美国国家电台 NPR 2012-09-16

 Al-Qaeda's franchise¹ in Yemen is cheering the attacks on US embassies and the killing² of an American ambassador, the result of Muslim rage over an anti-Islamic film made in California. NPR's John Burnett reports.

 

Al-Qaeda on the Arabian Peninsular, which operates in secret out of Yemen, posted a screed³ on its website today which encourages Muslims to kill more US diplomats⁴ and kick out the embassies to liberate⁵ Muslim countries from American hegemony. Earlier this week demonstrators enraged⁶ over the film that insults the Prophet Muhammad stormed the US embassies in Libya, Egypt, Tunisia and other countries. US Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens was killed during a violent protest in Benghazi. US intelligence has ruled out a hand by al-Qaeda in the attacks in Benghazi. And it appears the terrorist group is attempting to take advantage of the eruption⁷ of anti-American emotions among Muslims. The protests on American embassies which swept across the Islamic world over the past week have come today. John Burnett, NPR News, Nairobi.

 

President Obama says his administration is doing all it can to protect Americans who are serving abroad. He also says he rejects the denigration⁸ of any religion including Islam, yet there is never any justification⁹ for violence. Neither the president nor his Republican rival made any campaigning appearances today. NPR's Ari Shapiro has been covering Mitt¹⁰ Romney's campaign which heads to Colorado tomorrow.

 

This is one of the closest swing states in the race, and a lot of fight is going to be waged over the suburbs of Denver. You have very conservative communities like Colorado Springs, very liberal communities like Queblo. Denver leans Democratic. But in those outlying suburbs, it could really go either way.

 

NPR's Ari Shapiro.

 

Negotiators for Chicago and its teachers are in meeting to work out the details of a plan to end a week-long strike. Monica Prince was among the teachers who attended a rally at Chicago's Union Park, pressing for agreement.

 

"I think it's really exciting. I think that there's a very positive mood involved. The teachers really want to be in the classroom."

 

If approved, the officials say, the students could be back in class on Monday.

 

Tens of thousands of Russians demonstrated in central Moscow today. Jessica Gallaher reports they were protesting Russian President Vladimir Putin's return to power.

 

Chanting 'Freedom for everyone,' the demonstrators, many wearing white ribbons to show their solidarity¹¹, streamed into the center of Moscow to protest against Putin. They say he runs the country through a tightly controlled political system and corruption¹², a charge the Kremlin denies. This is the first major protest against Putin in three month. And the turnout shows that dissent¹³ with the administration remains¹⁴ strong. Since Putin has taken office in May, parliament has increased the fines for participating in and organizing unsanctioned protests more than 150-fold. That's more than the average salary for a Russian. NPR News, I'm Jessica Gallaher in Moscow.

 

That's NPR News.

 

Government safety regulators are looking into whether there ought to be a recall of Ford's Crown Victoria police cars from the 2005 through 2008 model years. They said they received complaints that part of the steering¹⁵ column can separate, causing the driver to lose control. No accidents have been reported.

 

A 10th Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld the felony convictions of Utah climate change activist¹⁶ Tim DeChristopher, who placed phony bids on oil and gas parcels near Arches and Canyonlands National Parks in 2008. From member station KUER, Whitney Evans reports.

 

Last year a federal judge in Salt Lake City sentenced De Christopher to two years in prison for the maneuver¹⁷. And this week in a 2-1 decision, the court of appeals upheld that decision. Defense¹⁸ attorney Ron Yengich says he's disappointed but not surprised.

 

"The three-judge panel was more focused on some highly technical procedural issues, and not on the substantive¹⁹ legal claims we made."

 

The defense argued De Christopher was not allowed to use the so-called necessity defense in his 2011 trial. De Christopher disrupted a controversial auction²⁰ to protect public lands from drilling. Yengich says De Christopher will likely appeal to the US Supreme²¹ Court. For NPR News, I'm Whitney Evans in Salt Lake City.

 

Professional hockey players were supposed to show up to begin training next week, but it now appears they'll be locked out. The Associated Press is reporting that the deputy commissioner²² of the National Hockey League says there will be no negotiations²³ with the players' union today, and the deadline is midnight. This would be the third lockout of a major sports league in 18 months following ones in the NFL and the NBA.

 

I'm Nora Raum, NPR News in Washington.

1 franchise   

n.特许，特权，专营权，特许权

参考例句：

• Catering in the schools is run on a franchise basis.学校餐饮服务以特许权经营。
• The United States granted the franchise to women in 1920.美国于1920年给妇女以参政权。

2 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

3 screed   

n.长篇大论

参考例句：

• The screed tired the audience.那篇冗长的演说使听众厌烦了。
• The pro-whaling screed was approved by a much thinner margin:33 votes to 32.关于捕鲸的冗长决议是以33票对32票的微弱差数通过的。

4 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 liberate   

v.解放，使获得自由，释出，放出；vt.解放，使获自由

参考例句：

• They did their best to liberate slaves.他们尽最大能力去解放奴隶。
• This will liberate him from economic worry.这将消除他经济上的忧虑。

6 enraged   

使暴怒( enrage的过去式和过去分词 )； 歜； 激愤

参考例句：

• I was enraged to find they had disobeyed my orders. 发现他们违抗了我的命令，我极为恼火。
• The judge was enraged and stroke the table for several times. 大法官被气得连连拍案。

7 eruption   

n.火山爆发；（战争等）爆发；（疾病等）发作

参考例句：

• The temple was destroyed in the violent eruption of 1470 BC.庙宇在公元前1470年猛烈的火山爆发中摧毁了。
• The eruption of a volcano is spontaneous.火山的爆发是自发的。

8 denigration   

n.弄黑；诋毁；贬低；抹黑[医] 涂黑，变黑

参考例句：

• The essence of the denigration of women is our definition as sex object. 诋毁妇女的实质就是视我们为性目标。 来自演讲部分
• None of you a failure as a denigration of your intellect. 不要觉得失败而诋毁了自己的才华。 来自互联网

9 justification   

n.正当的理由；辩解的理由

参考例句：

• There's no justification for dividing the company into smaller units. 没有理由把公司划分成小单位。
• In the young there is a justification for this feeling. 在年轻人中有这种感觉是有理由的。

10 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。

11 solidarity   

n.团结；休戚相关

参考例句：

• They must preserve their solidarity.他们必须维护他们的团结。
• The solidarity among China's various nationalities is as firm as a rock.中国各族人民之间的团结坚如磐石。

12 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

13 dissent   

n./v.不同意，持异议

参考例句：

• It is too late now to make any dissent.现在提出异议太晚了。
• He felt her shoulders gave a wriggle of dissent.他感到她的肩膀因为不同意而动了一下。

14 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。

15 steering   

n.操舵装置

参考例句：

• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration. 他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。
• Steering according to the wind, he also framed his words more amicably. 他真会看风使舵，口吻也马上变得温和了。

16 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

17 maneuver   

n.策略[pl.]演习；v.(巧妙)控制；用策略

参考例句：

• All the fighters landed safely on the airport after the military maneuver.在军事演习后，所有战斗机都安全降落在机场上。
• I did get her attention with this maneuver.我用这个策略确实引起了她的注意。

18 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

19 substantive   

adj.表示实在的；本质的、实质性的；独立的；n.实词，实名词；独立存在的实体

参考例句：

• They plan to meet again in Rome very soon to begin substantive negotiations.他们计划不久在罗马再次会晤以开始实质性的谈判。
• A president needs substantive advice,but he also requires emotional succor. 一个总统需要实质性的建议，但也需要感情上的支持。

20 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。

21 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

22 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

23 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。