NPR 2012-03-26

 From NPR News in Washington, I'm Louise Schiavone. 

 

An international summit on nuclear security gets underway in Seoul, South Korea this week, with both President Obama and South Korean President Lee warning North Korea against a planned missile launch.

 

“The real consequence, should they go forward with a launch, is they will have missed an opportunity.”

 

North Korea's rocket launch is planned for next month. The president today visited US troops in a demilitarized zone separating North and South Korea. He told the troops they are on freedom's frontier.  

 

In Afghanistan, there’s been a US payout to victims and their relatives in the wake of an apparent shooting rampage by a US soldier. NPR's Quil Lawrence has details.

 

According to Afghan officials in Kandahar province in the South, villagers have reported that they met with US officials; US military officials paid them compensation about 50,000 dollars for each of the 17 victims of the massacre¹ on March 11th and about 11,000 dollars for each of the wounded victims. And this was the first contact between the US military apparently² and the survivors³ of the killings⁴. 

 

NPR's Quil Lawrance reporting from Kabul. 

 

Hundreds of Israelis rally against a military strike on Iran. As Linda Gradstein reports, other Israelis are posting Facebook posters or visiting an art exhibit on Iran.

 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly said that a nuclear-armed Iran is an existential danger to Israel, and Israel will not rule out a military option. Yet, some Israelis say they oppose an Israeli strike on Iran. In Tel Aviv, hundreds of Israelis are calling on the government not to attack Iran, saying it would cost billions of dollars and might not be effective. Other Israelis are uploading posters of themselves on Facebook with signs that read “Iranians, we will never bomb your country. We love you.” Some Iranians are posting similar images with their faces blurred⁵ or removed. For NPR News, I'm Linda Gradstein in Jerusalem.

 

GOP presidential hopeful Rick Santorum says he will not accept a notion that the Republican contest is over, and that Mitt⁶ Romney is the inevitable⁷ nominee⁸. He says his victory this weekend in Louisiana demonstrates that.

 

“Governor Romney is not gonna be able to pound Barack Obama into the ground by outspending them 20-1. We’re gonna have someone who’s gonna, who can beat him on the issues, who can connect with voters, and that's why we won Louisiana last night. I think that’s what we're going to do well here in Wisconsin.”

 

Santorum spoke⁹ on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” The next GOP primaries are April 3rd in Wisconsin, the District of Columbia and Maryland.

 

The movie adaptation of the teen literally¹⁰ sensation “Hunger Games” now setting a record.

 

This is NPR News.

 

Slowly but surely people are queuing up for the Supreme¹¹ Court’s consideration of the health care reform law that took effect two years ago. At this hour on this gloomy day, about a dozen people are standing¹² in line at the Supreme Court steps. Oral arguments are open to the public, but seating is limited and granted on the first-come, first-served basis. The issue has been a political lightening rod, and the decision by the justices will no doubt play into the election-year debate.

 

A political scandal has erupted in Britain. A senior fundraiser for the ruling conservatives has been caught on camera, offering access to the prime minister in return for big donations to the party. NPR's Philip Reeves says that official has now resigned.

 

Peter Cruddas, co-treasure of the Conservative Party, was filmed by undercover reporters from Rupert Murdoch's Sunday Times. Cruddas talks about donations of the equivalent of up to 400,000 dollars and about access to Prime Minister David Cameron and Finance Minster George Osborne.

 

“When we talk about your donations, the first thing we want to do is get you at the Cameron/Osborne dinners.”

 

Donors¹³ can try to influence policy, says Cruddas.

 

“If you’re unhappy about something, we will listen to you and will put it into the policy committee at number 10.”

 

Cruddas has now quit, saying he regrets what he calls is bluster¹⁴. The Conservative Party says it always ensures all donations comply with the law. But this incident is a big blow to Cameron, who came into power promising¹⁵ to curb¹⁶ corporate¹⁷ lobbying. Philip Reeves, NPR News, London.

 

In Silao, Mexico, the atmosphere was festival as the Pope greeted hundreds of thousands of Mexican Catholics.

 

I'm Louise Schiavone, NPR News, Washington.

1 massacre   

n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀

参考例句：

• There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在战争中，这里的村民惨遭屠杀。
• If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘记了大屠杀，大屠杀就有可能再次发生！

2 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。

3 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

4 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

5 blurred   

v.（使）变模糊( blur的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）难以区分；模模糊糊；迷离

参考例句：

• She suffered from dizziness and blurred vision. 她饱受头晕目眩之苦。
• Their lazy, blurred voices fell pleasantly on his ears. 他们那种慢吞吞、含糊不清的声音在他听起来却很悦耳。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 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。

7 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

8 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。

9 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

10 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

11 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。

12 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。

13 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 bluster   

v.猛刮；怒冲冲的说；n.吓唬，怒号；狂风声

参考例句：

• We could hear the bluster of the wind and rain.我们能听到狂风暴雨的吹打声。
• He was inclined to bluster at first,but he soon dropped.起初他老爱吵闹一阵，可是不久就不做声了。

15 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

16 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

17 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。