NPR 2010-07-20

BP is getting more time to keep testing a cap on a ruptured¹ oil well in the Gulf² of Mexico if the company promises to watch for any new leaks on the seabed. This despite detecting seepage³ which White House spokesman Robert Gibbs described a short time ago.

 

"There is seepage about three kilometers away from the wellhead. There are bubbles that are visible on the underwater camera, which we continue to monitor."

 

Reuters news service reports that BP believes the seepage is unrelated to the blown-out well.

 

The Department of Justice is setting up shop in a New Orleans office building for a criminal investigation⁴ into the oil rig explosion in the Gulf. NPR's Carol Van Dam has more from New Orleans.

 

Justice Department officials and the Environmental Crime Unit have rented two entire floors of the black granite⁵ building across the street from the federal courthouse in New Orleans. It's one more indication that the heart of the investigation will take place here in New Orleans rather than in Houston, where rig owner, Deepwater Horizon, is based. Boxes marked "Dell Computers" are stacked high on empty tables behind locked glass doors in the rented office base. The move means a New Orleans jury will hear the case, people who may have been directly affected⁶ by the spill. More than 200 lawsuits⁷ have been filed since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and sank in the Gulf in April, killing⁸ 11 workers. The worst spill in US history has caused millions of dollars in damages to the environment and the economy in five states along the Gulf Coast. Carol Van Dam, NPR News, New Orleans.

 

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has arrived under heavy security in Kabul. She is one of dozens of foreign ministers arriving in Afghanistan to take part in an international donor⁹ conference. NPR's Jackie Northam is traveling with the secretary.

 

Senior representatives from nearly 60 countries are here in Kabul to attend the donor conference. It's being seen as an international show of support for Afghanistan and its government. Still, it's expected there will be some hard issues addressed when the conference gets underway on Tuesday, including steps the Afghan government has made to curb¹⁰ the widespread corruption¹¹. Still, Afghan President Hamid Karzai is expected to ask donors¹² to funnel¹³ more of the financial aid through his government in an effort, he says, to use the funds more efficiently¹⁴. En route to Afghanistan from neighboring Pakistan, Clinton said the conference is going to show what she called 'more Afghan ownership and leadership', which is something the US has been encouraging. The other issue likely to arise is a peace process and how the Taliban and other militants¹⁵ fit into that process. Jackie Northam, NPR News, Kabul.

 

President Obama's urging congressional Republicans to get behind an extension of unemployment benefits.

 

"We need to pass it for all the Americans who haven't been able to find work in an economy where there are five applicants¹⁶ for every opening."

 

The president speaking from the White House Rose Garden earlier today.

 

On Wall Street, the Dow's up 57 at 10,154.

 

This is NPR News.

 

As many as 1,200 National Guard troops will start heading to the US-Mexico border August 1st. General Craig McKinley.

 

"By September, we should have our full forces in the field working with our partners."

 

The administration says it's part of a plan to help stem the flow of illegal immigrants, weapons and drug smuggling¹⁷. The largest deployment¹⁸ will be to Arizona. This, as the Justice Department challenges the constitutionality of the state's new immigration law, requires state and local police to investigate anyone suspected of being in the US illegally. That law is due to take effect July 29th.

 

A new study finds a greater incidence of the most deadly form of skin cancer, melanoma, among Latino men and black women. As NPR's Patti Neighmond reports, the study in the Archives of Dermatology compared whites, who have the highest rates of melanoma, with minorities living in Florida.

 

Researchers from the University of Miami found a 20% higher incidence of melanoma among Hispanic men and a 60% higher incidence among black women, compared to their white counterparts. Skin pigment¹⁹ can protect against melanoma, but researchers say it's not 100% protective, especially in the sunshine state of Florida, which has more UV radiation from the sun than anywhere else in the country. Researchers say public health campaigns target whites who are more vulnerable to melanoma, but these findings suggest messages begin to advocate sun-smart behaviors for everyone. That means regular use of sunscreen, protective clothing like hats and longer sleeves, and seeing a doctor as soon as a mole²⁰ on the skin changes or gets larger. Patti Neighmond, NPR News.
 

1 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

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 seepage   

n.泄漏

参考例句：

• Chemical seepage has caused untold damage.化学品泄漏已造成不可估量的损失。
• Water gradually escapes by seepage through the ground.水逐渐从地面渗走了。

4 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。

5 granite   

adj.花岗岩，花岗石

参考例句：

• They squared a block of granite.他们把一块花岗岩加工成四方形。
• The granite overlies the older rocks.花岗岩躺在磨损的岩石上面。

6 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

7 lawsuits   

n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权，耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
• I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多，赢的也多，输的也多。 来自辞典例句

8 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

9 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。

10 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

11 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

12 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 funnel   

n.漏斗；烟囱；v.汇集

参考例句：

• He poured the petrol into the car through a funnel.他用一个漏斗把汽油灌入汽车。
• I like the ship with a yellow funnel.我喜欢那条有黄烟囱的船。

14 efficiently   

adv.高效率地，有能力地

参考例句：

• The worker oils the machine to operate it more efficiently.工人给机器上油以使机器运转更有效。
• Local authorities have to learn to allocate resources efficiently.地方政府必须学会有效地分配资源。

15 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

16 applicants   

申请人，求职人( applicant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were over 500 applicants for the job. 有500多人申请这份工作。
• He was impressed by the high calibre of applicants for the job. 求职人员出色的能力给他留下了深刻印象。

17 smuggling   

n.走私

参考例句：

• Some claimed that the docker's union fronted for the smuggling ring.某些人声称码头工人工会是走私集团的掩护所。
• The evidence pointed to the existence of an international smuggling network.证据表明很可能有一个国际走私网络存在。

18 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

19 pigment   

n.天然色素，干粉颜料

参考例句：

• The Romans used natural pigments on their fabrics and walls.古罗马人在织物和墙壁上使用天然颜料。
• Who thought he might know what the skin pigment phenomenon meant.他自认为可能知道皮肤色素出现这种现象到底是怎么回事。

20 mole   

n.胎块；痣；克分子

参考例句：

• She had a tiny mole on her cheek.她的面颊上有一颗小黑痣。
• The young girl felt very self- conscious about the large mole on her chin.那位年轻姑娘对自己下巴上的一颗大痣感到很不自在。