NPR 2011-07-05

A British soldier has been killed in Afghanistan's Helmand province. NATO forces found the body after an extensive search this morning. Taliban insurgents¹ claim they executed him. This as General David Petraeus attended a re-enlistment ceremony in Kandahar. NPR's Quil Lawrence has our report from Kabul.

General David Petraeus marked exactly one year as commander of the military effort in Afghanistan with an address to over 200 US soldiers in Kandahar, who decided² to re-enlist on Independence Day. Petraeus thanked the soldiers for what he called "the most meaningful display of patriotism³." Taliban sources claimed to have captured the soldier that NATO officials earlier announced was missing. But a Taliban spokesman said that insurgents had executed the prisoner during a firefight with NATO forces in Helmand province. British Prime Minister David Cameron who was visiting Helmand canceled his scheduled trip. So helicopters could be dedicated⁴ to the search, which later recovered the body. Quil Lawrence, NPR News, Kabul.

Greek authorities are blocking a ship that tried to leave port to head to the Gaza Strip to deliver aid to Palestinians and break Israel's naval⁵ blockade. Greece is banning the flotilla from leaving, but says it will offer to deliver the aid. Greek Foreign Ministry⁶ spokesman Grigoris Delavekouras says Greece is trying to avert⁷ a crisis.

"I believe that with this initiative, Greece is making an extra step and trying to find a different way to transport the humanitarian⁸ aid and at the same time prevent an escalation⁹ that could be dangerous for everybody."

Greece says it's banning all boats and the Gaza flotilla from leaving port, citing security concerns after Israeli forces raided a flotilla last year.

Fox News says their Twitter feed was hacked¹⁰ early this morning. NPR's Wade¹¹ Goodwyn tells us several tweets that Fox calls "malicious¹² and false" reported President Obama had been assassinated¹³.

The first post said: "@Barack Obama has just passed. The President is dead. A sad 4th of July, indeed." Later post added false details such as the president had been shot twice in the lower pelvic area and in the neck while at a restaurant in Iowa. President Obama spent part of the 4th of July holiday at Camp David, but was back safely in the White House at the time of the tweets. A hacker¹⁴ group, known as the Script Kiddies, has apparently¹⁵ taken credit. An anonymous¹⁶ spokesman for the Script Kiddies told an Internet investigator¹⁷ that they had targeted Fox because the group figured Fox's security would be as much of a joke as their reporting. Wade Goodwyn, NPR News.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn is expected to face more rape¹⁸ charges. A French novelist is due to file a criminal complaint tomorrow. The former International Monetary¹⁹ Fund chief is vowing²⁰ to sue her for defamation²¹ of character. The news comes after Strauss-Kahn was released from house arrest in New York on Friday.

This is NPR News.

The European Union is sending nearly 15 million dollars in emergency food aid to North Korea, saying at least 650,000 people there are at risk of dying from starvation. The commission says it's putting special monitoring procedures in place to ensure the assistance isn't diverted to North Korea's military.

A new study just released by the Archives of General Psychiatry²² is questioning the safety of antidepressants in pregnant women. NPR's Alex Spiegel reports the study examines whether prenatal exposure to antidepressants might increase the risk of autism.

According to the small study, it appears that the use of SSRI antidepressants during pregnancy²³, particularly in the first trimester, can modestly increase the risk that the child will be born with autism. To do the study, researchers from Kaiser Permanente Research Division collected medical records from the mothers of around 300 children with autism and 1,500 children without autism and compared them. The authors are clear, however, trying to understand where autism comes from is complicated, and so they say the result of this work will need to be replicated²⁴ on a much larger scale before the association[s] between antidepressant use in pregnancy and autism are truly established. Alex Spiegel, NPR News, Washington.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is back home, surprising his countrymen who last saw him yesterday in a video posted by the Cuban government's website. Chavez had been in Cuba since June 8th, where he underwent cancer surgery. Just yesterday, the Venezuelan leader said he'd be staying in Cuba to recuperate²⁵. But he returned to Caracas in the early hours of this morning, saying he's fine.

I'm Barbara Klein, NPR News, Washington.

1 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 patriotism   

n.爱国精神，爱国心，爱国主义

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• They obtained money under the false pretenses of patriotism.他们以虚伪的爱国主义为借口获得金钱。

4 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

5 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

6 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

7 avert   

v.防止，避免；转移(目光、注意力等)

参考例句：

• He managed to avert suspicion.他设法避嫌。
• I would do what I could to avert it.我会尽力去避免发生这种情况。

8 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

9 escalation   

n.扩大，增加

参考例句：

• The threat of nuclear escalation remains. 核升级的威胁仍旧存在。 来自辞典例句
• Escalation is thus an aspect of deterrence and of crisis management. 因此逐步升级是威慑和危机处理的一个方面。 来自辞典例句

10 hacked   

生气

参考例句：

• I hacked the dead branches off. 我把枯树枝砍掉了。
• I'm really hacked off. 我真是很恼火。

11 wade   

v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉

参考例句：

• We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
• We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。

12 malicious   

adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的

参考例句：

• You ought to kick back at such malicious slander. 你应当反击这种恶毒的污蔑。
• Their talk was slightly malicious.他们的谈话有点儿心怀不轨。

13 assassinated   

v.暗杀( assassinate的过去式和过去分词 )；中伤；诋毁；破坏

参考例句：

• The prime minister was assassinated by extremists. 首相遭极端分子暗杀。
• Then, just two days later, President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. 跟着在两天以后，肯尼迪总统在达拉斯被人暗杀。 来自辞典例句

14 hacker   

n.能盗用或偷改电脑中信息的人，电脑黑客

参考例句：

• The computer hacker wrote that he was from Russia.这个计算机黑客自称他来自俄罗斯。
• This site was attacked by a hacker last week.上周这个网站被黑客攻击了。

15 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

16 anonymous   

adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的

参考例句：

• Sending anonymous letters is a cowardly act.寄匿名信是懦夫的行为。
• The author wishes to remain anonymous.作者希望姓名不公开。

17 investigator   

n.研究者，调查者，审查者

参考例句：

• He was a special investigator for the FBI.他是联邦调查局的特别调查员。
• The investigator was able to deduce the crime and find the criminal.调查者能够推出犯罪过程并锁定罪犯。

18 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

19 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

20 vowing   

起誓，发誓（vow的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• President Bush is vowing to help Minneapolis rebuild its collapsed bridge. 布什总统承诺将帮助明尼阿波利斯重建坍塌的大桥。
• President Bush is vowing to help Minneapolis rebuild this collapse bridge. 布什总统发誓要帮助明尼阿波利斯重建起这座坍塌的桥梁。

21 defamation   

n.诽谤；中伤

参考例句：

• Character defamation can be either oral or written.人格诽谤既可以是口头的也可以是书面的。
• The company sued for defamation.这个公司因受到诽谤而提起诉讼。

22 psychiatry   

n.精神病学，精神病疗法

参考例句：

• The study appeared in the Amercian science Journal of Psychiatry.这个研究发表在美国精神病学的杂志上。
• A physician is someone who specializes in psychiatry.精神病专家是专门从事精神病治疗的人。

23 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

24 replicated   

复制( replicate的过去式和过去分词 )； 重复； 再造； 再生

参考例句：

• Later outplant the seedlings in a replicated permanent test plantation. 以后苗木出圃栽植成重复的永久性试验林。
• The phage has replicated and the donor cells have lysed. 噬菌体已复制和给体细胞已发生裂解。

25 recuperate   

v.恢复

参考例句：

• Stay in the hospital for a few more days to recuperate.再住院几天，好好地恢复。
• He went to the country to recuperate.他去乡下养病去了。