NPR 2011-04-21

An acclaimed¹ photojournalist and filmmaker based in New York is reportedly among the casualties in today's fighting in western Libya. Vanity Fair and a photo agency say Tim Hetherington was killed in mortar² attacks in Misrata. Various reports say other journalists were there, but their conditions are unknown.

It's been one year since the BP oil disaster that claimed 11 lives and caused an unprecedented³ oil spill that wreaked⁴ environmental damage in several Gulf⁵ Coast states. Anger among residents is widespread. In Louisiana, Billy Nungesser, Plaquemines Parish President, says there's still oil to be cleaned up.

"I stand here today, a year later, and I still can't look you in the eye and tell you who's in charge. We need to make sure we begin coastal⁶ restoration this week."

Candlelight vigils and other observances are being held in several states.

Investors⁷ who lost money as BP's stock price plummeted⁸ last spring in the wake of the disaster are now trying to sue the oil giant. NPR's Jeff Brady reports a Supreme⁹ Court decision last year could make that more difficult.

The lawsuits¹⁰ generally argued that BP misled investors when the company said it puts safety first. But last June, the Supreme Court ruled in another case that investors couldn't use US courts if they purchase their shares overseas. Many BP investors bought their stock on the London Exchange. Barbara Hart is a New York attorney specializing in securities litigation.

"It was absolutely commonplace that those claims were vindicated¹¹ in the US courts, and now they are being dismissed time and time again."

Investors could sue BP in London, but that's riskier¹² than filing suit in the US because of a “loser pays” provision in England's law. Jeff Brady, NPR News. 

President Obama's holding a town hall meeting at the corporate¹³ headquarters of Facebook in Palo Alto, California. NPR's Mara Liasson reports the venue¹⁴ indicates how important social networking will be at the president's re-election effort.

The president is at Facebook to sell his deficit¹⁵ reduction plan, but he's also there to recruit supporters for his bid for a second term. Facebook is the biggest town square in the world and in history, with 600 million members, more than twice the population of the United States. It's also a mother lode¹⁶ of young people, the mainstay of the president's campaign in 2008 and a constituency the White House wants to re-energize for 2012. The president was a pioneer in the use of social networking, even hiring Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes. But in 2012, he'll have lots of competition as every Republican candidate is also planning to exploit social networking as much as possible, to reach voters and to organize volunteers. Mara Liasson, NPR News, the White House.

Continued surge in oil prices which today topped $111 a barrel. At last check on Wall Street, the Dow was up nearly 190 points at 12,454 before the close.

This is NPR News.

More details emerging today on the new terror alert system soon to replace the color-coded version implemented¹⁷ after 9/11. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says people will be alerted in various ways, including Twitter and Facebook. The alerts will be more specific, and Napolitano says that unlike the color-coded system, the alerts will have expiration¹⁸ dates.

"I don't want people to live in fear. We want people to live in a state of alertness and awareness¹⁹, and we want people to know how they can help themselves, how they can assist their community."

Napolitano says the US remains²⁰ at its highest alert level because of a growing threat from homegrown and international terrorists.

A grand jury has charged a former Rutgers University student with bias²¹ intimidation²². NPR's Joel Rose reports the student allegedly used a webcam to spy on his male roommate's intimate encounter with another man.

Indictment²³ charges Dharun Rav with 15 counts, including invasion of privacy and evidence tampering²⁴. The charges stemmed from events in September of 2010, when Rav allegedly used a computer to watch his roommate's sexual encounter with another man. That roommate, Tyler Clementi, later committed suicide. Rav was already charged with invasion of privacy, but the new charges carry a greater possible penalty because the grand jury alleges²⁵ that Rav was trying to intimidate²⁶ Clementi on the bases of his sexual orientation²⁷. Dharun Rav has since withdrawn²⁸ from Rutgers. His lawyers say the webcam stream was viewed only on a single computer and did not show the man having sex. Joel Rose, NPR News.

Firefighting efforts continue today in Texas, where authorities say a firefighter has died from his injuries.

This is NPR.

1 acclaimed   

adj.受人欢迎的

参考例句：

• They acclaimed him as the best writer of the year. 他们称赞他为当年的最佳作者。
• Confuscius is acclaimed as a great thinker. 孔子被赞誉为伟大的思想家。

2 mortar   

n.灰浆，灰泥；迫击炮；v.把…用灰浆涂接合

参考例句：

• The mason flushed the joint with mortar.泥工用灰浆把接缝处嵌平。
• The sound of mortar fire seemed to be closing in.迫击炮的吼声似乎正在逼近。

3 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

4 wreaked   

诉诸（武力），施行（暴力），发（脾气）( wreak的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The earthquake wreaked havoc on the city. 地震对这个城市造成了大破坏。
• They have wreaked dreadful havoc among the wildlife by shooting and trapping. 他们射杀和诱捕野生动物，造成了严重的破坏。

5 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。

6 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

7 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

8 plummeted   

v.垂直落下，骤然跌落( plummet的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Share prices plummeted to an all-time low. 股票价格暴跌到历史最低点。
• A plane plummeted to earth. 一架飞机一头栽向地面。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 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。

10 lawsuits   

n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权，耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
• I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多，赢的也多，输的也多。 来自辞典例句

11 vindicated   

v.澄清（某人/某事物）受到的责难或嫌疑( vindicate的过去式和过去分词 )；表明或证明（所争辩的事物）属实、正当、有效等；维护

参考例句：

• I have every confidence that this decision will be fully vindicated. 我完全相信这一决定的正确性将得到充分证明。
• Subsequent events vindicated the policy. 后来的事实证明那政策是对的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 riskier   

冒险的，危险的( risky的比较级 )

参考例句：

• Now they are starting to demand higher returns on riskier assets. 而今他们开始在风险更高的资产上要求更高的回报。
• The problem with that: RIM's business is getting riskier every quarter. 不过问题也随之而来：RIM面临的业务风险正逐季增大。

13 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

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 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。

16 lode   

n.矿脉

参考例句：

• We discovered the rich lode bellied out.我们发现丰富的矿脉突然增大了。
• A lode of gold was discovered。他们发现了一处黄金矿藏。

17 implemented   

v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革，经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句

18 expiration   

n.终结，期满，呼气，呼出物

参考例句：

• Can I have your credit card number followed by the expiration date?能告诉我你的信用卡号码和它的到期日吗?
• This contract shall be terminated on the expiration date.劳动合同期满，即行终止。

19 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

20 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。

21 bias   

n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见

参考例句：

• They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking.他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。
• He had a bias toward the plan.他对这项计划有偏见。

22 intimidation   

n.恐吓，威胁

参考例句：

• The Opposition alleged voter intimidation by the army.反对党声称投票者受到军方的恐吓。
• The gang silenced witnesses by intimidation.恶帮用恐吓的手段使得证人不敢说话。

23 indictment   

n.起诉；诉状

参考例句：

• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。
• They issued an indictment against them.他们起诉了他们。

24 tampering   

v.窜改( tamper的现在分词 )；篡改；（用不正当手段）影响；瞎摆弄

参考例句：

• Two policemen were accused of tampering with the evidence. 有两名警察被控篡改证据。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• As Harry London had forecast, Brookside's D-day caught many meter-tampering offenders. 正如哈里·伦敦预见到的那样，布鲁克赛德的D日行动抓住了不少非法改装仪表的人。 来自辞典例句

25 alleges   

断言，宣称，辩解( allege的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The newspaper article alleges that the mayor is corrupt. 报纸上断言该市长腐败。
• Steven was tardy this morning and alleges that his bus was late. 史提芬今天早上迟到的说词是公车误点了。

26 intimidate   

vt.恐吓，威胁

参考例句：

• You think you can intimidate people into doing what you want?你以为你可以威胁别人做任何事？
• The first strike capacity is intended mainly to intimidate adversary.第一次攻击的武力主要是用来吓阻敌方的。

27 orientation   

n.方向，目标；熟悉，适应，情况介绍

参考例句：

• Children need some orientation when they go to school.小孩子上学时需要适应。
• The traveller found his orientation with the aid of a good map.旅行者借助一幅好地图得知自己的方向。

28 withdrawn   

vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出

参考例句：

• Our force has been withdrawn from the danger area.我们的军队已从危险地区撤出。
• All foreign troops should be withdrawn to their own countries.一切外国军队都应撤回本国去。