NPR 2011-10-01

 The White House is hailing the death of a prominent al-Qaeda figure today as a significant milestone¹ in the international campaign against terrorism. Anwar al-Awlaki was killed in an air strike in Yemen today. The US says the same military counterterrorism unit that killed bin² Laden³ in Pakistan in May killed al-Awlaki in Yemen. Here's President Obama. 

 

"Awlaki and his organization have been directly responsible for the deaths of many Yemeni citizens. His hateful ideology⁴ in targeting of innocent citizens has been rejected by the vast majority of Muslims and people of all faiths."

 

But as NPR's Barbara Bradley Hagerty explains, while some Muslim Americans expressed grim relief that the American-born Muslim terrorist was dead, they had reservations as well about how Awlaki was killed.

 

News that Awlaki had been killed by a drone strike in Yemen brought a mixed reaction from groups such as the Council on American-Islamic Relations. The group said that it had always firmly repudiated⁵ that the cleric's incitement⁶ to violence. But it added "while a voice of hate has been eliminated, we urge our nations' leaders to address the constitutional issues raised by the assassination⁷ of American citizens without due process of law." A spokesman for the Virginia mosque⁸ where Awlaki had once served as imam had no comment. But in the past, the spokesman had said the cleric never preached violence at the mosque, and that he developed his radical⁹ ideas when he moved abroad. Barbara Bradley Hagerty, NPR News.

 

Civil servants on strike continued to occupy the Greek Transport Ministry¹⁰ in Athens. NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports that has forced international debt inspectors¹¹ to reschedule talks on government reforms. 

 

When the debt inspectors from the EU, IMF and European Central Bank arrived at their appointment, they found the Transport Ministry occupied by angry civil servants. The words "They shall not pass" were spray-painted on the metal shutters¹². The talks were postponed¹³ to evening. A similar meeting Thursday with Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos also had to be moved to another venue¹⁴ due to the occupation of his ministry. Mired¹⁵ in recession and faced with mounting popular anger over the draconian¹⁶ austerity measures, the Greek government has failed to meet all the targets set down in a 150-billion-dollar bailout agreed to last year. Sylvia Poggioli, NPR News, Athens.

 

The market's on track for its worse quarterly loss since the peak of the financial crisis. The three major US indexes are down more than 10% since July 1st, performance not seen since global credit markets froze.

 

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 152 points, more than 1%, at 11,002; NASDAQ Composite Index also down 1.7% at 2,437; S&P 500 down; it's at 1,142.

 

This is NPR News.

 

Canada's highest court has ruled that the only site in North America where it's legal to inject drugs can't continue to operate. Dan Karpenchuk reports the government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper has wanted to close that site in Vancouver.

 

The Insite clinic had an exemption¹⁷ from Canada's drug laws to operate. But the federal government wanted a legal option to deny that exemption and shut down the site, claiming the facility fosters addiction¹⁸ and goes against its tough-on-crime agenda. Insite is the only place in North America where addicts¹⁹ can legally inject drugs such as heroine or cocaine²⁰. Earlier, courts in British Columbia had ruled that it's a health issue, which means the province had jurisdiction²¹, not the federal government. The nine judges on the Supreme²² Court were unanimous in their agreement against the federal government's efforts to close the site. The issue will now have much wider legal and political implications across Canada. For NPR News, I'm Dan Karpenchuk in Toronto.

 

An explosion from a car bomb during a funeral procession in Iraq today is responsible for at least 18 deaths. Dozens more people were wounded. The blast went off as mourners gathered for a Shiite funeral in the city of Hillah.

 

Florida's gonna hold its Republican presidential primary on January 31st, a decision that analysts²³ say undermines efforts by both major political parties to delay nominating contests. Today, a special committee appointed by legislative²⁴ leaders and Governor Rick Scott voted 7:2 on that decision. Supporters say they didn't want to jump ahead of the traditional early voting states but wanted to make sure Florida was fifth in line after Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada, and those states are now expected to move their voting dates from February to early January.

1 milestone   

n.里程碑；划时代的事件

参考例句：

• The film proved to be a milestone in the history of cinema.事实证明这部影片是电影史上的一个里程碑。
• I think this is a very important milestone in the relations between our two countries.我认为这是我们两国关系中一个十分重要的里程碑。

2 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

3 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

4 ideology   

n.意识形态，(政治或社会的)思想意识

参考例句：

• The ideology has great influence in the world.这种思想体系在世界上有很大的影响。
• The ideal is to strike a medium between ideology and inspiration.我的理想是在意识思想和灵感鼓动之间找到一个折衷。

5 repudiated   

v.（正式地）否认( repudiate的过去式和过去分词 )；拒绝接受；拒绝与…往来；拒不履行（法律义务）

参考例句：

• All slanders and libels should be repudiated. 一切诬蔑不实之词，应予推倒。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The Prime Minister has repudiated racist remarks made by a member of the Conservative Party. 首相已经驳斥了一个保守党成员的种族主义言论。 来自辞典例句

6 incitement   

激励； 刺激； 煽动； 激励物

参考例句：

• incitement to racial hatred 种族仇恨的挑起
• Interest is an incitement to study. 兴趣刺激学习。

7 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

8 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。

9 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

10 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

11 inspectors   

n.检查员( inspector的名词复数 )；（英国公共汽车或火车上的）查票员；（警察）巡官；检阅官

参考例句：

• They got into the school in the guise of inspectors. 他们假装成视察员进了学校。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Inspectors checked that there was adequate ventilation. 检查员已检查过，通风良好。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 shutters   

百叶窗( shutter的名词复数 )； （照相机的）快门

参考例句：

• The shop-front is fitted with rolling shutters. 那商店的店门装有卷门。
• The shutters thumped the wall in the wind. 在风中百叶窗砰砰地碰在墙上。

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 venue   

n.犯罪地点，审判地，管辖地，发生地点，集合地点

参考例句：

• The hall provided a venue for weddings and other functions.大厅给婚礼和其他社会活动提供了场所。
• The chosen venue caused great controversy among the people.人们就审判地点的问题产生了极大的争议。

15 mired   

abbr.microreciprocal degree 迈尔德（色温单位）v.深陷( mire的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The country was mired in recession. 这个国家陷入了经济衰退的困境。
• The most brilliant leadership can be mired in detail. 最有才干的领导也会陷于拘泥琐事的困境中。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

16 draconian   

adj.严苛的；苛刻的；严酷的；龙一样的

参考例句：

• You can't expect the people to obey such draconian regulations.你不能指望人民服从如此严苛的规定。
• The city needs a draconian way of dealing with robbers.这个城市需要一个严苛的办法来对付强盗。

17 exemption   

n.豁免，免税额，免除

参考例句：

• You may be able to apply for exemption from local taxes.你可能符合资格申请免除地方税。
• These goods are subject to exemption from tax.这些货物可以免税。

18 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。

19 addicts   

有…瘾的人( addict的名词复数 )； 入迷的人

参考例句：

• a unit for rehabilitating drug addicts 帮助吸毒者恢复正常生活的机构
• There is counseling to help Internet addicts?even online. 有咨询机构帮助网络沉迷者。 来自超越目标英语 第3册

20 cocaine   

n.可卡因，古柯碱（用作局部麻醉剂）

参考例句：

• That young man is a cocaine addict.那个年轻人吸食可卡因成瘾。
• Don't have cocaine abusively.不可滥服古柯碱。

21 jurisdiction   

n.司法权，审判权，管辖权，控制权

参考例句：

• It doesn't lie within my jurisdiction to set you free.我无权将你释放。
• Changzhou is under the jurisdiction of Jiangsu Province.常州隶属江苏省。

22 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

23 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。

24 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。