NPR 2012-12-13

　　From NPR News in Washington, I'm Barbara Klein

 

　　The Pentagon confirms reports that Syrian government has been firing Scud¹ missiles at insurgent² areas in recent days. It has an escalation³ in the conflict as rebels try to overthrow⁴ the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad. White House spokesman Jay Carney says its fresh evidence Assad's forces had no regard for innocent civilians⁵.

 

　　The idea that the Syrian regime would launch missiles within its borders at its own people is stunning⁶ desperate any completely disproportion in military escalation.

 

　　Meanwhile, Syria's opposition⁷ coalition⁸ says US recognition of it as the sole representative of the Syrian people must translate into help on the ground.

 

　　Egypt's main opposition coalition is encouraging Egyptians to go to the poll and vote no on President Mohamed Morsi's disputed constitution. However, opposition leaders are saying they may still call a boycott⁹ if Egypt's judiciary doesn't oversee¹⁰ the referendum.

 

　　North Korea is hailing what it claims as its first successful launch of satellite. NPR's Anthony Kuhn reports from Seoul that the US, South Korea have condemned¹¹ the launch as violation¹² of UN resolutions. But they can see that it was technically¹³ at least a success.

 

　　The official Korean central news agency said that the country's scientists had carried out the instruction of the late leader Kim Jong-il to launch a satellite this year to mark the 100 birthday of North Korea's founding Father Kim Il Sung. State television reported the news in a special brand case that the shot not seen since Kim Jong-il died on December 17th last year. North Korea and its ally China affirmed the North's right to launch satellite for scientific purposes. The US, Japan and South Korea have denounced the launch as simply disguise test of ballistic missile. Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Seoul.

 

　　Federal Reserve policymakers say they'll continue to pump large amount of money into the economy next year. As Steve Beckner of Market News International reports the move will keep interests down as long as unemployment is high.

 

　　Whatever happens with the fiscal¹⁴ cliff, there will be no monetary¹⁵ cliff. The Federal keeps to pump 85-billion dollars response per month to hold down long term interest rates. Forty-five-billion dollars of Treasury¹⁶ bond purchases financed by sales of short term treasuries¹⁷ were due to expire a year end. Now though it will continue along with 40-billion dollars per month mortgage bond buying financed by the creation of new money. At that pace, the Fed galaxy¹⁸ would expand by 1-trillion dollars next year. For the first time, the Fed says it will keep short term rate near zero so long as unemployment stays about 6.5% and inflation doesn't go over 2.5%. For NPR News, I'm Steve Beckner in Washington.

 

　　On Wall Street, an hour before the close, the Dow was up 24 points at 13,271. And NASDAQ is down one at 3,021.

 

　　This is NPR.

 

　　A judge in Guatemala is ordering the release of software company founder²⁰ John McAfee to the US. He's been held in a Guatemala detention²¹ center after he sneaked²² into Guatemala from Belize where police want a question of him about the murder of a neighbor. McAfee has home on Belizean island.

 

　　The FBI is crediting Facebook security team for helping²³ un-relevant international cyber criming. The FBI announced yesterday ten people are under arrest for a skin that compromised more than 11-million computer systems and led to more than 850-million dollars in losses. Facebook help government agents and covered the route calls of the mail ware¹⁹ that steals credit card and bank account information of computer users.

 

　　Sitar virtuoso²⁴ Ravi Shankar has died at the age of 92. Sankar met the Beatles in the sixtieth brought Indian music to the West. And / reports he's considered a pioneer of world music.

 

　　To western audiences, Ravi Shankar was best known for bringing traditional Indian music to the world stage. Playing the sitar, Shankar rose to international fame collaborating²⁵ with everyone from Beatles to John Coltrane. The Beatles' George Harrison once called Shankar the guide father of world music. Today the Indian prime minister called the three-time Grammy winner a national treasure and a global ambassador of India's cultural heritage. Throughout the afternoon, Indian TV stations paid tribute to the musician while politicians and Bollywood stars posed remembrances on Twitter. India's vice²⁶ president said Sankar's death created a void which may never be filled. For NPR News, / in New Delhi.

 

　　And I'm Barbara Klein.

1 scud   

n.疾行；v.疾行

参考例句：

• The helpers came in a scud.救援者飞奔而来。
• Rabbits scud across the turf.兔子飞快地穿过草地。

2 insurgent   

adj.叛乱的，起事的；n.叛乱分子

参考例句：

• Faruk says they are threatened both by insurgent and government forces.法鲁克说，他们受到暴乱分子和政府军队的双重威胁。
• The insurgent mob assembled at the gate of the city park.叛变的暴徒聚在市立公园的门口。

3 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

4 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

5 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。

6 stunning   

adj.极好的；使人晕倒的

参考例句：

• His plays are distinguished only by their stunning mediocrity.他的戏剧与众不同之处就是平凡得出奇。
• The finished effect was absolutely stunning.完工后的效果非常美。

7 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

8 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

9 boycott   

n./v.(联合)抵制，拒绝参与

参考例句：

• We put the production under a boycott.我们联合抵制该商品。
• The boycott lasts a year until the Victoria board permitsreturn.这个抗争持续了一年直到维多利亚教育局妥协为止。

10 oversee   

vt.监督，管理

参考例句：

• Soldiers oversee the food handouts.士兵们看管着救济食品。
• Use a surveyor or architect to oversee and inspect the different stages of the work.请一位房产检视员或建筑师来监督并检查不同阶段的工作。

11 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

12 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

13 technically   

adv.专门地，技术上地

参考例句：

• Technically it is the most advanced equipment ever.从技术上说，这是最先进的设备。
• The tomato is technically a fruit,although it is eaten as a vegetable.严格地说，西红柿是一种水果，尽管它是当作蔬菜吃的。

14 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

15 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。

16 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

17 treasuries   

n.（政府的）财政部( treasury的名词复数 )；国库，金库

参考例句：

• Yields on Treasuries, Bunds and gilts can remain at historically low levels. 美国国债、德国国债和英国国债的收益率仍然可以维持在历史低位。 来自互联网
• Treasuries and gold rose in response but the dollar fell sharply. 接着，国债和黄金的价格上涨，而美元价格则猛跌。 来自互联网

18 galaxy   

n.星系；银河系；一群(杰出或著名的人物)

参考例句：

• The earth is one of the planets in the Galaxy.地球是银河系中的星球之一。
• The company has a galaxy of talent.该公司拥有一批优秀的人才。

19 ware   

n.(常用复数)商品，货物

参考例句：

• The shop sells a great variety of porcelain ware.这家店铺出售品种繁多的瓷器。
• Good ware will never want a chapman.好货不须叫卖。

20 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。

21 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

22 sneaked   

v.潜行( sneak的过去式和过去分词 )；偷偷溜走；（儿童向成人）打小报告；告状

参考例句：

• I sneaked up the stairs. 我蹑手蹑脚地上了楼。
• She sneaked a surreptitious glance at her watch. 她偷偷看了一眼手表。

23 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

24 virtuoso   

n.精于某种艺术或乐器的专家，行家里手

参考例句：

• He was gaining a reputation as a remarkable virtuoso.作为一位技艺非凡的大师，他声誉日隆。
• His father was a virtuoso horn player who belonged to the court orchestra.他的父亲是宫廷乐队中一个技巧精湛的圆号演奏家。

25 collaborating   

合作( collaborate的现在分词 )； 勾结叛国

参考例句：

• Joe is collaborating on the work with a friend. 乔正与一位朋友合作做那件工作。
• He was not only learning from but also collaborating with Joseph Thomson. 他不仅是在跟约瑟福？汤姆逊学习，而且也是在和他合作。

26 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。