美国国家电台 NPR 2012-09-20

 A controversial Justice Department gun-walking operation aimed at Mexican crime cartels, known as Fast and Furious, was misguided and mismanaged, but not at the direction of Attorney General Eric Holder¹. NPR's Carrie Johnson is at the Justice Department of Washington, where the report of Inspector² General Michael Morowitz has been released. 

 

The bulk of the blame in this Inspector General report is placed right at the feet of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms in Arizona and the US Attorney's Office in Arizona. The inspector general says that they were so helping³ on making a big criminal case against the Mexican drug cartel that had blinded them to the public safety problems and risks with letting guns go into the hands of criminals.

 

NPR's Carrie Johnson. The bungled⁴ gun-trafficking probe in Arizona resulted in hundreds of weapons turning up at crime scenes in the US and Mexico, including the killing⁵ of US border patrol agent Brian Terry. In the wake of the report, former Bureau of Alcohol, Tabaco, Firearms and Explosives Director Kenneth Melson has retired⁶, and former criminal division deputy Jason Weinstein has resigned. 

 

A new poll shows President Obama in a strong position, compared with past victorious⁷ presidential candidates in his race against GOP nominee⁸ Mitt⁹ Romney. NPR's Craig Windham reports the survey was done by the Pew Research Center. 

 

The head of the center Andy Kohut tells NPR the poll shows Mr. Obama with an 8% lead. 

 

“That's stronger than the last three winning presidential candidates at this point in the campaign.”

 

Kohut says Mr. Romney has a small statistically¹⁰ insignificant¹¹ lead on dealing¹² with the issues of jobs and the deficit¹³. Kohut acknowledges that some other polls show the race to be tighter, however.

 

“The overall drift of the polling is now stronger for Obama, and the race is close in some polls, and Obama leads in others. But in no polls do we see Romney ahead.” 

 

Kohut says the Pew survey found that Mr. Obama has a 3-1 lead over Mr. Romney when people were asked which candidate connects well with ordinary Americans. Craig Windham, NPR News, Washington.

 

French embassies and schools in 20 countries were closed temporarily after a French magazine published cartoons mocking the prophet Muhammad. From Paris, the BBC's Christian¹⁴ Fraser has more. 

 

There are 20 cartoons in this latest edition of Charlie Hebdo over four pages, satirizing¹⁵ Muslim fundamentalism and the Prophet Muhammad. The magazine pokes¹⁶ fun at the violent reaction in the past week in the Muslim world to a short American film that insulted Islam. The editor of the magazine told the BBC he was using the cartoons to make fun of the film rather than the prophet. But some of these images will be viewed as deeply offensive, even by non-Muslims.

 

The BBC's Christian Fraser.

 

On Wall Street at this hour, the Dow up 46, NASDAQ up ten.

 

This is NPR News.

 

At this hour in the Rotunda¹⁷ of the US Capitol, Congress is awarding the Congressional Gold Metal to Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar, also known as Burma. She endured years of repression¹⁸ only to transition from political dissident to lawmaker. Later in the day, President Obama will welcome his fellow Nobel laureate to the Oval Office. Suu Kyi is expected to discuss the prospects¹⁹ of Washington lifting economic sanctions on Myanmar in response to political reforms there.

 

There's trouble in South Africa's platinum²⁰ mining industry. NPR's Ofeibea Quist-Arcton has details on labor²¹ unrest and clashes with police. 

 

South African police spokesman Denise Adriao says police used tear gas and stun²² grenades as well as rubber bullets to break up an illegal gathering²³ near Sondela informal settlement. That's near the operations of Anglo-American Platinum. The company said yesterday work had resumed as normal after reopening five mines in the Rustenburg platinum corridor, northwest of Johannesburg. But Anglo Platinum said an unspecified number of mine workers had yet to report for duty. Deadly wildcat strikes have shaken South Africa's key mining industry, the engine that drives the continent's leading economy. Ofeibea Quist-Arcton, NPR News, Johannesburg.

 

The nation's seafood²⁴ business is booming, according to a report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric²⁵ Administration. The catch as of 2011 hit a 17-year high with New Bedford, Massachusetts claiming top spot for value. 

1 holder   

n.持有者，占有者；(台，架等)支持物

参考例句：

• The holder of the office of chairman is reponsible for arranging meetings.担任主席职位的人负责安排会议。
• That runner is the holder of the world record for the hundred-yard dash.那位运动员是一百码赛跑世界纪录的保持者。

2 inspector   

n.检查员，监察员，视察员

参考例句：

• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
• The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。

3 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。

4 bungled   

v.搞糟，完不成( bungle的过去式和过去分词 )；笨手笨脚地做；失败；完不成

参考例句：

• They bungled the job. 他们把活儿搞糟了。
• John bungled the job. 约翰把事情搞糟了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5 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。

6 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。

7 victorious   

adj.胜利的，得胜的

参考例句：

• We are certain to be victorious.我们定会胜利。
• The victorious army returned in triumph.获胜的部队凯旋而归。

8 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

9 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。

10 statistically   

ad.根据统计数据来看，从统计学的观点来看

参考例句：

• The sample of building permits is larger and therefore, statistically satisfying. 建筑许可数的样本比较大，所以统计数据更令人满意。
• The results of each test would have to be statistically independent. 每次试验的结果在统计上必须是独立的。

11 insignificant   

adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的

参考例句：

• In winter the effect was found to be insignificant.在冬季，这种作用是不明显的。
• This problem was insignificant compared to others she faced.这一问题与她面临的其他问题比较起来算不得什么。

12 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

13 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

14 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

15 satirizing   

v.讽刺，讥讽( satirize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• River morals " is novel satirizing the knight novel. " 《堂吉河德》是一部讽刺骑士小说的小说。 来自互联网
• Marlows delights in excesses, until sometimes he seems to be satirizing his own manner. 马洛老爱走极端，直到他有时嘲笑自己的态度。 来自互联网

16 pokes   

v.伸出( poke的第三人称单数 )；戳出；拨弄；与（某人）性交

参考例句：

• He pokes his nose into everything. 他这人好管闲事。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Only the tip of an iceberg pokes up above water. 只有冰山的尖端突出于水面。 来自辞典例句

17 rotunda   

n.圆形建筑物；圆厅

参考例句：

• The Capitol at Washington has a large rotunda.华盛顿的国会大厦有一圆形大厅。
• The rotunda was almost deserted today,dotted with just a few tourists.圆形大厅今天几乎没有多少人，只零星散布着几个游客。

18 repression   

n.镇压，抑制，抑压

参考例句：

• The repression of your true feelings is harmful to your health.压抑你的真实感情有害健康。
• This touched off a new storm against violent repression.这引起了反对暴力镇压的新风暴。

19 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

20 platinum   

n.白金

参考例句：

• I'll give her a platinum ring.我打算送给她一枚白金戒指。
• Platinum exceeds gold in value.白金的价值高于黄金。

21 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。

22 stun   

vt.打昏，使昏迷，使震惊，使惊叹

参考例句：

• When they told me she had gone missing I was totally stunned.他们告诉我她不见了时，我当时完全惊呆了。
• Sam stood his ground and got a blow that stunned him.萨姆站在原地，被一下打昏了。

23 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

24 seafood   

n.海产食品，海味，海鲜

参考例句：

• There's an excellent seafood restaurant near here.离这儿不远有家非常不错的海鲜馆。
• Shrimps are a popular type of seafood.小虾是比较普遍的一种海味。

25 atmospheric   

adj.大气的，空气的；大气层的；大气所引起的

参考例句：

• Sea surface temperatures and atmospheric circulation are strongly coupled.海洋表面温度与大气环流是密切相关的。
• Clouds return radiant energy to the surface primarily via the atmospheric window.云主要通过大气窗区向地表辐射能量。