美国国家电台 NPR 2012-08-18

 South Africa police are facing a barrage¹ of questions for how they could have allowed a neighbor dispute with striking miners to end in what's widely described now as a bloodbath with at least 34 deaths. Police maintain it was self-defence because the miners were armed. Now the widows have taken their husbands’ places at the site of the protest, northwest of Johannesburg.

 

The Taliban says it was behind today's attacks on coalition² forces, including the deaths of two American troops in the western province of Farah. A new Afghan police recruit turned on them during a ceremony fueling the Taliban's claims to have successfully infiltrated³ Afghan security. But NATO spokesman German Brigadier General Gunter Katz says the Taliban are exaggerating.

 

“Most of the recent insider threat attacks this year were clearly primarily driven by personal grievances⁴ or stress situations, although some 10% we know are related to the insurgency⁵.”

 

Halfway⁶ into the year, the number of attacks carried out by individuals wearing Afghan security uniforms is more than double what it was in 2011. 

 

A federal district court has blocked a Florida law that would give voters in that state fewer days in which to cast early ballots⁸ for the November election. NPR's Pam Fessler reports the court said the change would make it more difficult for some minority voters to cast a ballot⁷.

 

Florida is one of several states that's required to have any voting law changes cleared by the Justice Department because of a history of discrimination. In this instance, the state said it didn't need DOJ approval, so the case went to federal court. Late Thursday, the court said that it would not clear the state's plan, which would cut the number of early voting days from 12 to eight. The court said this change could hurt minorities who often take advantage of early voting. The court did say that the state can issue another early-voting plan that might not adversely⁹ affect minorities. That was a part of the decision that the governor’s spokesman called encouraging. Pam Fessler, NPR News, Washington.

 

A group of Philadelphia area parents is applauding news that their children will share proceeds from the sale of an overwhelmingly white swim club where they say they were racially discriminated¹⁰ against. They say the valley club in Huntingdon Valley took steps to prevent the children, most of whom are black or Latino from attending the club in 2009. Vet¹² Masonite tells WPVI-TV that her son deserves a settlement because of what he’s been through.

 

“Till this day, my son has felt remorse¹³ about what happened. Every time we go into a club or to a pool, the first thing he asks is ‘are we members?’ And I say ‘yes, we are.’”

 

The bad publicity¹⁴ led the club to file for bankruptcy¹⁵. It was sold last year to a Philadelphia synagogue for nearly 1.5 million dollars. 

 

At last check on Wall Street, Dow is up 17 points. 

 

This is NPR News.

 

The founder¹⁶ of the controversial Unification Church in South Korea appears to be showing slight improvement at an area hospital, but he remains¹⁷ unconscious. Doualy Xaykaothao has more details from Seoul. 

 

Ninety-two-year-old Rev¹¹. Moon Sun Myung appears to be breathing more stable now. And according to a church statement, his lungs are slowly recovering from complications related to pneumonia¹⁸. The church has called on his followers¹⁹ to fast for three days beginning today. Moon, who is called “True Father” by church members, runs a multi-billion-dollar foundation that owns property and businesses around the world. Moon has also matched tens of thousands of couples and presided over Mass weddings. For NPR News, I'm Doualy Xaykaothao in Seoul.

 

Funerals are being held across Iraq a day after the country suffered one of its deadliest series of attacks since American troops withdrew last December. Officials say the death toll²⁰ has reached 93. Shiite lawmaker Hakim al-Zamili accuses al-Qaeda of trying to strike fear in Iraqis and undermine the government's efforts to stabilize²¹ the country. Security has been stepped up across Iraq as people prepare to celebrate the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan this weekend.

 

In Syria, the violence continues, especially in Damascus and Aleppo, Syria's largest city. Local activists²² are saying more than 100 people have been killed today.

 

At last check on Wall Street, Dow Jones Industrial Average up 20 points at 13,270 in trading of 1.4 billion shares; NASDAQ up 12 points at 3,075; S&P 500 gaining two.

1 barrage   

n.火力网，弹幕

参考例句：

• The attack jumped off under cover of a barrage.进攻在炮火的掩护下开始了。
• The fierce artillery barrage destroyed the most part of the city in a few minutes.猛烈的炮火几分钟内便毁灭了这座城市的大部分地区。

2 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

3 infiltrated   

adj.[医]浸润的v.（使）渗透，（指思想）渗入人的心中( infiltrate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The headquarters had been infiltrated by enemy spies. 总部混入了敌方特务。
• Many Chinese idioms have infiltrated into the Japanese language. 许多中国成语浸透到日语中。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 grievances   

n.委屈( grievance的名词复数 )；苦衷；不满；牢骚

参考例句：

• The trade union leader spoke about the grievances of the workers. 工会领袖述说工人们的苦情。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He gave air to his grievances. 他申诉了他的冤情。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 insurgency   

n.起义；暴动；叛变

参考例句：

• And as in China, unrest and even insurgency are widespread. 而在中国，动乱甚至暴乱都普遍存在。 来自互联网
• Dr Zyphur is part an insurgency against this idea. 塞弗博士是这一观点逆流的一部分。 来自互联网

6 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

7 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

8 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》

9 adversely   

ad.有害地

参考例句：

• We commented adversely upon the imbecility of that message of telegraphic style. 我们对着这条电报式的愚蠢的留言发泄了一通不满。
• Widely fluctuating exchange rates may adversely affect international trade. 浮动幅度很大的汇率可能会对国际贸易产生有害的影响。

10 discriminated   

分别，辨别，区分( discriminate的过去式和过去分词 )； 歧视，有差别地对待

参考例句：

• His great size discriminated him from his followers. 他的宽广身材使他不同于他的部下。
• Should be a person that has second liver virus discriminated against? 一个患有乙肝病毒的人是不是就应该被人歧视？

11 rev   

v.发动机旋转，加快速度

参考例句：

• It's his job to rev up the audience before the show starts.他要负责在表演开始前鼓动观众的热情。
• Don't rev the engine so hard.别让发动机转得太快。

12 vet   

n.兽医，退役军人；vt.检查

参考例句：

• I took my dog to the vet.我把狗带到兽医诊所看病。
• Someone should vet this report before it goes out.这篇报道发表之前应该有人对它进行详查。

13 remorse   

n.痛恨，悔恨，自责

参考例句：

• She had no remorse about what she had said.她对所说的话不后悔。
• He has shown no remorse for his actions.他对自己的行为没有任何悔恨之意。

14 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

15 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

16 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

17 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

18 pneumonia   

n.肺炎

参考例句：

• Cage was struck with pneumonia in her youth.凯奇年轻时得过肺炎。
• Pneumonia carried him off last week.肺炎上星期夺去了他的生命。

19 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。

20 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

21 stabilize   

vt.（使）稳定，使稳固，使稳定平衡；vi.稳定

参考例句：

• They are eager to stabilize currencies.他们急于稳定货币。
• His blood pressure tended to stabilize.他的血压趋向稳定。

22 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》