美国国家电台 NPR 2012-10-11

 The U.S. Supreme¹ Court has taken up affirmative action today. The justices are considering the case of a young white woman who argued she was denied admission to a University of Texas' program because of her race. Her supporters say considering race at all is unlawful. But the university says the program that fills about 1/4 of its incoming classes uses ethnicity as only one of many factors to achieve a level of diversity called for by law. NPR's Nina Totenberg reports the makeup² of this supreme court has changed since it last ruled on affirmative action in 2003.

 

The court's 5:4 decision upholding affirmative action nine years ago was written by Sandra Day O'Connor, but she has now retired³ and been replaced by Justice Samuel Alito, a dedicated⁴ foe⁵ of affirmative action. And by reaching out to take this case from the University of Texas, the court would seem to be signaling that a new energized⁶ conservative majority is prepared to reverse or cut back previous decisions dating back to 1978, decisions that allowed state colleges and universities to consider race as one of many factors in college admission. NPR's Nina Totenberg.

 

A GOP-led House Committee is probing allegations that security failures left the U.S. consulate⁸ in Benghazi, Libya exposed to a terrorist attack. In the immediate⁹ aftermath of violence that left four Americans including Ambassador Chris Stevens died last month. The administration suggested the violence was triggered by anti-Islamic inflammatory materials on the Internet. But Lieutenant¹⁰ Colonel Andrew Wood who headed up a military team in Tripoli gave a different account today in his exchange with Republican lawmaker Raúl Labrador.

 

It was instantly recognizable to me as a terrorist attack. Instantly recognizable, yes, and why is that? Mainly because of my prior knowledge there, I almost expected the attack to come. We were the last flag flying. It was a matter of time.

 

Wood says security was a struggle at the consulate and higher-ups knew it, but State Department officials maintained they did not sure change security.

 

More cases in the meningitis outbreak, six states reporting additional cases of a rare type of it, linked to contaminated steroid drug used to treat back pain. More from NPR's Richard Knox.

 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says cases of drug-related meningitis have gone up by 18 since Tuesday. As states do intensive case finding. That brings the total to 137. One additional death in Florida, brings that total to 12. Officials say 13,000 Americans received fungus¹¹ contaminated injections from Massachusetts pharmacy¹² since last May. The incubation period for this type of meningitis is 28 days. So thousands of patients are out of danger. Says Jay Campbell, Director of North Carolina's Pharmacy Board. 

 

There is going to be a number of those patients, so your safe were beyond the window of time in weeks, if they were going to contract fungal meningitis they would have done it.

 

This is NPR.

 

Pakistan's government says it's determined¹³ to track down the Taliban militants¹⁴ who shot a 15-year-old school girl for speaking out against them. From Islamabad, NPR's Philip Reeves says the attack on Malala Yousafzai has caused an outpouring of emotion in Pakistan.

 

Messages of condemnation¹⁵ and goodwill¹⁶ have been pouring in from at home and abroad. Malala knows nothing of this as she is lying unconscious in a military hospital. She was shot to the head yesterday on her way from school. The Pakistani Taliban says they did it. Malala became a national icon¹⁷ in Pakistan for being a child blogger who wrote about the Taliban when they closed down the schools in her home city in Swat Valley. And later publicly campaigned for the rights of girls to be educated. Schools in her home city, Mingora, closed again today. This time is a protest of the attack. That's NPR's Philip Reeves reporting.

 

The wife of Republican presidential nominee¹⁸ Mitt⁷ Romney continues to see her visibility increased on the campaign trail. And Romney made an apparent appeal to women voters in an appearance on a morning television. 

 

Defense¹⁹ Secretary Leon Panetta says the U.S. has created a disproportionate number of teams being used to train Afghan forces and called on NATO today to pick up more of the lead. Speaking to NATO ministers in Brussels, Panetta urged them to help fill the shortfall of military training teams in Afghanistan and give those commitments by later next month. 

 

Before the close on Wall Street, Dow Jones Industrial Average down 129 points at 13,345; NASDAQ off 13 points at 3,052.

1 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。

2 makeup   

n.组织；性格；化装品

参考例句：

• Those who failed the exam take a makeup exam.这次考试不及格的人必须参加补考。
• Do you think her beauty could makeup for her stupidity?你认为她的美丽能弥补她的愚蠢吗？

3 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

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 foe   

n.敌人，仇敌

参考例句：

• He knew that Karl could be an implacable foe.他明白卡尔可能会成为他的死敌。
• A friend is a friend;a foe is a foe;one must be clearly distinguished from the other.敌是敌，友是友，必须分清界限。

6 energized   

v.给予…精力，能量( energize的过去式和过去分词 )；使通电

参考例句：

• We are energized by love if we put our energy into loving. 如果我们付出能量去表现爱意，爱就会使我们充满活力。 来自辞典例句
• I am completely energized and feeling terrific. 我充满了活力，感觉非常好。 来自辞典例句

7 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。

8 consulate   

n.领事馆

参考例句：

• The Spanish consulate is the large white building opposite the bank.西班牙领事馆是银行对面的那栋高大的白色建筑物。
• The American consulate was a magnificent edifice in the centre of Bordeaux.美国领事馆是位于波尔多市中心的一座宏伟的大厦。

9 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。

10 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

11 fungus   

n.真菌，真菌类植物

参考例句：

• Mushrooms are a type of fungus.蘑菇是一种真菌。
• This fungus can just be detected by the unaided eye.这种真菌只用肉眼就能检查出。

12 pharmacy   

n.药房，药剂学，制药业，配药业，一批备用药品

参考例句：

• She works at the pharmacy.她在药房工作。
• Modern pharmacy has solved the problem of sleeplessness.现代制药学已经解决了失眠问题。

13 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

14 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

15 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。

16 goodwill   

n.善意，亲善，信誉，声誉

参考例句：

• His heart is full of goodwill to all men.他心里对所有人都充满着爱心。
• We paid ￡10,000 for the shop,and ￡2000 for its goodwill.我们用一万英镑买下了这家商店，两千英镑买下了它的信誉。

17 icon   

n.偶像，崇拜的对象，画像

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• Click on this icon to align or justify text.点击这个图标使文本排齐。

18 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

19 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。