NPR 2011-01-10

Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords remains¹ at the University Medical Center in Tucson, Arizona after being shot in the head yesterday. As we hear from NPR's Jeff Brady in Tucson, doctors say Giffords has responded to some simple commands, but she's still in danger.

 

Representative Giffords remains in critical condition. The big concern right now is how her brain is going to react to this injury. They're specifically concerned about swelling² of the brain. They've actually removed a part of her skull³, and they're preserving that in another part of the hospital so that they can allow the brain to expand and constrict⁴, so that it won't be damaged further.

 

The investigation⁵ continues into the shootings with FBI Director Robert Mueller in charge. The alleged⁶ gunman is in federal custody⁷, but law enforcement is searching for another man who may have been involved, and they've released a picture in an effort to identify him, though they now say they're increasingly doubtful he was involved.

 

Meanwhile, Buzz Conover of member station KUAZ reports local police are sounding off about gun laws.

 

Jared Loughner fired 31 shots and managed to reload his weapon before being wrestled⁸ to the ground. Some in Arizona, including Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik, are now questioning the state's gun laws.

 

"Well, I think we're the tombstone of the United States of America."

 

In Arizona, residents do not need a specific permit in order to carry a concealed⁹ weapon, and some in the state legislature are also trying to allow weapons to be carried on university campuses. For NPR News, I'm Buzz Conover in Tucson, Arizona.

 

If you're traveling in the South, today or tomorrow be prepared. NPR's Allison Keyes reports meteorologists are predicting a winter whammy from Texas to the Carolinas.

 

They're flocking to supermarkets in Birmingham, Alabama and Nashville, Tennessee. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal has already declared a state of emergency, anticipating power outages and broken water pipes, and Mississippi officials are warning drivers of dangerous icy roads. National Weather Service lead forecaster Bob Oravec says it's gonna be a freezing mess in the South.

 

"We do expect heavy snow anywhere from four to eight inches across those regions, and to the South of that area, we do expect the potential for a significant icing, anywhere from a tenth to a quarter of inch across northern Louisiana, parts of Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia."

 

Hundreds of flights have already been canceled in the area. Allison Keyes, NPR News, Washington.

 

Defense¹⁰ Secretary Robert Gates says China has developed a stealth fighter jet much more quickly than US military intelligence had predicted. On his way to Beijing for meetings with Chinese leaders, Gates says he's concerned some of China's military advances have the potential of putting some US capabilities¹¹ at risk. Gates' visit to Beijing comes a week ahead of Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to the US.

 

This is NPR.

 

Thousands of demonstrators are marching in the streets of Pakistan's largest city, Karachi. They're protesting efforts to change the country's blasphemy¹² laws that make insulting Islam an offense¹³. Demonstrators are also praising the man charged with assassinating¹⁴ the governor of Punjab province, who supported changing the law.

 

Bulldozers have moved into East Jerusalem and are razing¹⁵ the Shepherd Hotel, a contentious¹⁶ project opposed by Palestinian and the international community. As NPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro reports, Israel plans to build housing for Jewish settlers.

 

Three massive bulldozers began their work in the early morning. The Shepherd Hotel has a long and controversial history. It was built in the 1930s for the Grand Mufti. The hotel was declared "absentee property" by Israel after it captured and annexed¹⁷ East Jerusalem in the 1967 war. The title was transferred to an Israeli firm, which sold it in 1985 to ideological¹⁸ Jewish American millionaire Irving Moskowitz. The Palestinian family that claimed ownership of the building fought for its return through the courts, but last year, final approval was granted to build apartments for settlers. The international community views East Jerusalem as occupied territory whose status should be determined¹⁹ through negotiations²⁰. The current Israeli government says Jerusalem is the undivided capital of the Jewish state, and Jews have a right to build in any part of it. Lourdes Garcia-Navarro, NPR News, Jerusalem.

 

Voters in Southern Sudan are casting ballots²¹ on whether to become independent from the North. The weeklong referendum is part of a peace deal that ended a more than twenty-year civil war. The North is largely Muslim, the South mostly Christian²² and animist.

 

I'm Barbara Klein, NPR News in Washington.

1 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

2 swelling   

n.肿胀

参考例句：

• Use ice to reduce the swelling. 用冰敷消肿。
• There is a marked swelling of the lymph nodes. 淋巴结处有明显的肿块。

3 skull   

n.头骨；颅骨

参考例句：

• The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.头骨在15至25岁之间长合。
• He fell out of the window and cracked his skull.他从窗子摔了出去，跌裂了颅骨。

4 constrict   

v.压缩，收缩，阻塞

参考例句：

• Men and women alike have been constricted by traditional sexual roles.男性和女性同样受到传统性别角色的束缚。
• Severe migraine can be treated with a drug which constricts the blood vessels.严重的偏头疼可以用一种收缩血管的药物进行治疗。

5 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。

6 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

7 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。

8 wrestled   

v.（与某人）搏斗( wrestle的过去式和过去分词 )；扭成一团；扭打；（与…）摔跤

参考例句：

• As a boy he had boxed and wrestled. 他小的时候又是打拳又是摔跤。
• Armed guards wrestled with the intruder. 武装警卫和闯入者扭打起来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 concealed   

a.隐藏的，隐蔽的

参考例句：

• The paintings were concealed beneath a thick layer of plaster. 那些画被隐藏在厚厚的灰泥层下面。
• I think he had a gun concealed about his person. 我认为他当时身上藏有一支枪。

10 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

11 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

12 blasphemy   

n.亵渎，渎神

参考例句：

• His writings were branded as obscene and a blasphemy against God.他的著作被定为淫秽作品，是对上帝的亵渎。
• You have just heard his blasphemy!你刚刚听到他那番亵渎上帝的话了！

13 offense   

n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪

参考例句：

• I hope you will not take any offense at my words. 对我讲的话请别见怪。
• His words gave great offense to everybody present.他的发言冲犯了在场的所有人。

14 assassinating   

v.暗杀( assassinate的现在分词 )；中伤；诋毁；破坏

参考例句：

• They struck a blow for freedom by assassinating the colonial governor. 他们为了自由而奋力一博，暗杀了那位殖民地总督。 来自互联网

15 razing   

v.彻底摧毁，将…夷为平地( raze的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Years of war culminated in nothing less than a brutal razing of the city. 经年的战争给这座城市带来的不亚于灭顶之灾。 来自互联网

16 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。

17 annexed   

[法] 附加的，附属的

参考例句：

• Germany annexed Austria in 1938. 1938年德国吞并了奥地利。
• The outlying villages were formally annexed by the town last year. 那些偏远的村庄于去年正式被并入该镇。

18 ideological   

a.意识形态的

参考例句：

• He always tries to link his study with his ideological problems. 他总是把学习和自己的思想问题联系起来。
• He helped me enormously with advice on how to do ideological work. 他告诉我怎样做思想工作，对我有很大帮助。

19 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

20 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。

21 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。