NPR美国国家公共电台 NPR 2013-10-06

 The Obama administration is recalling some FEMA employees who've been furloughed today so they can prepare for Tropical Storm Karen. NPR's Scott Horsley reports the White House says it's time for Congress to bring all federal employees back to work. 

 

President Obama says congressional Republicans have the power to end the government shutdown immediately by simply passing a spending bill with no partisan¹ strings² attached. The shutdown has already forced the president to cancel a plan to Asia trip, and it's idled some 800,000 government workers. 

 

“As long as they're off the job, nobody's winning, and that's the point. We should get this over with as soon as possible.” 

 

Obama spoke³ during a lunchtime visit to a sandwich shop. He’s threatened to veto Republican bills that would selectively reopen only parts of the federal government, and an administration statement says that piecemeal⁴ approach is neither serious nor responsible. Scott Horsley, NPR News, the White House. 

 

There are reports of tornados⁶ or a possible tornado⁵'s touching⁷ down this evening in Nebraska and Iowa. Meteorologist Phil Schumacher with the National Weather Service says powerful winds destroyed homes in the northeast Nebraska town of Wayne. Witnesses described a two-mile-wide tornado. 

 

“Right now, it still looks like these storms are still very well-organized to store the capability⁸ of producing tornados for at least the next hour, so that they continue to move east and northeast across northwestern Iowa, and so people in the path really need to prepare to take shelter.” 

 

Weather service says witnesses also reported at least two tornados touching down near Sioux City, Iowa. The extent of the damage's not known. Meanwhile, snow fell in South Dakota today. 

 

Leaders in one North Carolina school system are suspending the largest tablet computer initiative in US history. North Carolina Public Radio's Jeff Tiberii reports the school district is suspending the use of tablets made by a third party and supplied by a company called Amplify⁹. 

 

About 10% of the 15,000 tablets that went out to teachers and students had cracked or damaged screens. There was one report of a tablet charger overheating and melting. Leaders in Guilford County, which includes the city of Greensboro, decided¹⁰ to collect all of the tablets until questions about safety and durability¹¹ were answered. The tablets and content are provided by two for-profit companies. This initiative is funded by a 30-million-dollar federal grant. School officials cannot contact the Department of Education about the problems until the government shutdown ends. For NPR News, I'm Jeff Tiberii in Greensboro, North Carolina. 

 

According to authorities, the Connecticut woman who led police on a chase between the White House and the US Capitol yesterday before being killed by police was delusional¹² and apparently¹³ believed the president was communicating with her. Federal law enforcement official says the woman, 34-year-old Miriam Carey, had reportedly been in deteriorating¹⁴ mental state and had been fired from a job as a dental hygienist. Carey tried to ram¹⁵ barricades¹⁶ at the White House, setting off the chase that resulted in her death when she crashed her car and shot by police on Capitol Hill. 

 

Stocks rebounded¹⁷ slightly to end the week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining 76 points to close at 15,072. You’re listening to NPR. 

 

One possible international casualty as a result of the current budget impasse¹⁸ in Washington may be US sanctions against Iran. Today White House spokesman Jay Carney says because of the widespread federal furloughs, the Treasury¹⁹ Office that normally handles sanctions is largely unstaffed. Carney says as a result the office can't sustain its core functions including new sanctions against Iran, Syria, terrorist groups and drug cartels. The White House says the president will be briefed on the matter. 

 

American Catholics like the new pope. That's according to new poll released today. As NPR's John Burnett explains, they approve of his recent statement that the church needs to get over its obsession²⁰ with moral issues.

 

A new poll released by Quinnipiac University shows that two in three American Catholics (68%) agree with Pope Francis's opinion that the church is too hung up on gay marriage, abortion²¹ and contraception. The responses were similar among various age groups and among those who attend Mass weekly or infrequently. The national poll conducted in late September also shows that Americans are very fond of the new pontiff from Argentina. Eighty-nine percent feel him favorably or very favorably. Only 4% have a negative view of the pope. Moreover, the survey echoes past questionnaires. Six in ten US Catholics say they approve of same-sex marriage, which is slightly higher than the national approval rate of 56%. John Burnett, NPR News. 

 

Investors²² gobbled up stock in sandwich maker²³ Potbelly today. The restaurant chain famous for its lunchtime menus. Its debut²⁴ as a publicly traded company saw its stock more than double from its IPO price. Initially²⁵ priced at 14 dollars a share, the stock rose quickly to more than doubling to close to 31.84 a share. That was well above expectations. 

1 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

2 strings   

n.弦

参考例句：

• He sat on the bed,idly plucking the strings of his guitar.他坐在床上，随意地拨着吉他的弦。
• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 piecemeal   

adj.零碎的；n.片，块；adv.逐渐地；v.弄成碎块

参考例句：

• A lack of narrative drive leaves the reader with piecemeal vignettes.叙述缺乏吸引力，读者读到的只是一些支离破碎的片段。
• Let's settle the matter at one stroke,not piecemeal.把这事一气儿解决了吧，别零敲碎打了。

5 tornado   

n.飓风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• A tornado whirled into the town last week.龙卷风上周袭击了这座城市。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。

6 tornados   

n.龙卷风，旋风( tornado的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• And the national weather service reports several tornados touch down. 国家气象中心报告预测龙卷风将来袭。 来自互联网
• They had stock footage of lightning, tornados, and hurricanes. 他们存有关于闪电、龙卷风和飓风的电影胶片。 来自互联网

7 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

8 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。

9 amplify   

vt.放大，增强；详述，详加解说

参考例句：

• The new manager wants to amplify the company.新经理想要扩大公司。
• Please amplify your remarks by giving us some examples.请举例详述你的话。

10 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

11 durability   

n.经久性，耐用性

参考例句：

• Nylons have the virtue of durability.尼龙丝袜有耐穿的优点。

12 delusional   

妄想的

参考例句：

• You became delusional and attacked several people trying to escape. 你产生了错觉并攻击了许多人还试图逃走。 来自电影对白
• He is incoherent, delusional, suffering auditory hallucinations. 他出现无逻辑的，妄想的，幻听的症状。 来自电影对白

13 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

14 deteriorating   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The weather conditions are deteriorating. 天气变得越来越糟。
• I was well aware of the bad morale and the deteriorating factories. 我很清楚，大家情绪低落，各个工厂越搞越坏。

15 ram   

(random access memory)随机存取存储器

参考例句：

• 512k RAM is recommended and 640k RAM is preferred.推荐配置为512K内存，640K内存则更佳。

16 barricades   

路障，障碍物( barricade的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The police stormed the barricades the demonstrators had put up. 警察冲破了示威者筑起的街垒。
• Others died young, in prison or on the barricades. 另一些人年轻时就死在监牢里或街垒旁。

17 rebounded   

弹回( rebound的过去式和过去分词 )； 反弹； 产生反作用； 未能奏效

参考例句：

• The ball rebounded from the goalpost and Owen headed it in. 球从门柱弹回，欧文头球将球攻进。
• The ball rebounded from his racket into the net. 球从他的球拍上弹回网中。

18 impasse   

n.僵局；死路

参考例句：

• The government had reached an impasse.政府陷入绝境。
• Negotiations seemed to have reached an impasse.谈判似乎已经陷入僵局。

19 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

20 obsession   

n.困扰，无法摆脱的思想(或情感)

参考例句：

• I was suffering from obsession that my career would be ended.那时的我陷入了我的事业有可能就此终止的困扰当中。
• She would try to forget her obsession with Christopher.她会努力忘记对克里斯托弗的迷恋。

21 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

22 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

23 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

24 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。

25 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。