NPR 2011-01-13

Four days after being shot in the head, Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords is said to be making progress. One of her doctors says the Democrat¹ is less sedated² and making small movements. Giffords was among 14 people injured Saturday, when police say the alleged³ gunman, Jared Loughner, opened fire. Six people died.

President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama will attend a memorial event tonight in Tucson. The White House says before the service, Mr. Obama plans to meet privately⁴ with the victims' families.

While the South is well under way in its cleanup from this week's major snowstorm, the Northeast is playing catch-up. The region was just hit last night with as much as two feet of snow reported in parts of New England. John Dankosky of WNPR in Hartford reports on the Connecticut governor's response to the stormy mess.

Dan Malloy has already held several press conferences about winter weather since taking office one week ago, but this snowstorm is providing a new challenge. More than 20 inches of snow have piled up across his state, and Malloy told nonessential state workers to stay home. He even suggested that private companies follow suit, and many have as interstate highways remain impassable in places. The Merritt Parkway, a main route for commuters into New York City, was closed for a time. Train service on Amtrak, a commuter⁵ line, has been disrupted, and hundreds of flights have been canceled at New York and New England airports. The mayors of Danbury and Bridgeport, Connecticut have essentially⁶ shut those cities down, and they've been communicating with residents via Twitter, with Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch⁷ tweeting this plea: "Stay home. Please stay home". For NPR News, I'm John Dankosky in Winsted, Connecticut.

In Australia, the swollen⁸ Brisbane River is still rising, forcing thousands of people to evacuate⁹ their homes in and around the country's third largest city. NPR's Anthony Kuhn reports from Brisbane that the worst flooding to hit Australia in a century has left at least 16 people dead and 43 missing.

The floodwaters are expected to peak early Thursday morning local time and remain high into the weekend. Authorities have shut down the city center and Brisbane's port. Roads and power in many areas are out. The premier¹⁰ or governor of the state of Queensland, Anna Bligh, told residents threatened by the floods that there was no time left to hesitate.

"Anybody who has the slightest concern that you might be anyway near rising water, please leave your homes."

Bligh said that the floods were having a catastrophic impact on the state's agricultural sector¹¹ and its coal mining industry, which could take weeks or months to resume full production. Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Brisbane.

The Federal Reserve reports the US economy ended last year on an up note, with all parts of the nation showing improvements in factories, consumer spending and companies hiring. And on news of this uptick in US stocks, the Dow's up 90. This is NPR.

Defense¹² Secretary Robert Gates appears to be playing down the possibility of a rift¹³ within China's military and civilian¹⁴ leadership. While Gates was speaking to reporters in Beijing, NPR's Louisa Lim says Chinese officials were again denying claims they were trying to upstage Gates' visit.

Robert Gates tried to dampen down speculation¹⁵ about a gulf¹⁶ between China's generals and its political leaders. This had its roots in the maiden¹⁷ flight yesterday of China's first stealth fighter on the day Gates was meeting China's President Hu Jintao. A Pentagon official has said China's civilian leaders appeared to be unaware¹⁸ and then surprised the flight had taken place. But speaking on the Great Wall, Gates was keen to stress that both military and civilian leaders wanted to take that relationship with the US to the next level. Meanwhile, a Chinese official again reiterated¹⁹ that the stealth fighter's test flight was not connected to Gates's visit. But the heavily controlled state-run media have widely reported the test flight, leading some analysts²⁰ to wonder if it was a political stunt²¹. Louisa Lim, NPR News, Beijing.

Five more NATO troops have lost their lives in Afghanistan, raising the alliance's death toll²² in the war zone to 15 this year. Three were killed today in eastern Afghanistan; another died somewhere in the south. NATO isn't saying exactly where the troops were killed, nor is disclosing the nationalities of the fallen troops.

Another suicide bombing is reported out of northwest Pakistan. The attack against a police station and a mosque²³ killed at least 11 people and reportedly injured more than 30. Northwest Pakistan is home to many insurgents²⁴ who stage attacks against NATO-led forces fighting in neighboring Afghanistan.

I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News, Washington.

1 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

2 sedated   

v.使昏昏入睡，使镇静( sedate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She's sedated,but she's probably scared out of her mind. 她很安静，但是她可能已经吓疯了。 来自电影对白
• Are you telling me the porn actually sedated you? 你是要告诉我，那毛片的确让你镇静下来吗？ 来自电影对白

3 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

4 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

5 commuter   

n.(尤指市郊之间)乘公交车辆上下班者

参考例句：

• Police cordoned off the road and diverted commuter traffic. 警察封锁了道路并分流交通。
• She accidentally stepped on his foot on a crowded commuter train. 她在拥挤的通勤列车上不小心踩到了他的脚。

6 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

7 finch   

n.雀科鸣禽(如燕雀，金丝雀等)

参考例句：

• This behaviour is commonly observed among several species of finch.这种行为常常可以在几种雀科鸣禽中看到。
• In Australia,it is predominantly called the Gouldian Finch.在澳大利亚，它主要还是被称之为胡锦雀。

8 swollen   

adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀

参考例句：

• Her legs had got swollen from standing up all day.因为整天站着，她的双腿已经肿了。
• A mosquito had bitten her and her arm had swollen up.蚊子叮了她，她的手臂肿起来了。

9 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

10 premier   

adj.首要的；n.总理，首相

参考例句：

• The Irish Premier is paying an official visit to Britain.爱尔兰总理正在对英国进行正式访问。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。

11 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

12 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。

13 rift   

n.裂口，隙缝，切口；v.裂开，割开，渗入

参考例句：

• He was anxious to mend the rift between the two men.他急于弥合这两个人之间的裂痕。
• The sun appeared through a rift in the clouds.太阳从云层间隙中冒出来。

14 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。

15 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

16 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。

17 maiden   

n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的

参考例句：

• The prince fell in love with a fair young maiden.王子爱上了一位年轻美丽的少女。
• The aircraft makes its maiden flight tomorrow.这架飞机明天首航。

18 unaware   

a.不知道的，未意识到的

参考例句：

• They were unaware that war was near. 他们不知道战争即将爆发。
• I was unaware of the man's presence. 我没有察觉到那人在场。

19 reiterated   

反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• "Well, I want to know about it,'she reiterated. “嗯，我一定要知道你的休假日期，"她重复说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Some twenty-two years later President Polk reiterated and elaborated upon these principles. 大约二十二年之后，波尔克总统重申这些原则并且刻意阐释一番。

20 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

21 stunt   

n.惊人表演，绝技，特技；vt.阻碍...发育，妨碍...生长

参考例句：

• Lack of the right food may stunt growth.缺乏适当的食物会阻碍发育。
• Right up there is where the big stunt is taking place.那边将会有惊人的表演。

22 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

23 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。

24 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网