NPR 2012-04-09

 A United Nations plan to stop the fighting in Syria fell apart today. The Syrian government had agreed to withdraw its troops from rebel-held areas Tuesday. Both sides had agreed to a ceasefire to begin Thursday. Now the Syrian government is demanding a written guarantee from the rebels that they’ll observe a truce¹. The rebels say they will abide² by the plan but won't put it in writing because they don't recognize the Syrian regime. Meanwhile, NPR's Grant Clark reports the bloodshed continues.

 

The British-based Syrian Observatory³ for Human Rights says troops have launched an attack on an area just outside the northwestern town of Jisr al-Shughour. They said explosions were heard and dozens of military vehicles involved in the assault. Syrian forces also reportedly shelled a rebel-held neighborhood in the flashpoint central city of Homs today. Opposition⁴ activists⁵ say more than 120 people were killed in violence across Syria yesterday. Almost half of them died in a Syrian army raid on the central village of al-Latamneh. Grant Clark, NPR News, Beirut.

 

The US and Afghanistan signed an agreement today to change the way night raids are conducted, operations in which US and Afghan troops barge⁶ into Afghan homes at night, looking for insurgents⁷. Now Afghan officials will have to approve the raids. Afghan troops will take the lead in carrying them out and will take control of any prisoners. US forces will still be involved in an advisory⁸ capacity. Afghan President Harmid Karzai has complained the raids cause civilian⁹ casualties. 

 

Police in Tulsa, Oklahoma arrested two suspects today in a series of shootings that left three people dead and two people injured last week, but NPR's Alison Keyes reports they aren't yet talking about a motive¹⁰ in the case.

 

All of the victims were African-American. Police identified the suspects as 19-year-old Jake England and 32-year-old Alvin Watts¹¹. One city counselor¹² and other community leaders characterized the shootings early Friday as racially motivated. Police said they had no evidence of that. But on a Facebook page allegedly belonging to England, there’s a posting using racial slurs¹³ against the black man accused of killing¹⁴ England's father two years ago. Tulsa police spokesman Jason Willingham says he can't discuss motive.

 

“I can't confirm that that is his page, but obviously those are, those are all aspects of the investigation¹⁵.”

 

Willingham says police will present evidence to federal prosecutors¹⁶ who will decide whether to pursuit hate crime charges against the men. Alison Keyes, NPR News. 

 

CBS News reports Mike Wallace died last night. The veteran newsman was there at the beginning for "60 Minutes" as one of the original host of the news magazine. His colleague Morley Safer said it's hard to believe. But when Wallace was born in 1918, there weren't even (slip) many radios in most American homes. Wallace semi-retired in 2006. He (slip) told reporters at that time he wanted to be remembered as tough but fair. Mike Wallace was 93. 

 

This is NPR News. 

 

About 400,000 AT&T landline employees are working without a contract as of midnight last night. Union officials say they’ll keep working while contract talks with the company continue. The main outstanding issues appear to be job security and how much workers should pay for health care premiums¹⁷ and co-pays. 

 

Maryland's High Court of Appeals is deciding whether to grant a divorce to a same-sex couple, while same-sex marriage is not legal in Maryland. From member station WYPR, Mary Rose Madden reports.

 

Jessica Port and Virginia Anne Cowan have been trying to get divorced for two of the four years they’ve been married. The couple was living in Maryland when they began their proceedings¹⁸. In 2010, their judge denied their request, saying that it was contrary to the public policy of Maryland. Shannon Minter is the legal director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights. He says other couples have had success getting divorced in their home states, even if same-sex marriage is not legal in that state. Trial court judges are quietly granting their divorce, but “there are some cases where trial court judges will not do it, and then couples end up really stuck, and those cases are starting to go up on appeal. So I think we’re going to see a lot more of this issue in the coming years.” For NPR News, I'm Mary Rose Madden in Baltimore.

 

Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich is acknowledging that Mitt¹⁹ Romney will most likely be the GOP nominee²⁰, but he said he’s still not dropping out of the race. Gingrich told “Fox News Sunday” he’s being realistic and saying Romney will be a good choice. He also said he’ll do all he can to help Romney win. Gingrich said he’s glad he ran for president, but he said it turned out to be harder than he thought. 

1 truce   

n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束

参考例句：

• The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。
• She had thought of flying out to breathe the fresh air in an interval of truce.她想跑出去呼吸一下休战期间的新鲜空气。

2 abide   

vi.遵守；坚持；vt.忍受

参考例句：

• You must abide by the results of your mistakes.你必须承担你的错误所造成的后果。
• If you join the club,you have to abide by its rules.如果你参加俱乐部，你就得遵守它的规章。

3 observatory   

n.天文台，气象台，瞭望台，观测台

参考例句：

• Guy's house was close to the observatory.盖伊的房子离天文台很近。
• Officials from Greenwich Observatory have the clock checked twice a day.格林威治天文台的职员们每天对大钟检查两次。

4 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。

5 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 barge   

n.平底载货船，驳船

参考例句：

• The barge was loaded up with coal.那艘驳船装上了煤。
• Carrying goods by train costs nearly three times more than carrying them by barge.通过铁路运货的成本比驳船运货成本高出近3倍。

7 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

8 advisory   

adj.劝告的，忠告的，顾问的，提供咨询

参考例句：

• I have worked in an advisory capacity with many hospitals.我曾在多家医院做过顾问工作。
• He was appointed to the advisory committee last month.他上个月获任命为顾问委员会委员。

9 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

10 motive   

n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的

参考例句：

• The police could not find a motive for the murder.警察不能找到谋杀的动机。
• He had some motive in telling this fable.他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。

11 watts   

（电力计量单位）瓦，瓦特( watt的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• My lamp uses 60 watts; my toaster uses 600 watts. 我的灯用60瓦，我的烤面包器用600瓦。
• My lamp uses 40 watts. 我的灯40瓦。

12 counselor   

n.顾问，法律顾问

参考例句：

• The counselor gave us some disinterested advice.顾问给了我们一些无私的忠告。
• Chinese commercial counselor's office in foreign countries.中国驻国外商务参赞处。

13 slurs   

含糊的发音( slur的名词复数 )； 玷污； 连奏线； 连唱线

参考例句：

• One should keep one's reputation free from all slurs. 人应该保持名誉不受责备。
• Racial slurs, racial jokes, all having to do with being Asian. 种族主义辱骂，种族笑话，都是跟亚裔有关的。

14 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

15 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

16 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

17 premiums   

n.费用( premium的名词复数 )；保险费；额外费用；（商品定价、贷款利息等以外的）加价

参考例句：

• He paid premiums on his life insurance last year. 他去年付了人寿保险费。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Moves are afoot to increase car insurance premiums. 现正在酝酿提高汽车的保险费。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

19 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。

20 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。