NPR 2012-06-13

 The State Department’s worried Russia may be supplying Syria with helicopters the military could be using in its offensive against the Syrian opposition¹. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said during remarks at the Brookings Institution in Washington that the US is demanding the Russian stop their arms shipments to Syria.

 

“They have, from time to time, said that we shouldn't worry; everything they’re shipping² is unrelated to their actions internally. That’s patently untrue.”

 

This as new reports of shelling emerge from several Syrian cities today. The violence includes an attack on a UN monitoring team, which was attacked by angry mobs as it’d unsuccessfully attempted to get into the rebel-held town of Hafa. Also today the UN is out with the report that accuses the Syrian government of using children as human shields. However, President Bashar al-Assad maintains the uprising is the work of foreign elements trying to destabilize his country.

 

The head of the International Monetary³ Fund, Christine Lagarde, is pressing European policymakers to take decisive steps to deal with the region’s financial crisis. She was speaking at the Center for Global Development in Washington. NPR’s Craig Windham reports Lagarde says time is running short for solving Europe’s problems.

 

Lagarde says what is needed is a strategy that’s good for stability and growth, a strategy that must start with advanced economies, especially in Europe. In an interview on CNN, Lagarde said the eurozone has just a few months left to deal with its financial crisis.

 

“Various things need to happen shortly, more shortly than three months, I would say.”

 

Lagarde says the eurozone is being improved and strengthened, but the changes are coming too slowly for financial markets. She called for a steady reduction of debt loads in European nations which she says can be accomplished⁴ without harsh austerity measures. Craig Windham, NPR News, Washington.

 

The Department of Justice in Florida are headed for a legal showdown. NPR’s Pam Fessler reports it’s over the state’s decision to purge⁵ voter registration⁶ rolls of noncitizens.

 

Florida says it believes that there are potentially thousands of noncitizens on its rolls, and that some had illegally cast ballots⁷. But in a letter to Florida Secretary of State Ken⁸ Detzner, a top DOJ official says the way the state’s going about the purge appears to be illegal, and that the department’s preparing to file a suit in federal court. Opponents of Florida’s efforts say that many legal voters have been targeted, and that it’s too close to the August 14th primary to start removing anyone from the rolls. Florida officials say they’re trying to protect the integrity of the election system. Pam Fessler, NPR News, Washington.

 

Catherine Greig, longtime girlfriend of Boston mobster "Whitey" Bulger, is sentenced to eight years in prison. She’s accused of helping⁹ Bulger elude¹⁰ capture for 16 years.

 

You’re listening to NPR News.

 

A large fire in northern Colorado continues to burn out of control. The nearly 68-square-mile fire has claimed the life of at least one person. It’s destroyed more than 100 structures. As Nathan Heffel from member station KUNC tells us, a third of the nation’s firefighting air support is flying over the Colorado blaze.

 

Hundreds of firefighters from around the country are battling the High Park fire burning west of Fort Collins in Larimer County, 70 miles north of Denver. John Schulz with the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office says over 20 tankers¹², helicopters and support planes are working the fire with more on standby. He says the aircraft flying over the blaze create containment¹³ lines and don’t actually extinguish the fire.

 

“We’re not gonna get the fire out by the aircraft but only by ground crews, and so we’re really concentrating on making sure that the air resources are used to reinforce and to benefit what the ground crews are doing.”

 

The US Forest Service has been struggling to maintain the size of their national air tanker¹¹ fleet and has recently called up additional planes for temporary use, including a DC-10, which is on its way to Phoenix¹⁴. For NPR, I’m Nathan Heffel in Greeley, Colorado.

 

The secretary of Commerce is taking a medical leave of absence while he is investigated for the two car crashes over the weekend in the Los Angeles area. John Bryson’s office said he had suffered a seizure¹⁵ connected to the accidents. Bryson was found unconscious in his car at the site of the second crash. He stayed overnight at a hospital before he returned to Washington.

 

We’re seeing gains in US stocks. So far, Dow Jones Industrial Average up 120 points, nearly 1%, at 12,533, NASDAQ gaining 23 at its 2,832, and the S&P 500 also up ten points at 1,319.

1 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。

2 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

3 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。

4 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

5 purge   

n.整肃，清除，泻药，净化；vt.净化，清除，摆脱；vi.清除，通便，腹泻，变得清洁

参考例句：

• The new president carried out a purge of disloyal army officers.新总统对不忠诚的军官进行了清洗。
• The mayoral candidate has promised to purge the police department.市长候选人答应清洗警察部门。

6 registration   

n.登记，注册，挂号

参考例句：

• Marriage without registration is not recognized by law.法律不承认未登记的婚姻。
• What's your registration number?你挂的是几号？

7 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

9 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。

10 elude   

v.躲避，困惑

参考例句：

• If you chase it,it will elude you.如果你追逐着它， 它会躲避你。
• I had dared and baffled his fury.I must elude his sorrow.我曾经面对过他的愤怒，并且把它挫败了；现在我必须躲避他的悲哀。

11 tanker   

n.油轮

参考例句：

• The tanker took on 200,000 barrels of crude oil.油轮装载了二十万桶原油。
• Heavy seas had pounded the tanker into three parts.汹涌的巨浪把油轮撞成三载。

12 tankers   

运送大量液体或气体的轮船[卡车]( tanker的名词复数 )； 油轮； 罐车； 油槽车

参考例句：

• They should stop offloading waste from oil tankers into the sea. 他们应当停止从油轮上往海里倾倒废弃物。
• The harbour admits large tankers and freighters. 这个港口容得下巨型油船和货轮。

13 containment   

n.阻止，遏制；容量

参考例句：

• Your list might include such things as cost containment,quality,or customer satisfaction.你的清单上应列有诸如成本控制、产品质量、客户满意程度等内容。
• Insularity and self-containment,it is argued,go hand in hand.他们争论说，心胸狭窄和自我封闭是并存的。

14 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。

15 seizure   

n.没收；占有；抵押

参考例句：

• The seizure of contraband is made by customs.那些走私品是被海关没收的。
• The courts ordered the seizure of all her property.法院下令查封她所有的财产。