NPR 2012-06-14

 Syrian state television is reporting the troops have retaken control of rebellious¹ mountain village in Al-Hafa after more than a week of heavy shelling there. Rebels had withdrawn² from Al-Hafa overnight after intense fighting and in nearby villages. Al-Hafa is critical to Syrian forces because it’s about 20 miles away from President Bashar al-Assad’s hometown. Meanwhile activists³ were reporting dozens more casualties today.

 

 

As new reports of torturing, killings⁴ of children emerge from Syria, White House Spokesman Jay Carney is warning the ongoing⁵ violence could lead to civil war.

We will be in a situation or we’re likely to be in a situation where Syria is experiencing a sectarian(宗派的) civil war that could spill beyond its borders, that could destabilize the region, that could involve other countries.

But some believe Syria is also ready in the group of civil. That include former Secretary of State Collin Powell, who also told CBS today that he did not believe the US military should directly intervene.

 

 

A Pennsylvania jury is hearing more testimony⁶ today from alleged⁷ victims in the child sex abuse trial of former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky. Meanwhile court papers suggest that a top Penn administrator⁸ kept a secret file of allegations against Sandusky. Details form NPR’s Joel Rose.

Former Penn State vice⁹ president Gary Schultz and athletic¹⁰ director Tim Curley are charged with perjury¹¹ and failure to report suspected child abuse. According a document file this week by prosecutors¹² in Pennsylvania, Schultz kept a running file on allegations of inappropriate conduct by Sandusky that, prosecutors say, would directly contradict Schultz’s testimony before a grand jury. Schultz’s lawyer denies that he kept any secret files on Sandusky. Schultz retired¹³ a few days after the allegations against Sandusky became public. Tim Curley is on administrative¹⁴ leave from Penn State. Both men deny the charges against them. Joel Rose, NPR news, Philadelphia.

 

 

Corporate¹⁵ giants are rushing to stake their claims on new prime internet real estate. That don’t just include .com or .org, now they’re applying for other * suffixes¹⁶ such as .blog or .blogger, .sex. Nearly 2,000 companies, about a half from North America applied¹⁷ for dozens of available domains¹⁸. The idea is to stimulate¹⁹ competition by giving companies more control over their presence on the web however critics warn the new suffixes are unlikely to gain momentum²⁰.

 

 

The sliding gasoline prices in sales figures into its largest declining wholesale²¹ prices nearly 3 years. The Labor²² Department says the producer price index had fallen 1% in May after pulling back 0.2% a month earlier.

 

 

At last check on Wall Street, the Dow was down 70 points, more than 0.5% at 12,504 with NASDAQ off more than 0.5% at 2,825.

 

 

This is NPR news.

 

 

Crews battling an out-of-control wild fire in Northern Colorado are up against more hot weather and gusty²³ winds today. The High Park fire has now scorched(烧焦) 72 square miles of tinder dry forests, west of the city of Fort Collin. Kirk Siegler of member station KUNC reports from one of the fire’s command posts, northwest of the city.

A thousand firefighters are battling this blaze which is now one of the top priorities in the country. In the skies, there's been a steady parade of choppers and planes dropping water and fire retardant on the blaze. Bill Hahnenberg is the fire incident commander.

We're trying to do two things, set priorities to protect structures and at the same time construct fire line so this thing does not continue to grow.

The fire has destroyed scores of homes, and Bill Hahnenberg says it’s still too dangerous for firefighters to even protect structures in some areas. For NPR news, I’m Kirk Siegler, in Fort Collins, Colorado.

 

 

Spain’s Prime Minister has been criticized for flying to Poland for a soccer game just hours after his country’s bailout. As Lauren Frayer reports from Madrid, the Spanish leader is now trying to deflect²⁴ that and he is blaming his predecessors²⁵ for Spain’s banking²⁶ mess.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy says the previous socialist²⁷ government here should’ve acted three years ago. Spain doesn’t have the 100 billion Euros and can’t issue public debt, Rajoy told parliament, referring to the amount of bailout money on offer from Europe. In 2009, it could have, he said, but since we had the best financial system in the world he said sarcastically(讽刺地), now we’re three years behind. Spain had to resort to an EU bailout for its banks weighed down by own paid property loans. European officials push to have the deal in place before Greek elections this weekend. For NPR news, I’m Lauren Frayer, in Madrid. 

1 rebellious   

adj.造反的，反抗的，难控制的

参考例句：

• They will be in danger if they are rebellious.如果他们造反，他们就要发生危险。
• Her reply was mild enough,but her thoughts were rebellious.她的回答虽然很温和，但她的心里十分反感。

2 withdrawn   

vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出

参考例句：

• Our force has been withdrawn from the danger area.我们的军队已从危险地区撤出。
• All foreign troops should be withdrawn to their own countries.一切外国军队都应撤回本国去。

3 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》

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 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

6 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。

7 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

8 administrator   

n.经营管理者，行政官员

参考例句：

• The role of administrator absorbed much of Ben's energy.行政职务耗掉本很多精力。
• He has proved himself capable as administrator.他表现出管理才能。

9 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

10 athletic   

adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的

参考例句：

• This area has been marked off for athletic practice.这块地方被划出来供体育训练之用。
• He is an athletic star.他是一个运动明星。

11 perjury   

n.伪证；伪证罪

参考例句：

• You'll be punished if you procure the witness to commit perjury.如果你诱使证人作伪证，你要受罚的。
• She appeared in court on a perjury charge.她因被指控做了伪证而出庭受审。

12 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。

13 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

14 administrative   

adj.行政的，管理的

参考例句：

• The administrative burden must be lifted from local government.必须解除地方政府的行政负担。
• He regarded all these administrative details as beneath his notice.他认为行政管理上的这些琐事都不值一顾。

15 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。

16 suffixes   

n.后缀，词尾( suffix的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Many domain name suffixes have failed to gain general popularity. 很多域名后缀没有获得一般的通用性。 来自互联网
• For example, consider the use of prefixes and suffixes. 例如，那前缀和后缀的使用来说。 来自互联网

17 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

18 domains   

n.范围( domain的名词复数 )；领域；版图；地产

参考例句：

• The theory of thermodynamics links the macroscopic and submicroscopic domains. 热力学把宏观世界同亚微观世界联系起来。 来自辞典例句
• All three flow domains are indicated by shading. 所有三个流动区域都是用阴影部分表示的。 来自辞典例句

19 stimulate   

vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋

参考例句：

• Your encouragement will stimulate me to further efforts.你的鼓励会激发我进一步努力。
• Success will stimulate the people for fresh efforts.成功能鼓舞人们去作新的努力。

20 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

21 wholesale   

n.批发；adv.以批发方式；vt.批发，成批出售

参考例句：

• The retail dealer buys at wholesale and sells at retail.零售商批发购进货物，以零售价卖出。
• Such shoes usually wholesale for much less.这种鞋批发出售通常要便宜得多。

22 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

23 gusty   

adj.起大风的

参考例句：

• Weather forecasts predict more hot weather,gusty winds and lightning strikes.天气预报预测高温、大风和雷电天气将继续。
• Why was Candlestick Park so windy and gusty? 埃德尔斯蒂克公园里为什么会有那么多的强劲阵风？

24 deflect   

v.(使)偏斜，(使)偏离，(使)转向

参考例句：

• Never let a little problem deflect you.决不要因一点小问题就半途而废。
• They decided to deflect from the original plan.他们决定改变原计划。

25 predecessors   

n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身

参考例句：

• The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation. 新政府正着手废除其前任所制定的法律。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Will new plan be any more acceptable than its predecessors? 新计划比原先的计划更能令人满意吗？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

26 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

27 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。