NPR 2011-03-23

The sound of heavy anti-aircraft fire booms in the Libyan capital Tripoli, where forces loyal to leader Muammar Gaddafi are defiantly¹ responding to US-allied air strikes. NPR's David Greene is in Tripoli, where he says Gaddafi backers are out despite fears of dangerous conditions.

There appears to be mostly government supporters who are out honking² their horns and driving around to sort of act defiantly in the face of it. We know that a lot of people in Tripoli have, especially after dark, been going into their homes and hunkering down. This is about the same time that the air strikes have begun the last two nights that are usually just before 9 pm. This is the third night in a row. It happened around that time, and then they also had to go later on until the evening.

NPR's David Greene in Tripoli.

As coalition³ air strikes in Libya intensify⁴, questions linger over who should be in charge of enforcing the UN-backed no-fly zone. Eleanor Beardsley reports that specifically allies are divided over the role NATO should play.

Italy warned that it would review the use of its air bases by coalition forces if NATO does not take over, and Norway says its fighter jets will not participate until a clear command structure is in place. There is some coordination⁵ of French, British and American manoeuvers out of US air bases in Ramstein, Germany and Naples, Italy. The US says it will soon scale back its role and has hinted that it would like to see NATO take charge, but France disagrees. It says the coalition needs Arab support and believes NATO's reputation is damaged in the Arab world because of Afghanistan. NATO's participation⁶ in any military action against Libya would also require approval by all 28 members. For NPR News, I'm Eleanor Beardsley in Paris.

All six reactors⁸ at the damaged nuclear plant in Japan are reconnected to external power, but Tokyo Electric Power Company, which operates the plant, says it still has a lot of work to do before the site's controlling cooling systems are fully⁹ operational again. NPR's Larry Abramson reports that there're still a lot that's not known about the conditions of the reactors.

The power company says it has restored lighting¹⁰ to the control room to reactor⁷ No.3, which has been a source of major concern since the March 11th earthquake and tsunami¹¹. The head of Japan's nuclear safety agency says recent progress means that a full scale meltdown is now unlikely. The International Atomic Energy Agency says the plant continues to emit radiation, but the source remains¹² unclear. Japanese officials say they have detected higher-than-normal radiation levels in seawater near the plant and in food grown nearby, but they say there should be no immediate¹³ impact on human health. Larry Abramson, NPR News.

And today, the Japanese government says more than 9,000 people are confirmed dead from the earthquake-triggered tsunami. As many as 13,000 people are believed to be missing.

At last check on Wall Street, the Dow was down nearly 20 points at 12,019.

This is NPR.

Justice Department leaders met with police chiefs today about the rising number of deaths in law enforcement. Attorney General Eric Holder¹⁴:

"In 2010, we mourned the loss of 162 officers, and we saw firearms fatalities¹⁵ surge by nearly 25%."

Holder is directing 93 US attorney offices to work more closely with state and local police departments on this matter.

Well, we're seeing a population boom in cities in the South and West. It's just the opposite in the Midwestern US, where a lot of cities are actually losing residents. By far, the worst hit is Detroit. NPR's Alex Kellogg says census¹⁶ data released today reveal that in the last decade Detroit's population plunged¹⁷ 25% to the lowest level in that city in a century.

The city of Detroit now has just over 713,000 people. That's the smallest number of people it has had since 1910. That's before Henry Ford¹⁸, who founded Ford Motor Company, offered $5 a day to auto¹⁹ workers. That helped spark a boom that led Detroit's population to explode in the first half of the 20th century. Detroit had nearly two million people in 1950. It had just over 950,000 people as of 2000. That makes Detroit one of the fastest shrinking cities in US history. In fact, according to an analysis by the Detroit Free Press, the city lost a resident every 22 minutes in the past decade. Alex Kellogg, NPR News, Washington.

Losses in US stocks today: At last check, the Dow was down 18 points at 12,019 in trading of four billion shares; the NASDAQ Composite Index off eight points at 2,684; S&P 500 down five at 1,294.

1 defiantly   

adv.挑战地，大胆对抗地

参考例句：

• Braving snow and frost, the plum trees blossomed defiantly. 红梅傲雪凌霜开。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• She tilted her chin at him defiantly. 她向他翘起下巴表示挑衅。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 honking   

v.（使）发出雁叫似的声音，鸣（喇叭），按（喇叭）( honk的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Cars zoomed helter-skelter, honking belligerently. 大街上来往车辆穿梭不停，喇叭声刺耳。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Flocks of honking geese flew past. 雁群嗷嗷地飞过。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

4 intensify   

vt.加强；变强；加剧

参考例句：

• We must intensify our educational work among our own troops.我们必须加强自己部队的教育工作。
• They were ordered to intensify their patrols to protect our air space.他们奉命加强巡逻，保卫我国的领空。

5 coordination   

n.协调，协作

参考例句：

• Gymnastics is a sport that requires a considerable level of coordination.体操是一项需要高协调性的运动。
• The perfect coordination of the dancers and singers added a rhythmic charm to the performance.舞蹈演员和歌手们配合得很好，使演出更具魅力。

6 participation   

n.参与，参加，分享

参考例句：

• Some of the magic tricks called for audience participation.有些魔术要求有观众的参与。
• The scheme aims to encourage increased participation in sporting activities.这个方案旨在鼓励大众更多地参与体育活动。

7 reactor   

n.反应器；反应堆

参考例句：

• The atomic reactor generates enormous amounts of thermal energy.原子反应堆发出大量的热能。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules.在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

8 reactors   

起反应的人( reactor的名词复数 )； 反应装置； 原子炉； 核反应堆

参考例句：

• The TMI nuclear facility has two reactors. 三哩岛核设施有两个反应堆。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• The earliest production reactors necessarily used normal uranium as fuel. 最早为生产用的反应堆，必须使用普通铀作为燃料。

9 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

10 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

11 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

12 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。

13 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

14 holder   

n.持有者，占有者；(台，架等)支持物

参考例句：

• The holder of the office of chairman is reponsible for arranging meetings.担任主席职位的人负责安排会议。
• That runner is the holder of the world record for the hundred-yard dash.那位运动员是一百码赛跑世界纪录的保持者。

15 fatalities   

n.恶性事故( fatality的名词复数 )；死亡；致命性；命运

参考例句：

• Several people were injured, but there were no fatalities. 有几个人受伤，但没有人死亡。
• The accident resulted in fatalities. 那宗意外道致多人死亡。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

17 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

18 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

19 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。