NPR 2012-07-21

 Colorado police are confirming at least 12 were killed; 59 others were wounded in a mass shooting overnight in Aurora¹. Police chief Daniel Oats says 24 years old suspect James Holmes charged into the theater where movie goers gathered to watch new Batman movie, hurdled² a gas canister and opened fire. 

The suspect was dressed all in black. He was wearing a ballistic helmet, a tactical ballistic vest, ballistic leggings, a throat protector and a groin protector and a gas mask and black tactical gloves. 

Holmes is now in police's custody³. Jennifer Seeger was in the theater when the gunman struck the 22 year old told NBC's Today Show she was very close to losing her life.

He had put the guns in my face and at that point I had 5 second to do something and I just jumped deeper than you know, the aisle⁴, and crawled up a ball and tried to just tuck in cover at that point. He opened fire on people right behind and the gun shells were falling on my forehead.

A statement released by the suspect's family says Our hearts go out to those who were involved in this tragedy. That statement goes on to request media respect for privacy. 

Authorities meanwhile are at Holme's Aurora apartment which they say has been booby trapped. They have evacuated⁵ several buildings nearby. 

The presidential candidates' campaigns have taken a significantly tone or lowered less of a tone today. President Obama cancelled events in Florida. But he first addressed a crowd in Fort Myers where he expressed condolences for the victims of Colorado tragedy.

/esamber/? Mitt⁶ Romney also offered condolences to the people of Colorado today. NPR's Ari Shapiro reports that Mitt Romney schedule campaign event in New Hampshire also took on a very different tone. 

The event felt more like a memorial service than a campaign rally. There were no political slogans, no music. When Romney took the stage, people politely applauded. There was no cheering. Romney said he was not speaking not as a man running for office, but as a father and grandfather. 

Today we feel not only a sense of grief but perhaps also of helplessness. But there is something we can do. We can offer comfort to someone near us who are suffering or heavy laden⁷. And we can mourn with those who mourn in Colorado. 

His remarks lasted less than 5 minutes. After speaking he stood at the exit of his lumber⁸ company and shook hands with supporters as they slowly filed out. Ari Shapiro, NPR News, Bow, New Hampshire.

At a last check on Wall Street, Dow Johns Industrial Average down 126 points, or now nearly 1% at 12'817. NASDAQ Composite Index down 34 points, or more than 1% at 2932 and the S&P 500 down nearly 1%.

This is NPR News.

Some residents of the world's most populous⁹ Muslim majority nation Indonesia began fasting today to mark the holy month of Ramadan. NPR's Anthony Kuhn reports from Jakarta that differences in the way the month starter calculate mean that many will not begin fasting until Saturday.

Indonesia's second largest Muslim Organization Muhammadiyah which claims 29 million followers¹⁰ has declared that the new crescent moon marking the 9th lunar month of Islamic calendar has already appeared, marking the start of Ramadan. The religious affairs ministrate meanwhile says the new moon won't be visible until it reaches 2 degrees above the horizon, which won't happen until Saturday. Followers of both interpretations¹¹ are already busy, visiting the graves of their ancestors and laying in food supplies for sumptuous¹² meals after each day of fasting. Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Jakarta.

Iraqi government says Syrian rebels control at least one major border crossing between the two nations. All others remaining in the hands of Syrian troops may ease some concerns now that Syria's conflict which is widely described as a civil war may be spilling into Iraq. Many Iraqis who moved to Syria recent years to escape sectarian violence in their homeland are reportedly returning to Iraq to escape the Syrian uprising. 

An FBI Dive team's helping¹³ Iowa authorities search for two missing girls whose bicycles were found near a lake a week ago. Authority say the bikes belonging to 10 year old Lyric¹⁴ Morrissey and her 8 year old cousin Elizabeth Collins were found on a path near Meyers Lake. The agents have taken a boat out and scanned the waters for any sign linked to the girls.

I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News, in Washington.

1 aurora   

n.极光

参考例句：

• The aurora is one of nature's most awesome spectacles.极光是自然界最可畏的奇观之一。
• Over the polar regions we should see aurora.在极地高空,我们会看到极光。

2 hurdled   

vi.克服困难（hurdle的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The horse hurdled both the fence and the ditch. 这马连篱笆和沟都跳过去了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The runner hurdled the fence. 跑步者越过篱笆。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

4 aisle   

n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道

参考例句：

• The aisle was crammed with people.过道上挤满了人。
• The girl ushered me along the aisle to my seat.引座小姐带领我沿着通道到我的座位上去。

5 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

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 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

8 lumber   

n.木材，木料；v.以破旧东西堆满；伐木；笨重移动

参考例句：

• The truck was sent to carry lumber.卡车被派出去运木材。
• They slapped together a cabin out of old lumber.他们利用旧木料草草地盖起了一间小屋。

9 populous   

adj.人口稠密的，人口众多的

参考例句：

• London is the most populous area of Britain.伦敦是英国人口最稠密的地区。
• China is the most populous developing country in the world.中国是世界上人口最多的发展中国家。

10 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

11 interpretations   

n.解释( interpretation的名词复数 )；表演；演绎；理解

参考例句：

• This passage is open to a variety of interpretations. 这篇文章可以有各种不同的解释。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The involved and abstruse passage makes several interpretations possible. 这段艰涩的文字可以作出好几种解释。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

12 sumptuous   

adj.豪华的，奢侈的，华丽的

参考例句：

• The guests turned up dressed in sumptuous evening gowns.客人们身着华丽的夜礼服出现了。
• We were ushered into a sumptuous dining hall.我们被领进一个豪华的餐厅。

13 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。

14 lyric   

n.抒情诗，歌词；adj.抒情的

参考例句：

• This is a good example of Shelley's lyric poetry.这首诗是雪莱抒情诗的范例。
• His earlier work announced a lyric talent of the first order.他的早期作品显露了一流的抒情才华。