NPR美国国家公共电台 2013-03-03

　　From NPR News in Washington, I'm Nora Raum.

 

　　$ 85 billion in federal spending cuts are now in effect. President Obama signed the sequestration order last night. As NPR's Giles Snyder reports, the presdent is pressing the Congress to work out a compromise to put an end to them.

 

　　President Obama says the cuts will cause a ripple¹ effect across the economy that will only worsen the longer they stay in place.

 

　　'These cuts are not smart. They'll hurt our economy and cost us jobs, and Congress turn them off at any time as soon as both sides are willing to compromise.'

 

　　President Obama speaking in his weekly address. Republican Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington state, blamed the president for the government's failure to avert² the cuts, but in the GOP address, she agreed that the Americans will feel the pain.

 

　　'The president failed to act and his Senate never pass the bill to replace the sequester³.'

 

　　House republicans say they did their job pointing to the bills they passed in the last Congress that were never taken up by the Senate. Giles Snyder, NPR News, Washington.

 

　　Engineers and rescue workers arrived at the site of a sinkhole in Seffner, Florida. The earth opened under a home Thursday night and an entire bedroom disappeared including a man. His brother heard him screaming and jumped into the hole but couldn't find him was later rescued himself. Four other members of the household escaped. Authority have lowered listening devices and cameras into the hole but found no sign of life. The sinkhole continues to get larger, some nearby homes have been evacuated⁴.

 

　　Despite some economic indicators⁵ showing the Eurozone is slowly climbing out of a recession. More and more citizens are losing their jobs. Teri Schultz reports from Brussels the European Union's unemployment rate keeps hitting new highs month after month.

 

　　Predictions will fulfilled to the January's jobless numbers would be worse, rising to 11.9% in the 17-member Eurozone, and 10.8% overall for the EU. But it is still jarring to see just how profoundly, some countries are affected⁶. More than a quarter of the Greek population is out of work. Among those aged⁷ 25 and under is almost 60%. EU spokesman Jonathan Todd says governments must do more to create jobs.

 

　　"Such unacceptably high levels of unemployment are a tragedy for Europe."

 

　　But not all of Europe, Austria has less than 5% unemployment, Germany and Luxembourg just over 5%. These huge disparities despite EU attempts to ease worker mobility⁸ across national borders. For NPR News, I'm Teri Schultz in Brussels.

 

　　Secretary of state John Kerry is in Cairo today. He urged the government and the opposition⁹ to work together on economic reforms, required for a loan from the international monetary¹⁰ fund.

 

　　Many thousands of people showed up for demonstrations¹¹ in several cities in Portugal today.  They are upset about austerity measures imposed by the government, which are needed to obtain international loans. The government is looking to cut more from its budget at the time unemployment is 17%.

 

　　This is NPR news.

 

　　Thousands of demonstrators rallied in Moscow today in favor of the ban on US adoptions¹² of Russian children. Meanwhile Russian officials are demanding more investigation¹³ into the death, and later in January of a three-year-old adopted Russian boy in Texas. An autopsy¹⁴ determined¹⁵ the child's death was not intentional¹⁶.

 

　　Dennis Rodman is headed back home after a trip to North Korea. The retired¹⁷ basketball all star will meet with reporters in New York tomorrow to talk about his visit. Jason Strother in Seoul reports, Rodman is taking some criticism for praising the North Korean leader.

 

　　Rodman is said to have stood up after watching a basketball game in Pyongyang and declared to the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, that he has a friend for life. The two later embraced. The former NBA star was visiting the North in what's being described as sports diplomacy¹⁸. Rodman also had kind words for former North Korean rulers, calling them great leaders. Washington is not surprisingly distancing itself from this encounter. A state department official said Rodman does not represent the United States. Rodman's trip and press on Sunday will be filmed as  part of an HBO documentary series.  For NPR news I'm Jason Strother in Seoul.

 

　　Al Qaede in the Arabian peninsula is running an English language magazine on militant¹⁹ websites, with advice to would-be terrorists. The group is the most active branch of the Islamist movement. It calls for militants²⁰ to attack 11 public figures in the west and in a section called Open Source Jihad. The magazine gives tips on how to set fire to parked cars including one, don't get petrol on yourself.

 

　　I'm Nora Raum, NPR News in Washington.

1 ripple   

n.涟波，涟漪，波纹，粗钢梳；vt.使...起涟漪，使起波纹； vi.呈波浪状，起伏前进

参考例句：

• The pebble made a ripple on the surface of the lake.石子在湖面上激起一个涟漪。
• The small ripple split upon the beach.小小的涟漪卷来，碎在沙滩上。

2 avert   

v.防止，避免；转移(目光、注意力等)

参考例句：

• He managed to avert suspicion.他设法避嫌。
• I would do what I could to avert it.我会尽力去避免发生这种情况。

3 sequester   

vt.使退隐，使隔绝

参考例句：

• Everything he owned was sequestered.他的所有财产都被扣押了。
• This jury is expected to be sequestered for at least two months.预计这个陪审团将至少被隔离两个月。

4 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

5 indicators   

（仪器上显示温度、压力、耗油量等的）指针( indicator的名词复数 )； 指示物； （车辆上的）转弯指示灯； 指示信号

参考例句：

• The economic indicators are better than expected. 经济指标比预期的好。
• It is still difficult to develop indicators for many concepts used in social science. 为社会科学领域的许多概念确立一个指标仍然很难。

6 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

7 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

8 mobility   

n.可动性，变动性，情感不定

参考例句：

• The difference in regional house prices acts as an obstacle to mobility of labour.不同地区房价的差异阻碍了劳动力的流动。
• Mobility is very important in guerrilla warfare.机动性在游击战中至关重要。

9 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

10 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

11 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

12 adoptions   

n.采用，收养( adoption的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Adoption agencies are always so open to alternative family adoptions. 领养中介机构永远都对领养家庭敞开。 来自电影对白
• The number of adoptions has grown in the past year. 去年，收养子女的数字增加了。 来自互联网

13 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

14 autopsy   

n.尸体解剖；尸检

参考例句：

• They're carrying out an autopsy on the victim.他们正在给受害者验尸。
• A hemorrhagic gut was the predominant lesion at autopsy.尸检的主要发现是肠出血。

15 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

16 intentional   

adj.故意的，有意（识）的

参考例句：

• Let me assure you that it was not intentional.我向你保证那不是故意的。
• His insult was intentional.他的侮辱是有意的。

17 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。

18 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

19 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

20 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。