NPR美国国家公共电台 NPR 2013-12-10

 Secretary of State Chuck Hagel wrapped up a visit to Afghanistan today with a bit of good news for U.S. forces, a possible budget agreement in Washington may relieve some of the Pentagon’s financial woes¹. And as NPR’s Larry Abramson reports from Kabul, Hagel also told troops the U.S. is optimistic that a bilateral² security agreement with Afghanistan will be finalised. 

 

President Hamid Karzai has refused to sign a security agreement and during Hagel’s visit he held no meetings with Karzai, saying there’s nothing left to discuss, the pact³ has already been negotiated and needs to be signed. Speaking to U.S. soldiers in Kandahar province, Hague said the U.S. wants to have a continuing role after 2014. 

 

But we can’t do that unless we have an agreement that needs to be signed by the leader of this sovereign nation. 

 

Hagel is wrapping up a two-day tour of Afghanistan, saying the U.S. believes the Afghan people support the agreement even if Karzai continues to resist. Larry Abramson, NPR News, Kabul.

 

South Korea is responding to China’s new air defense⁴ zone in the East China Sea by extending its own. Both moves are raising regional tensions. Jason Strother reports from Seoul. 

 

South Korea's expanded air defense zone will partially⁵ overlap⁶ some of China’s. It includes a submerged rock in the Yellow Sea that both countries claim, the Korean zone, which comes into effect on the 15th, also includes parts of Japan’s own zone. There are concerns that these air zones could spark military standoffs. China now requires that all flights passing through its airspace, radio in first, enforcement has been mixed, but Beijing recently scrambled⁷ fighter jets to trial foreign planes. Vice⁸ President Joe Biden who left South Korea this weekend called on the East Asian neighbours to resolve these disagreements. For NPR News, I’m Jason Strother, in Seoul.

 

North Korea’s state media acknowledges that Kim Jong-un’s powerful uncle has been dismissed. The country’s second most powerful official is accused of corruption⁹, drug use, and a long list of other anti-state acts. Un’s uncle was long considered as his mentor¹⁰. 

 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says any agreement that might emerge from talks with the Palestinians will likely result in what he calls a cold peace and he says Israel is insisting on iron-clad security arrangement in case of collapses¹¹.

 

It must withstand the forces of terrorism and the ravaging¹² forces of radicalism¹³ and all the forces backed by Iran and others that will try to unravel¹⁴ the peace. 

 

Netanyahu made the comments in a video address today to an annual Washington forum¹⁵ of U.S. and Israeli leaders. President Obama spoke¹⁶ to the same group yesterday, delivering a more optimistic view. He said a peace framework can be attained¹⁷ within months. In July, the Obama administration launched a 9-month process in an effort to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 

 

This is NPR.

 

An Olympic gold medal won by American runner Jesse Owens at the 1936 Berlin Games sold at auction¹⁸ today for more than $1.4 million. SCP Auction says it’s the highest price ever paid for a piece of memorabilia. Owens won several gold medals that year, the same year Nazi¹⁹ leader Adolf Hitler attended the games. He was using them to showcase his notion of Aryan supremacy²⁰.

 

In college football, a lost by previously²¹ undefeated Ohio State last night opened the door for one lost team to play for the National Championship. NPR’s Mike Pesca reports matchup for that game will likely pit Florida State against Auburn.

 

At dawn on Saturday, there were two undefeated teams in the biggest division of college football, Florida State continued its unblemished run crashing Duke 55-7. But Michigan State upended Ohio State. This means there are several teams with a single loss that could be selected  face Florida State for the championship. The strongest case can be made by Auburn, which won 59-42 over Missouri yesterday. Auburn was on the run to begin the year just as they were in 2010 when they went on to win the National Championship. Well, as seven national champions have been from Auburn’s conference, the SEC, Florida State can snap that straight January 6th in Pasadena. Mike Pesca, NPR News.

 

At the Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. at this hour, Herbie Hancock, is one of five artists being honoured for contributions to American culture. This year’s other honourees are Billy Joe, Carlos Santana, Martina Arroyo²² and Shirley MacLaine.

 

I’m Barbara Klein, NPR News, in Washington.

1 woes   

困境( woe的名词复数 )； 悲伤； 我好苦哇； 某人就要倒霉

参考例句：

• Thanks for listening to my woes. 谢谢您听我诉说不幸的遭遇。
• She has cried the blues about its financial woes. 对于经济的困难她叫苦不迭。

2 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

3 pact   

n.合同，条约，公约，协定

参考例句：

• The two opposition parties made an electoral pact.那两个反对党订了一个有关选举的协定。
• The trade pact between those two countries came to an end.那两国的通商协定宣告结束。

4 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。

5 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。

6 overlap   

v.重叠，与…交叠；n.重叠

参考例句：

• The overlap between the jacket and the trousers is not good.夹克和裤子重叠的部分不好看。
• Tiles overlap each other.屋瓦相互叠盖。

7 scrambled   

v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Each scrambled for the football at the football ground. 足球场上你争我夺。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He scrambled awkwardly to his feet. 他笨拙地爬起身来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

9 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。

10 mentor   

n.指导者，良师益友；v.指导

参考例句：

• He fed on the great ideas of his mentor.他以他导师的伟大思想为支撑。
• He had mentored scores of younger doctors.他指导过许多更年轻的医生。

11 collapses   

折叠( collapse的第三人称单数 )； 倒塌； 崩溃； （尤指工作劳累后）坐下

参考例句：

• This bridge table collapses. 这张桥牌桌子能折叠。
• Once Russia collapses, the last chance to stop Hitler will be gone. 一旦俄国垮台，抑止希特勒的最后机会就没有了。

12 ravaging   

毁坏( ravage的现在分词 )； 蹂躏； 劫掠； 抢劫

参考例句：

• It is believed that in fatigue there is a repeated process of ravaging the material. 据认为，在疲劳中，有一个使材料毁坏的重复过程。
• I was able to capture the lion that was ravaging through town. 我能逮住正在城里肆虐的那头狮子。

13 radicalism   

n. 急进主义, 根本的改革主义

参考例句：

• His radicalism and refusal to compromise isolated him. 他的激进主义与拒绝妥协使他受到孤立。
• Education produced intellectual ferment and the temptations of radicalism. 教育带来知识界的骚动，促使激进主义具有了吸引力。

14 unravel   

v.弄清楚（秘密）；拆开，解开，松开

参考例句：

• He was good with his hands and could unravel a knot or untangle yarn that others wouldn't even attempt.他的手很灵巧，其他人甚至都不敢尝试的一些难解的绳结或缠在一起的纱线，他都能解开。
• This is the attitude that led him to unravel a mystery that long puzzled Chinese historians.正是这种态度使他解决了长期以来使中国历史学家们大惑不解的谜。

15 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

16 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。

17 attained   

（通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况）

参考例句：

• She has attained the degree of Master of Arts. 她已获得文学硕士学位。
• Lu Hsun attained a high position in the republic of letters. 鲁迅在文坛上获得崇高的地位。

18 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。

19 Nazi   

n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的

参考例句：

• They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻，并出面求和。
• Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。

20 supremacy   

n.至上；至高权力

参考例句：

• No one could challenge her supremacy in gymnastics.她是最优秀的体操运动员，无人能胜过她。
• Theoretically,she holds supremacy as the head of the state.从理论上说，她作为国家的最高元首拥有至高无上的权力。

21 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

22 arroyo   

n.干涸的河床，小河

参考例句：

• She continued along the path until she came to the arroyo.她沿着小路一直走到小河边。
• They had a picnic by the arroyo.他们在干枯的河床边野餐过。