergeant's chevrons.他佩戴标示级别的肩章，上面有中士的V形标志。
• The chevron or arrow road sign indicates a sharp bend to the left or right.V形或箭头路标表示有向左或向右的急转弯。

15 inadequate   

adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的

参考例句：

• The supply is inadequate to meet the demand.供不应求。
• She was inadequate to the demands that were made on her.她还无力满足对她提出的各项要求。

16 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

17 concessions   

n.（尤指由政府或雇主给予的）特许权( concession的名词复数 )；承认；减价；（在某地的）特许经营权

参考例句：

• The firm will be forced to make concessions if it wants to avoid a strike. 要想避免罢工，公司将不得不作出一些让步。
• The concessions did little to placate the students. 让步根本未能平息学生的愤怒。

18 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

19 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

20 stranded   

a.搁浅的，进退两难的

参考例句：

• He was stranded in a strange city without money. 他流落在一个陌生的城市里， 身无分文，一筹莫展。
• I was stranded in the strange town without money or friends. 我困在那陌生的城市，既没有钱，又没有朋友。

21 strife   

n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争

参考例句：

• We do not intend to be drawn into the internal strife.我们不想卷入内乱之中。
• Money is a major cause of strife in many marriages.金钱是造成很多婚姻不和的一个主要原因。

22 venues   

n.聚集地点( venue的名词复数 )；会场；（尤指）体育比赛场所；犯罪地点

参考例句：

• The band will be playing at 20 different venues on their UK tour. 这个乐队在英国巡回演出期间将在20个不同的地点演出。
• Farmers market corner, 800 meters long, 60 meters wide livestock trading venues. 农牧市场东北角，有长800米，宽60米的牲畜交易场地。 来自互联网

23 winding   

n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈

参考例句：

• A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
• The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。