NPR 2012-03-05

 In a fiery¹ speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's annual policy conference today, President Obama declared the US will not hesitate to attack Iran with military force to prevent it from acquiring a nuclear weapon. Mr. Obama said that in many ways Iran is on the ropes.

 

“Iran is isolated³, its leadership divided and under pressure. And by the way, the Arab Spring has only increased these trends as the hypocrisy⁴ of the Iranian regime is exposed, and its ally, the Assad regime, is crumbling⁵.”

 

At the same time, the president cautioned that too much loose talk of war recently has only helped Tehran and driven up the price of oil. Tomorrow at the White House, President Obama hosts Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for talks. 

 

Large numbers of people are feared dead in the Republic of Congo after a series of massive explosions at a military base. The blasts were caused by a fire at a munitions⁶ depot⁷ in the capital Brazzaville. The BBC's Peter Biles has more.

 

The explosions, five or six in all, were heard around Brazzaville and across the Congo River in nearby Kinshasa. Buildings were destroyed, and people fled their homes in panic. A smoke hung over Brazzaville. Local television broadcast appeals for medical staff to rush to hospitals. This appears to be an accident. State radio said the blasts were the result of a fire in the arms depot of a military base. The casualty toll⁸ has still to be established. But initial reports say that 200 people may have died. 

 

The BBC's Peter Biles reporting from Brazzaville.

 

Mitt² Romney is heading into Super Tuesday with a win in the non-binding straw poll in Washington state. The poll was held at Republican Party precinct caucuses⁹ this weekend. And as NPR's Martin Kaste reports, turnout was impressive.

 

Back in 2008, only about 13,000 people participated in Washington's Republican caucuses. This year, that figure was closer to 50,000. One of those newcomers was Ron Paul supporter May Palmer, who says if her candidate weren’t in the race, she wouldn't be involved in the Republican Party.

 

"I would be so far removed. I’d be like on a boat to borrow something. Now, I am here just because I am in support of Dr. Paul because of his constitutional consistency¹⁰ and his love for liberty, for you and for me." 

 

The straw poll doesn't actually award any delegates. That happens this summer at the Republican state convention. Martin Kaste, NPR News, Seattle.

 

Two trains running on the same track collided head on in southern Poland this weekend. Sixteen people died; dozens were injured. The crash near Krakow is that nation's worst train disaster in more than two decades.

 

This is NPR News.

 

Nearly a year ago, hackers¹¹ stole the personal date of 77 million users of Sony's PlayStation Network. Now as Larry Miller¹² reports, it’s revealed hackers struck Sony Music, stealing Michael Jackson's entire back catalog, including a wealth of unreleased material, including duets with Freddie Mercury and Black Eyed Peas singer will.i.am.

 

London Sunday Times says hackers downloaded more than 50,000 of Jackson's digital music files from Sony in the biggest cyber-attack yet on a record company. The Times says Sony confirms the hacking¹³ but it wasn't made public because customer data wasn't stolen. Sony paid the Jackson estate 250 million dollars for ten new albums. The Times says everything was compromised, and Sony only discovered the theft during routine monitoring of Jackson fan sites and hacking forums¹⁴. After the hackers were reportedly traced to UK computer addresses, Sony informed Britain's serious crime agency. Two men were in court last week charged with the hacking. For NPR News, I'm Larry Miller in London.

 

The preserved heart of St. Laurence O’Toole is missing from Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin. It was secured in a heart-shaped wooden box and kept in a square iron cage since the 13th century. Nuala Kavanagh is director of operations at the cathedral.

 

“We’re just, we’re devastated¹⁵, and we just can't believe this. It's been in the cathedral for nearly 1,000 years, and it's been a site of pilgrimage for people all over the world. It's a sacred relic¹⁶ that we hold very dear.

 

I'm Louise Schiavone, NPR News, Washington.

1 fiery   

adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的

参考例句：

• She has fiery red hair.她有一头火红的头发。
• His fiery speech agitated the crowd.他热情洋溢的讲话激动了群众。

2 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。

3 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

4 hypocrisy   

n.伪善，虚伪

参考例句：

• He railed against hypocrisy and greed.他痛斥伪善和贪婪的行为。
• He accused newspapers of hypocrisy in their treatment of the story.他指责了报纸在报道该新闻时的虚伪。

5 crumbling   

adj.摇摇欲坠的

参考例句：

• an old house with crumbling plaster and a leaking roof 一所灰泥剥落、屋顶漏水的老房子
• The boat was tied up alongside a crumbling limestone jetty. 这条船停泊在一个摇摇欲坠的石灰岩码头边。

6 munitions   

n.军火，弹药；v.供应…军需品

参考例句：

• The army used precision-guided munitions to blow up enemy targets.军队用精确瞄准的枪炮炸掉敌方目标。
• He rose [made a career for himself] by dealing in munitions.他是靠贩卖军火发迹的。

7 depot   

n.仓库，储藏处；公共汽车站；火车站

参考例句：

• The depot is only a few blocks from here.公共汽车站离这儿只有几个街区。
• They leased the building as a depot.他们租用这栋大楼作仓库。

8 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

9 caucuses   

n.（政党决定政策或推举竞选人的）核心成员( caucus的名词复数 )；决策干部；决策委员会；秘密会议

参考例句：

• Republican caucuses will happen in about 410 towns across Maine. 共和党团会议选举将在缅因州的约410个城镇进行。 来自互联网

10 consistency   

n.一贯性，前后一致，稳定性；(液体的)浓度

参考例句：

• Your behaviour lacks consistency.你的行为缺乏一贯性。
• We appreciate the consistency and stability in China and in Chinese politics.我们赞赏中国及其政策的连续性和稳定性。

11 hackers   

n.计算机迷( hacker的名词复数 )；私自存取或篡改电脑资料者，电脑“黑客”

参考例句：

• They think of viruses that infect an organization from the outside.They envision hackers breaking into their information vaults. 他们考虑来自外部的感染公司的病毒，他们设想黑客侵入到信息宝库中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Arranging a meeting with the hackers took weeks againoff-again email exchanges. 通过几星期电子邮件往来安排见面，他们最终同意了。 来自互联网

12 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

13 hacking   

n.非法访问计算机系统和数据库的活动

参考例句：

• The patient with emphysema is hacking all day. 这个肺气肿病人整天不断地干咳。
• We undertook the task of hacking our way through the jungle. 我们负责在丛林中开路。

14 forums   

讨论会； 座谈会； 广播专题讲话节目； 集会的公共场所( forum的名词复数 )； 论坛，讨论会，专题讨论节目； 法庭

参考例句：

• A few of the forums were being closely monitored by the administrators. 有些论坛被管理员严密监控。
• It can cast a dark cloud over these forums. 它将是的论坛上空布满乌云。

15 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

16 relic   

n.神圣的遗物，遗迹，纪念物

参考例句：

• This stone axe is a relic of ancient times.这石斧是古代的遗物。
• He found himself thinking of the man as a relic from the past.他把这个男人看成是过去时代的人物。