NPR 2012-04-21

 The former neighborhood watch volunteer charged in the death of an unarmed black teenager in Florida is being released on 150,000 dollars bond while he awaits trial. George Zimmerman testified during his bond hearing today which included an apology to Trayvon Martin's parents. The prosecution¹ swiftly questioned the timing² of Zimmerman's apology, and the Martin family's attorney rejected the apology as self-serving, but the defendant³ maintains he shot the teen in self-defense. NPR's Greg Allen reports Zimmermen's family also appeared to the court today to grant bail⁴.

 

Zimmermen's wife Shellie said that he’s not a flight risk, that he’s not a violent person. His father said as much as the same thing. His mother testified on his behalf, saying that he'd worked as a mentor⁵ for a young African-American teenager, and that he also had worked organizing aid for a homeless man who'd been beaten in the town of Sanford. 

 

NPR's Greg Allen.

 

Norway's confessed mass killer⁶ Anders Behring Breivik has been telling a court exactly how he murdered some of his victims. Seventy-seven people died in last year's attacks, most of them youths. NPR's Philip Reeves says survivors⁷ listened to Breivik's account in horror.

 

Breivik's testimony⁸ was relayed to nearby courtrooms, where survivors and relatives of the victims had gathered. They sobbed⁹ and hugged, as the Norwegian described how he mowed¹⁰ down panic-stricken teenagers at a youth summer camp on a small island outside Oslo. Breivik said some of them were so paralyzed with fear. They stood perfectly¹¹ still and couldn't run. Breivik said he couldn't recall parts of the rampage, but he described some killings¹² in gruesome detail. He remembered shooting young people as they begged for their lives. He also spoke¹³ of his motions after arriving on the island, disguised as a policeman before opening fire. “My whole body tried to revolt when I took the weapon in my hand,” he said, “there were 100 voices in my head saying ‘Don't do it.’” Philip Reeves, NPR News.

 

The World Health Organization is urging couples to seek HIV testing together, and if one partner is infected, NPR's Richard Knox says, the WHO recommends antiviral treatment to protect the uninfected partner.

 

Up to now, the WHO has emphasized HIV testing for individuals. Now it says couples should get tested together, so both partners know the results. When one partner is infected, that person should start taking HIV drugs, even if they’re not yet medically necessary. That's because recent research shows treatment usually prevents transmission to the uninfected partner. The WHO says many new infections around the world occur in couples where one partner is infected, but most people don't know their HIV status. The new recommendation expands the number of people eligible¹⁴ for treatment with HIV drugs, which cost about 100 dollars a year in developing countries. Right now nearly seven million are on treatment, about half the eligibles¹⁵. Richard Knox, NPR News.

 

Dow's up 75 points.

 

This is NPR.

 

Skepticism is growing within the international community that any measure of a Syrian ceasefire will hold. Some say that if anything, a truce¹⁶ never had a chance to take hold. As a result, a proposal by Russia and the European Union to send up to 300 additional UN monitors to Syria is running into resistance in the Security Council. There currently is about 30 monitors on the ground. Further fueling doubts about the ceasefire, more reports today that Syrian troops have fired on thousands of protesters who rallied after Friday's prayers, and state media say a roadside explosion has killed ten soldiers. 

 

Recently independent South Sudan is ordering the immediate¹⁷ withdrawal¹⁸ of its troops from a strategic oil field across the border in the North, but NPR's Ofeibea Quist-Arcton reports Sudan claims its forces have liberated¹⁹ the disputed region. 

 

Sudan says its army has driven Southern soldiers out of Heglig after heavy fighting. South Sudan occupied the Heglig oil field which the South calls Panthou last week, defying international calls to pull out, saying it wanted a UN buffer²⁰ force deployed²¹. Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir has been threatening a regime change in Juba, the South’s capital. He says he should never have conceded independence in July to his erstwhile foes²². Bashir's incendiary comments describing South Sudan's leaders as insects from whom the South must be liberated pumped up the pressure between the two neighbors, prompting fears of a return to war. Ofeibea Quist-Arcton, NPR News, Dakar.

 

US stocks mixed with the Dow up 74 points, NASDAQ off one and the S&P 500 gaining three points at last glance. 

 

I’m Lakshmi Singh, NPR News.

1 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

2 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

3 defendant   

n.被告；adj.处于被告地位的

参考例句：

• The judge rejected a bribe from the defendant's family.法官拒收被告家属的贿赂。
• The defendant was borne down by the weight of evidence.有力的证据使被告认输了。

4 bail   

v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人

参考例句：

• One of the prisoner's friends offered to bail him out.犯人的一个朋友答应保释他出来。
• She has been granted conditional bail.她被准予有条件保释。

5 mentor   

n.指导者，良师益友；v.指导

参考例句：

• He fed on the great ideas of his mentor.他以他导师的伟大思想为支撑。
• He had mentored scores of younger doctors.他指导过许多更年轻的医生。

6 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

7 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

8 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

9 sobbed   

哭泣，啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 )； 哭诉，呜咽地说

参考例句：

• She sobbed out the story of her son's death. 她哭诉着她儿子的死。
• She sobbed out the sad story of her son's death. 她哽咽着诉说她儿子死去的悲惨经过。

10 mowed   

v.刈，割( mow的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The enemy were mowed down with machine-gun fire. 敌人被机枪的火力扫倒。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Men mowed the wide lawns and seeded them. 人们割了大片草地的草，然后在上面播种。 来自辞典例句

11 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

12 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。

13 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。

14 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

15 eligibles   

合格者（eligible的复数形式）

参考例句：

16 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。

17 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。

18 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

19 liberated   

a.无拘束的，放纵的

参考例句：

• The city was liberated by the advancing army. 军队向前挺进，解放了那座城市。
• The heat brings about a chemical reaction, and oxygen is liberated. 热量引起化学反应，释放出氧气。

20 buffer   

n.起缓冲作用的人(或物)，缓冲器；vt.缓冲

参考例句：

• A little money can be a useful buffer in time of need.在急需时，很少一点钱就能解燃眉之急。
• Romantic love will buffer you against life's hardships.浪漫的爱会减轻生活的艰辛。

21 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

22 foes   

敌人，仇敌( foe的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They steadily pushed their foes before them. 他们不停地追击敌人。
• She had fought many battles, vanquished many foes. 她身经百战，挫败过很多对手。