NPR 2010-09-08

Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley says he will not seek reelection next year. The 68-year-old Daley has been mayor since 1989 following a special election after the death of Mayor Harold Washington. Daley's father, Richard J. Daley, died at age 74 of a heart attack while still in office. We have more from NPR's David Schaper.

Family is very important to Mayor Richard M. Daley, as it was to Mayor Richard J. Daley. He has said to close friends, to confidants and to some others for a long time that he did not want to be mayor for life, that he did not want to stay in office. And I think in the background, he must have been thinking that he did not want the job to kill him, he did not want to die in office, the way his father did after 21 years in that same office, in that same chair.

NPR's David Schaper reporting from Chicago.

Hermine, barely a tropical storm, is drenching¹ south and central Texas with copious² rains but causing very little damage. NPR's John Burnett covering the storm.

I'm standing³ here in central Austin under an umbrella, where I can look out and see classic grade tropical cyclone⁴ clouds rotating counterclockwise and still feel the gusty⁵ wind. Herminie is about to lose her name. It'll be demoted to a lowly tropical depression. The unexpected storm made landfall in northeastern Mexico late last night and rolled across the Rio Grande into Texas. The storm system is expected to continue its north-northwesterly course all the way into Oklahoma and Kansas. Herminie watered the richest citrus field and huge pastures of historic ranches⁶ in south Texas, but no significant flooding has been reported. John Burnett, NPR News, Austin.

Hewlett-Packard is suing its former chief executive Mark Hurd to stop him from working for HP's competitor Oracle⁷. HP argues Hurd could divulge⁸ trade secrets.

A general strike hobbled public transport and slowed down business in France today. And Eleanor Beardsley reports there were large turnouts for demonstrations⁹ across the country to protest President Nicolas Sarkozy's pension reform plans.

Chanting "Sarko if you only knew what will do with your reform", tens of thousands of people marched down Paris's boulevards most of the afternoon. People here say Sarkozy's reform is unfair because it would raise the retirement¹⁰ age from 60 to 62 for everyone, even those who start work as young as 16. Gachetonwa, who works at the Banque de France, says there are other ways to save the French pension system.

"We just want a fair reform where when you have worked for sufficiently¹¹ long, you can get a decent pension.”

French unions are hoping the demonstrations across the country will send a message the French government cannot ignore, but Sarkozy has said he will not back down on raising the retirement age. From NPR News, I'm Eleanor Beardsley in Paris.

Dow's down more than 100 points at last check at 10,341.

This is NPR.

The pastor¹² of a Florida church says his congregation still plans to burn copies of the Koran on the anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks as a message that Americans will not fear Islamist extremists. Today, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said American lives could be in danger.

"That type of activity's being transmitted back to places like Afghanistan, where General Petraeus obviously is our lead commander. As he said, it puts our troops in harm's way."

Yesterday, several hundred people protested in Kabul and chanted "Death to America."

Two American soldiers have been killed in Iraq. In a statement, the military says the troops were gunned down by someone wearing an Iraqi army uniform. They were the first US military death since President Obama ended combat operations in that country.

The recipients¹³ of this year's Kennedy Center Honors were announced this morning in Washington. NPR's Neda Ulaby has details.

The Kennedy Center has apparently¹⁴ made up with Paul McCartney. He was selected before in 2002 but made Kennedy Center history by declining to attend a ceremony in favor of a family wedding. McCartney will be honored this year alongside Broadway composer Jerry Herman, who knocked the Beatles off the top of the pop charts in 1964 with the tune¹⁵ from a musical. Herman also composed the musical scores for "Mame" and "La Cage aux Folles". Other honorees include a dancer-choreographer, Bill T. Jones, TV host Oprah Winfrey and the original Okie from Muskogee, country star Merle Haggard. The Honors will be broadcast on December 28th. Neda Ulaby, NPR News.
 

1 drenching   

n.湿透v.使湿透( drench的现在分词 )；在某人（某物）上大量使用（某液体）

参考例句：

• A black cloudburst was drenching Siena at midday. 中午，一场天昏地暗的暴风雨在锡耶纳上空倒下来。 来自辞典例句
• A drenching rain poured down and the rising hurricane drove it in sheets along the ground. 一阵倾盆大雨泼下来了，越来越大的狂风把它顺着地面刮成了一片一片的雨幕。 来自辞典例句

2 copious   

adj.丰富的，大量的

参考例句：

• She supports her theory with copious evidences.她以大量的例证来充实自己的理论。
• Every star is a copious source of neutrinos.每颗恒星都是丰富的中微子源。

3 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

4 cyclone   

n.旋风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• An exceptionally violent cyclone hit the town last night.昨晚异常猛烈的旋风吹袭了那个小镇。
• The cyclone brought misery to thousands of people.旋风给成千上万的人带来苦难。

5 gusty   

adj.起大风的

参考例句：

• Weather forecasts predict more hot weather,gusty winds and lightning strikes.天气预报预测高温、大风和雷电天气将继续。
• Why was Candlestick Park so windy and gusty? 埃德尔斯蒂克公园里为什么会有那么多的强劲阵风？

6 ranches   

大农场， （兼种果树，养鸡等的）大牧场( ranch的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They hauled feedlot manure from the ranches to fertilize their fields. 他们从牧场的饲养场拖走肥料去肥田。
• Many abandoned ranches are purchased or leased by other poultrymen. 许多被放弃的牧场会由其他家禽监主收买或租用。

7 oracle   

n.神谕，神谕处，预言

参考例句：

• In times of difficulty,she pray for an oracle to guide her.在困难的时候，她祈祷神谕来指引她。
• It is a kind of oracle that often foretells things most important.它是一种内生性神谕，常常能预言最重要的事情。

8 divulge   

v.泄漏(秘密等)；宣布，公布

参考例句：

• They refused to divulge where they had hidden the money.他们拒绝说出他们把钱藏在什么地方。
• He swore never to divulge the secret.他立誓决不泄露秘密。

9 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

10 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

11 sufficiently   

adv.足够地，充分地

参考例句：

• It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
• The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。

12 pastor   

n.牧师，牧人

参考例句：

• He was the son of a poor pastor.他是一个穷牧师的儿子。
• We have no pastor at present:the church is run by five deacons.我们目前没有牧师：教会的事是由五位执事管理的。

13 recipients   

adj.接受的；受领的；容纳的；愿意接受的n.收件人；接受者；受领者；接受器

参考例句：

• The recipients of the prizes had their names printed in the paper. 获奖者的姓名登在报上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The recipients of prizes had their names printed in the paper. 获奖者名单登在报上。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

14 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。

15 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。