NPR 2011-10-16

 Occupy Wall Street fever spread around the globe today with protests throughout Europe, Asia and South Africa. Demonstrators called for greater economic equality and stricter financial regulations. In Seoul, South Korea, Jason Strother reports the protesters also voiced opposition¹ to a bilateral² trade deal with the US.

 

Hundreds of protesters rallied in Seoul's financial district and in front of City Hall. Borrowing slogans from the New York demonstrations³, the activists⁴ said they represent the country's 99% and denounced the greed of Korea's wealthy class. But unlike in the US, the protesters here also called for the scrapping⁵ of the KORUS FTA. The trade bill was passed by Congress last week and now awaits full ratification⁶ in the South Korean National Assembly. Activists say the pact⁷ will destroy the agricultural industry and only benefit conglomerates⁸ like Samsung and Hyundai. For NPR News, I'm Jason Strother in Seoul.

 

Back in New York, protesters continued to occupy Zuccotti Park near Wall Street. Tahar Harman said although he has a good job in real estate, he felt he had to take part.

 

"You gotta worry about your community, for one, OK? Even if I'm doing well, OK, for everybody else is doing bad. And the community's going bad. There's a crime wave. People are poor. You wanna worry about others. You want them to do well so you can do well. OK?"

 

Demonstrations are also being held today in several other US cities, including Wilmington, North Carolina, Seattle, Detroit, and in Washington DC, where NPR's Allison Keyes is following events.

 

People have been arriving for this march all morning. There are buses that have come from cities around the country. There are a lot of union representatives here. There are a lot of educational unions, teachers here. People say that they have come to send a message. People don't have any job. They wanna send a message to Congress. They wanna send a message to President Obama that something has to be done to help the regular folk out of the street 'cause they're struggling.

 

NPR's Allison Keyes in Washington.

 

Finance chiefs from the 20 largest world economies wrapped up a two-day meeting in Paris today on what to do about the escalating⁹ debt crisis in the eurozone. They issued a statement that the group is committed to making sure that the International Monetary¹⁰ Fund has the resources it needs to help stabilize¹¹ the world economy. Treasury¹² Secretary Timothy Geithner said the US still opposes giving more money to the IMF, but he is open to the idea. 

 

"We're prepared to continue to support an effective strategy in Europe, with the IMF. And if there's a compelling case for more IMF resources, more use of the existing resources of the IMF, alongside a more effective substantial European strategy, then we will be supportive of that."

 

Secretary Geithner also said that the US is working hard to help fix the world economy. 

 

This is NPR News from Washington.

 

In the capital of Yemen, security forces fired on tens of thousands of anti-government demonstrators today. At least nine people were killed and dozens wounded. Defense¹³ officials in Yemen say air strikes killed a senior al-Qaeda figure. The Yemeni Defense Ministry¹⁴ says eight other militants¹⁵ were killed, including the oldest son of the slain¹⁶ American-born cleric, Anwar al-Awlaki, who was killed in a US air strike last month. 

 

Suicide bombers¹⁷ tried but failed to breach¹⁸ the gates of a US base in the center of Afghanistan, an area considered to be the most stable part of the country. NPR's Quil Lawerence reports two NATO drivers were killed in the attacks.

 

Police officials said the group of bombers fired rocket-propelled grenades at a guard tower outside the American base in the pan-Shia valley before dawn local time. A car bomb failed to break open the gates to allow the suicide bombers to enter. The pan-Shia valley has been considered stable and pro-American since local forces helped international troops overthrow¹⁹ the Taliban in 2001, and this is the first insurgent²⁰ attack there since. Senior NATO officials say that insurgent violence is trending downward for the first time in Afghanistan. But several other organizations disagreed especially with regard to civilians²¹ killed in the conflict. Quil Lawerence, NPR News, Kabul.

 

A cargo²² plane is heading to the South Pole to rescue Renee-Nicole Douceur. She's an engineer who started developing speech, memory and vision problems in August. Douceur told NBC's Today Show that has been a long seven weeks. 

 

"I mean my spirits are high, and it's just been a long ordeal²³, and it's time to leave."

 

Doctor said she may have suffered a stroke or has a brain tumor²⁴. 

 

I'm Nora Raum, NPR News in Washington.

1 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

2 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

3 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。

4 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 scrapping   

刮，切除坯体余泥

参考例句：

• He was always scrapping at school. 他在学校总打架。
• These two dogs are always scrapping. 这两条狗总是打架。

6 ratification   

n.批准，认可

参考例句：

• The treaty is awaiting ratification.条约正等待批准。
• The treaty is subject to ratification.此条约经批准后才能生效。

7 pact   

n.合同，条约，公约，协定

参考例句：

• The two opposition parties made an electoral pact.那两个反对党订了一个有关选举的协定。
• The trade pact between those two countries came to an end.那两国的通商协定宣告结束。

8 conglomerates   

n.（多种经营的）联合大企业( conglomerate的名词复数 )；砾岩；合成物；组合物

参考例句：

• At the surface, radioactivity of the conglomerates is locally as high as 30 X background. 在地表，砾岩的局部地段的放射性高达30倍本底值。 来自辞典例句
• The conglomerates failed to understand that books could not be sold like soap. 这些联合大企业不懂卖书不象卖肥皂那样。 来自辞典例句

9 escalating   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的现在分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The cost of living is escalating. 生活费用在迅速上涨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cost of living is escalating in the country. 这个国家的生活费用在上涨。 来自辞典例句

10 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

11 stabilize   

vt.（使）稳定，使稳固，使稳定平衡；vi.稳定

参考例句：

• They are eager to stabilize currencies.他们急于稳定货币。
• His blood pressure tended to stabilize.他的血压趋向稳定。

12 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

13 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。

14 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。

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 slain   

杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词)

参考例句：

• The soldiers slain in the battle were burried that night. 在那天夜晚埋葬了在战斗中牺牲了的战士。
• His boy was dead, slain by the hand of the false Amulius. 他的儿子被奸诈的阿缪利乌斯杀死了。

17 bombers   

n.轰炸机( bomber的名词复数 )；投弹手；安非他明胶囊；大麻叶香烟

参考例句：

• Enemy bombers carried out a blitz on the city. 敌军轰炸机对这座城市进行了突袭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Royal Airforce sill remained dangerously short of bombers. 英国皇家空军仍未脱离极为缺乏轰炸机的危境。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 breach   

n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破

参考例句：

• We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
• He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。

19 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

20 insurgent   

adj.叛乱的，起事的；n.叛乱分子

参考例句：

• Faruk says they are threatened both by insurgent and government forces.法鲁克说，他们受到暴乱分子和政府军队的双重威胁。
• The insurgent mob assembled at the gate of the city park.叛变的暴徒聚在市立公园的门口。

21 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

22 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

23 ordeal   

n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验

参考例句：

• She managed to keep her sanity throughout the ordeal.在那场磨难中她始终保持神志正常。
• Being lost in the wilderness for a week was an ordeal for me.在荒野里迷路一星期对我来说真是一场磨难。

24 tumor   

n.（肿）瘤，肿块(英)tumour

参考例句：

• He was died of a malignant tumor.他死于恶性肿瘤。
• The surgeons irradiated the tumor.外科医生用X射线照射那个肿瘤。