NPR 2011-06-18

There are more reports of indiscriminate killing¹ by the autocratic regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Activists² say security forces fired on thousands of protesters today, killing a teenage boy and at least 15 other civilians³. The three-month bloody⁴ crackdown had sent Syrians fleeing to the border. NPR's Peter Kenyon reports from a makeshift refugee camp near the border with Turkey.

I'm standing⁶ at a fruit tree orchard⁷. There are tanks and trucks, and there's a pot with a chicken stew⁸, bubbling away in the middle, a lot of young children running around. Women in headscarves are congregating⁹ at one end of tents, and the men are in the other. It really is a living rough experience. The water is quite dirty and cloudy, and that seems to be the most urgent need.

NPR's Peter Kenyon reporting from the Syrian border.

NATO warplanes are still targeting the Libyan capital. A series of explosions rumbled¹⁰ across the Libyan capital today. In the middle of the day, the most air strikes happened under the cover of darkness, but daytime NATO raids are becoming more frequent. The fresh strikes come as renewed diplomatic efforts to halt Libya's civil war appear to be gaining momentum¹¹.

Republican presidential politics are on tap in New Orleans this weekend. NPR's Debbie Elliott reports several candidates are in town courting their Southern base.

The Republican Leadership Conference is a chance for party activists to hear from the crowded field of GOP hopefuls. Speeches include Herman Cain, Michele Bachmann, Ron Paul and Rick Santorum among others. Former House Speaker Newt Gringrich is hoping to revive his campaign after losing his top staff. He called President Obama's administration "the opposite of freedom."

"He is a natural secular¹² European socialist¹³. He believes in big government. He believes in centralized power. He believes he, as a politician, knows more than as we do, and he should help us redesign our lives by letting him and his bureaucrats¹⁴ live it for us."

Notably¹⁵ absent from the gathering¹⁶ are Mitt¹⁷ Romney and Tim Pawlenty. Debbie Elliott, NPR News, New Orleans.

It looks like the economy may be rebounding¹⁸ from a late spring slump¹⁹. The Conference Board, a private research group, says its index of leading economic indicators²⁰ rebounded²¹ in May, rising 0.8% after a drop in April. Conference Board economist²² Ken⁵ Goldsteem says the choppy economy is not a surprise or a concern.

"The economy is moving up and down, like, you know, being tossed in the big waves. It's not sinking below the waves. That's the really important point."

Goldsteam says a weak housing market and higher prices for food and gas will likely result in choppy growth through the summer and fall.

Near the close, it looks like we have a mixed result. On Wall Street, the Dow was up 43; the Nasdaq down eight; the S&P closed up four.

This is NPR.

The UN Security Council is giving its approval for a second five-year term for Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Crucial to his support was gaining the backing of the five veto-wielding members of the council — The US, China, Russia, France and Britain. The entire General Assembly is expected to vote sometime next week.

South Korea says it rejects North Korea's demand to return a group of North Korean defectors found drifting at sea this past weekend. From Seoul, Doualy Xaykaothao reports all nine North Koreans want to stay in the South.

South Korea's Red Cross told North Korea the group of three men, two women and four children wish to defect. Pyongyang has demanded the return of the group and has warned if the South does not repatriate²³ them, ties between the two Koreas would worsen. A similar warning was made earlier this year, when more than 30 North Koeans were found drifting in a boat in South Korean waters. The North demanded all be returned, but four chose to defect; the rest chose to go home. For NPR News, I'm Doualy Xaykaothao in Seoul.

With Father's Day on Sunday, President Obama today took time to reflect on being the parent of two girls. In an interview with ABC's "Good Morning America," Mr. Obama admitted to being a little nervous about his daughter Malia turning 13 next month. He did explain what any potential suitors can expect.

"I might invite him to the Oval Office, ask him for his GPA, find out what his intentions are in terms of career. Malia, Sasha, if you're watching this, I'm just joking."

Mr. Obama says both of his daughters are extremely kind and respectful.

I'm Nancy Lyons, NPR News in Washington.

1 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。

2 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》

3 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。

4 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

5 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.

6 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。

7 orchard   

n.果园，果园里的全部果树，(美俚)棒球场

参考例句：

• My orchard is bearing well this year.今年我的果园果实累累。
• Each bamboo house was surrounded by a thriving orchard.每座竹楼周围都是茂密的果园。

8 stew   

n.炖汤，焖，烦恼；v.炖汤，焖，忧虑

参考例句：

• The stew must be boiled up before serving.炖肉必须煮熟才能上桌。
• There's no need to get in a stew.没有必要烦恼。

9 congregating   

（使）集合，聚集( congregate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The spatial distribution patterns of larvae and pupae are congregating distribution. 幼虫和蛹的空间分布均为聚集分布。
• He says victims of violence are congregating there because they feel safer. 他说暴力的受害者聚集在这里因为他们觉得更安全。

10 rumbled   

发出隆隆声，发出辘辘声( rumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 轰鸣着缓慢行进； 发现…的真相； 看穿（阴谋）

参考例句：

• The machine rumbled as it started up. 机器轰鸣着发动起来。
• Things rapidly became calm, though beneath the surface the argument rumbled on. 事情迅速平静下来了，然而，在这种平静的表面背后争论如隆隆雷声，持续不断。

11 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

12 secular   

n.牧师，凡人；adj.世俗的，现世的，不朽的

参考例句：

• We live in an increasingly secular society.我们生活在一个日益非宗教的社会。
• Britain is a plural society in which the secular predominates.英国是个世俗主导的多元社会。

13 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

14 bureaucrats   

n.官僚( bureaucrat的名词复数 )；官僚主义；官僚主义者；官僚语言

参考例句：

• That is the fate of the bureaucrats, not the inspiration of statesmen. 那是官僚主义者的命运，而不是政治家的灵感。 来自辞典例句
• Big business and dozens of anonymous bureaucrats have as much power as Japan's top elected leaders. 大企业和许多不知名的官僚同日本选举出来的最高层领导者们的权力一样大。 来自辞典例句

15 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

16 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

17 mitt   

n.棒球手套，拳击手套，无指手套；vt.铐住，握手

参考例句：

• I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日，我送给他一只棒球手套。
• Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。

18 rebounding   

蹦跳运动

参考例句：

• The strength of negative temperature concrete is tested with supersonic-rebounding method. 本文将超声回弹综合法用于负温混凝土强度检测。
• The fundamental of basketball includes shooting, passing and catching, rebounding, etc. 篮球运动中最基本的东西包括投篮，传接球，篮板球等。

19 slump   

n.暴跌，意气消沉，（土地）下沉；vi.猛然掉落，坍塌，大幅度下跌

参考例句：

• She is in a slump in her career.她处在事业的低谷。
• Economists are forecasting a slump.经济学家们预言将发生经济衰退。

20 indicators   

（仪器上显示温度、压力、耗油量等的）指针( indicator的名词复数 )； 指示物； （车辆上的）转弯指示灯； 指示信号

参考例句：

• The economic indicators are better than expected. 经济指标比预期的好。
• It is still difficult to develop indicators for many concepts used in social science. 为社会科学领域的许多概念确立一个指标仍然很难。

21 rebounded   

弹回( rebound的过去式和过去分词 )； 反弹； 产生反作用； 未能奏效

参考例句：

• The ball rebounded from the goalpost and Owen headed it in. 球从门柱弹回，欧文头球将球攻进。
• The ball rebounded from his racket into the net. 球从他的球拍上弹回网中。

22 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

23 repatriate   

v.遣返；返回；n.被遣返回国者

参考例句：

• The government safely repatriates victims.政府安全遣返了受害者。
• In this part,you need to formulate in detail repatriate the plan.在这一部分，你需要制定详细的归国计划。