NPR 2011-05-12

The burgeoning¹ Mississippi River is forcing residents in the poverty-stricken delta² to run for higher ground. Teresa Welsh, a mother of three, says she's trying to keep it together. Knowing full well, her home will go underwater before the river crests³ in that area later this month.

"I guess we'll just lose all of our stuff, but it's stuff. It's my stuff, and that sucks, but it's just, uh, God will take care of us, see what we have, see what we feel, but I still wanna cry."

Mississippi Public Radio's Daniel Cherry is near Vicksburg, site of a key Civil War battle. He says the neighborhood he entered is devoid⁴ of people.

A hundred yards off the highway, the last people that I saw, they had a record coming out, towed their car away and they're gone, and other than that, I mean, every house is three feet of water.

Daniel Cherry reporting.

NPR's Debbie Elliott gives us a broad look at just how many people are being affected⁵.

Already Mississippi officials say about 1,000 homes have are now under water. Most of those homes are on the waterside of the levee. You know, the Mississippi Delta has this big, long levee that stretches basically from Memphis down to Vicksburg .That will protect, they think, most cities and towns from the floodwaters. However, some people have their homes on the outside of that levee or on the waterside of that levee on the Mississippi side, and that's where the big flooding problem is right now.

NPR's Debbie Elliott.

In Louisiana, the governor says residents along the Morganza Spillway need to get ready to evacuate⁶ if the Army Corps⁷ Engineers decides to open it up to spare the Baton⁸ Rouge⁹ area. That means other areas will be inundated¹⁰ with high waters. In Memphis, Tennessee, the water remains¹¹ high in low-lying neighborhoods. NPR's David Schaper reports that officials there are urging residents to wait for floodwaters to fully¹² recede¹³ before checking on their homes.

Eric Williams is still shocked by what he sees out his mother's back door, a yard of water, four feet deep, extending beyond the fence, and as far as he can see.

"I've never seen a flood like this in my life. I mean, I've been around the world, you know, in the military, and this is probably the worst flooding I've ever seen. "

Williams has seen fish, turtles and even snakes swim by the house, and he paneled a jumbo back to check on a neighbor's house, where the water reached into the second floor.

"They've built a four-foot retaining wall for just in case it flooded, and they say it would never reach past that until we gone well past that."

Now, officials warn that putrid¹⁴ standing¹⁵ waters could be contaminated and should be avoided. David Schaper, NPR News, Memphis.

Verdict is guilty for Galleon¹⁶ Group founder¹⁷ Raj Rajaratnam, delivering a victiory in one of the government's most sweeping¹⁸ probes into insider trading. Today, a federal jury found him guilty on all 14 counts of conspiracy¹⁹ and securities fraud.

Before the close on Wall Street, the Dow was down 130 points at 12,630; NASDAQ also down 27.

This is NPR.

Syria is out of the race to join the UN Human Rights Council. NPR's Michele Kelemen reports American diplomats²⁰ welcome this news after lobbying behind the scenes to keep Syria off the UN body.

Kuwait is replacing Syria as a candidate for the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. The deal was worked out by the Asia regional group at the United Nations. The US, which has accused Syria of barbarism and a crackdown on dissent²¹, said it was pleased that Syria withdrew. As one official put it, its candidacy was clearly inapproriate. Human Rights Watch issued a statement saying Syria needs to do more than keep its head low to avoid further condemnation²². The advocary group called on Syria to end its brutal²³ crackdown on protesters. Michele Kelemen, NPR News, Washington.

In defiance²⁴ of the Pentagon, members of the House Armed Services Commitee have authorized²⁵ further development on an alternate jet engine. Here's NPR's David Welna.

The GOP-controlled Armed Services Commitee may be giving a new lease on life to the embattled second jet engine that General Electric and Rolls-Royce have been developing for that F35 Joint²⁶ Strike Fighter. In February, at the behest of the Pentagon, the House voted against providing 450 million dollars this year for the development of that engine. Its makers²⁷ now say they'll continue working on it at no cost to the government, but because all work done so far belongs to the Pentagon, lawmakers on the panel voted to give developers full access to the jet engine. They also voted to let it compete for a final contract. Should costs for the principal jet engine developer Pratt & Whitney go over budget. The measure is part of a larger annual defense²⁸ bill that both the House and Senate have yet to consider. David Welna, NPR News, the Capitol.

1 burgeoning   

adj.迅速成长的，迅速发展的v.发芽，抽枝( burgeon的现在分词 )；迅速发展；发（芽），抽（枝）

参考例句：

• Our company's business is burgeoning now. 我们公司的业务现在发展很迅速。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• These efforts were insufficient to contain the burgeoning crisis. 这些努力不足以抑制迅速扩散的危机。 来自辞典例句

2 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

3 crests   

v.到达山顶（或浪峰）( crest的第三人称单数 )；到达洪峰，达到顶点

参考例句：

• The surfers were riding in towards the beach on the crests of the waves. 冲浪者们顺着浪头冲向岸边。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The correspondent aroused, heard the crash of the toppled crests. 记者醒了，他听见了浪头倒塌下来的轰隆轰隆声。 来自辞典例句

4 devoid   

adj.全无的，缺乏的

参考例句：

• He is completely devoid of humour.他十分缺乏幽默。
• The house is totally devoid of furniture.这所房子里什么家具都没有。

5 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

6 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

7 corps   

n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组

参考例句：

• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

8 baton   

n.乐队用指挥杖

参考例句：

• With the baton the conductor was beating time.乐队指挥用指挥棒打拍子。
• The conductor waved his baton,and the band started up.指挥挥动指挥棒，乐队开始演奏起来。

9 rouge   

n.胭脂，口红唇膏；v.(在…上)擦口红

参考例句：

• Women put rouge on their cheeks to make their faces pretty.女人往面颊上涂胭脂，使脸更漂亮。
• She didn't need any powder or lip rouge to make her pretty.她天生漂亮，不需要任何脂粉唇膏打扮自己。

10 inundated   

v.淹没( inundate的过去式和过去分词 )；（洪水般地）涌来；充满；给予或交予（太多事物）使难以应付

参考例句：

• We have been inundated with offers of help. 主动援助多得使我们应接不暇。
• We have been inundated with every bit of information imaginable. 凡是想得到的各种各样的信息潮水般地向我们涌来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 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。

12 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。

13 recede   

vi.退(去)，渐渐远去；向后倾斜，缩进

参考例句：

• The colleges would recede in importance.大学的重要性会降低。
• He saw that the dirty water had begun to recede.他发现那污浊的水开始往下退了。

14 putrid   

adj.腐臭的；有毒的；已腐烂的；卑劣的

参考例句：

• To eat putrid food is liable to get sick.吃了腐败的食物容易生病。
• A putrid smell drove us from the room.一股腐臭的气味迫使我们离开这房间。

15 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

16 galleon   

n.大帆船

参考例句：

• The story of a galleon that sank at the start of her maiden voyage in 1628 must be one of the strangest tales of the sea.在1628年，有一艘大帆船在处女航开始时就沉没了，这个沉船故事一定是最神奇的海上轶事之一。
• In 1620 the English galleon Mayfolwer set out from the port of Southampton with 102 pilgrims on board.1620年，英国的“五月花”号西班牙式大帆船载着102名

17 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

18 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

19 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

20 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》

21 dissent   

n./v.不同意，持异议

参考例句：

• It is too late now to make any dissent.现在提出异议太晚了。
• He felt her shoulders gave a wriggle of dissent.他感到她的肩膀因为不同意而动了一下。

22 condemnation   

n.谴责; 定罪

参考例句：

• There was widespread condemnation of the invasion. 那次侵略遭到了人们普遍的谴责。
• The jury's condemnation was a shock to the suspect. 陪审团宣告有罪使嫌疑犯大为震惊。

23 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

24 defiance   

n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗

参考例句：

• He climbed the ladder in defiance of the warning.他无视警告爬上了那架梯子。
• He slammed the door in a spirit of defiance.他以挑衅性的态度把门砰地一下关上。

25 authorized   

a.委任的，许可的

参考例句：

• An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。

26 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

27 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

28 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。