NPR 2011-02-17

An Egypt-inspired uprising is becoming more violent in Yemen. Thousands of police officers and anti-government demonstrators fought in the streets of the capital Sana’a today. There’re reports that tonight university students were being blocked for joining the demonstrations¹, which have been raging for six days. Reuters news service reported that elsewhere in Yemen police gunfire hit two protesters, killing² one of them.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says it is time to seize what she calls a “historic moment” for democratic change. Michele Kelemen says the remarks came in a meeting with civil society activists⁴ from around the world.

Across the Middle East, people are calling on governments to be more accountable, Clinton says, adding the US is backing peaceful efforts of reform. She says the US is ready to help with legal support and financial aid.

“We are more than doubling our financial support for efforts to respond to threats to civil society, to help human rights workers who have been arrested, activists who’ve been intimidated⁵, journalists who have been censored⁶.”

Egyptian activist³ Sherif Mansour told her that for too long the US had what he called “biased relationships” with governments in the region.

“Let’s be honest. The record of the US foreign policy on Egypt and on Tunisia is not very good.”

Support for civil society, he said, should no longer be an afterthought. Michele Kelemen, NPR News, Washington.

With concerns over stability in Egypt, questions are being raised about the US role in the region. Defense⁷ Secretary Robert Gates says it remains⁸ a job for American diplomats⁹, not the military.

“It is difficult for me to imagine circumstances in which we would send US ground forces in any of those situations.”

Gates speaking to members of Congress in defense of the president’s 2012 budget proposal.

Testifying today before members of Congress, Virginia’s attorney general says his challenge to federal health care legislation is very modest, compared to what the federal government wants to do. NPR’s Jamie Tarabay reports Ken¹⁰ Cuccinelli claims the federal government wants to dramatically change the law to expand its power.

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli says the health care case is as much about liberty as it is about health care.

“If the power that the federal government for the first time is exercising is allowed to stand, then it can be applied¹¹ across the economy and across the lives of our citizens in ways that are not part of the discussion now because they don’t have anything to do with health care.”

Cuccinelli spoke¹² before the House Judiciary Committee. He was the first attorney general to win a ruling from a federal judge that a key provision in the new law was unconstitutional. He’s since filed a petition with the Supreme¹³ Court. Jamie Tarabay, NPR News, Washington.

US stocks still gaining ground, Dow’s up more than 60, more than 0.5% at 12,289, with the NASDAQ up 21 at 2,825.

This is NPR News.

Florida’s newly elected governor is scrapping¹⁴ a proposed high-speed rail line that links Orlando and Tampa. The governor said no to more than $2 billion in federal funding. Steve Newborn with member station WUSF reports Florida’s loss could become California’s gain.

Republican Governor Rick Scott says the risks outweigh¹⁵ the potential benefits.

“First, capital cost overruns from the project could put Florida taxpayers¹⁶ on the hook for an additional $3 billion. Second, ridership and revenue projections¹⁷ are historically overly-optimistic and would likely result in ongoing¹⁸ subsidies¹⁹ that state taxpayers would have to incur²⁰.”

Scott’s decision comes on the heels of similar rejections²¹ by new Republican governors in Ohio and Wisconsin. Some observers believe the bulk of the federal money will now go to a proposed high-speed rail project in California. From NPR News, I’m Steve Newborn in Tampa.

Wisconsin lawmakers are preparing to vote on a plan that puts the state against organized labor²². Hundreds of public employees -- reports saying possibly thousands -- who're at risk of losing most of their collective bargaining rights are struggling to delay action. Yesterday, they kept a hearing going for hours and camped out of the state Capitol overnight. Republican Governor Scott Walker maintains the measure’s necessary to address Wisconsin’s projected 3.6-billion-dollar budget deficit²³.

Industrial output down for the first time in 19 months in the US. The Federal Reserve says production dipped 0.1% last month in large part because of decline in output by utilities, but the government says manufacturers increased their output.

1 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。

2 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

3 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

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 intimidated   

v.恐吓；威胁adj.害怕的；受到威胁的

参考例句：

• We try to make sure children don't feel intimidated on their first day at school. 我们努力确保孩子们在上学的第一天不胆怯。
• The thief intimidated the boy into not telling the police. 这个贼恫吓那男孩使他不敢向警察报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 censored   

受审查的，被删剪的

参考例句：

• The news reports had been heavily censored . 这些新闻报道已被大幅删剪。
• The military-backed government has heavily censored the news. 有军方撑腰的政府对新闻进行了严格审查。

7 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。

8 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。

9 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

11 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

12 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

13 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。

14 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。

15 outweigh   

vt.比...更重，...更重要

参考例句：

• The merits of your plan outweigh the defects.你制定的计划其优点胜过缺点。
• One's merits outweigh one's short-comings.功大于过。

16 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

17 projections   

预测( projection的名词复数 )； 投影； 投掷； 突起物

参考例句：

• Their sales projections are a total thumbsuck. 他们的销售量预测纯属估计。
• The council has revised its projections of funding requirements upwards. 地方议会调高了对资金需求的预测。

18 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

19 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 incur   

vt.招致，蒙受，遭遇

参考例句：

• Any costs that you incur will be reimbursed in full.你的所有花费都将全额付还。
• An enterprise has to incur certain costs and expenses in order to stay in business.一个企业为了维持营业,就不得不承担一定的费用和开支。

21 rejections   

拒绝( rejection的名词复数 )； 摒弃； 剔除物； 排斥

参考例句：

• Most writers endure a number of rejections before being published. 大部分作家经历无数次的退稿才守得云开，作品得到发表。
• Supervise workers and monitors production quality to minimize rejections. 管理工人，监控生产质量，减少退货。

22 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

23 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。