NPR美国国家公共电台 NPR 2013-08-10

 President Obama has plans for a sweeping¹ review of the National Security Agency's surveillance programs and an overhaul² of the secret court that monitors and authorizes³ those programs. NPR's Craig Windham reports Obama's telling reporters at the White House that the U.S. must be more transparent⁴ about efforts to collect data about phone and Internet communication. 

The president says he'll appoint a high level task force including civil liberties and intelligence experts to review the surveillance programs. 

And I'll consider how we can maintain the trust of the people, how we can make sure that there absolutely is no abuse in terms of how these surveillance technologies are used. 

Mr. Obama says the goal is to restore public trust in the programs and assure Americans they do not intrude⁵ too far on their privacy. 

Let's examine what is working, what's not, are there additional protections that can be put in place and let's move forward.

Although, scrutiny⁶ of the surveillance programs was prompted by the leaks about their existence   by former NSA contractor⁷ Edward Snowden. Mr. Obama says he does not consider Snowden to be a patriot⁸. Craig Windham, NPR News, Washington.

U.S. and Russian officials have been working today and repairing relations hurt by disagreements over Snowden and Syria as well as North Korea. Another point of contention⁹ between Washington and Moscow, Russia's anti-gay propaganda law which fines anyone holding gay pride rallies. Some critics are calling for boycott¹⁰ of the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi next year. President Obama says he strongly disagrees with that. He says the U.S. is likely to be stronger for having gay and lesbian athletes. 

One of things I am really looking forward to is maybe some gay and lesbian athletes bring home the gold or silver or bronze, which I think, would go a long way in rejecting the kind of attitudes we are seeing there. 

Citing concerns about the impact the law could have on visiting athletes, the International Olympic Committee is asking for further language clarification from Russia. 

U.S. drone strikes are hammering Yemen this week, part of an effort to hit al-Qaeda affiliate¹¹ there. NPR's Tom Bowman reports there have been 20 strikes in Yemen this year, five of them this week alone. 

Yemeni officials are saying at least seven Saudi Arabian militants¹² have been killed in the attacks along with at least three al-Qaeda militants. As many as 34 suspected militants have been killed in the past ten days, officials said. Yemeni officials said the Saudis are either funding money to al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the local offshoot of the terrorist group, or heading to Yemen for training. U.S. officials are not commenting in the drone strikes which are carried out by the CIA in a joint¹³  special operations command. The increased drone strikes come as the U.S. last week issued a global terrorist alert and closed 19 diplomatic posts, saying the threat came from al-Qaeda in Yemen. Tom Bowman, NPR News, Washington.

Before the closing bell, Dow was off 73 at 15,425.

This is NPR.

Millions of students won't have to pay double the interest rate on their loans fall under a new law President Obama signed today. The rates are linked to the financial markets so, even though lower rates have been restored, they could yield higher costs in the long term. 

The Silver Fire burning in southern California San Jacinto Mountains has now consumed 16,000 acres. It's 25% contained. Ken¹⁴ Vincent from member station KVCR has an update.  

Helicopters flew all night dropping water on the fast moving blaze now burning in the hills above wind farms on the western edge of the Coachella Valley. It's the constant wind typical of this area that has made this fire more difficult to control. Thirty to forty mile per hour gusts¹⁵ are pushing flames ever closer to Palm Springs city limits. The fire has already forced the evacuation of more than 1,800. Fifteen hundred firefighters will endure daytime temperatures in the 90s. Five firefighters and one civilian¹⁶ have been injured. Forecasters predict little change in the weather over the weekend. For NPR News, I'm Ken Vincent in San Bernardino, California.

As many as three people may be dead after a plane crash into a residential¹⁷ neighborhood in Connecticut this morning. The aircraft went down as it attempted to land at a New Haven¹⁸ airport. Two homes caught fire. Earlier, authorities said they were trying to find the pilot and two children who were in one of the houses. 

Oprah Winfrey says she was the target of racism¹⁹ in Zurich. Switzerland says it's true and swiftly apologized to media mogul after she told Entertainment Tonight about it. Winfrey says the boutique clerk who apparently²⁰ did not recognize, refused to show her a $38,000 handbag assuming Winfrey could not afford it. Winfrey is a billionaire with a b. 

1 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

2 overhaul   

v./n.大修，仔细检查

参考例句：

• Master Worker Wang is responsible for the overhaul of this grinder.王师傅主修这台磨床。
• It is generally appreciated that the rail network needs a complete overhaul.众所周知，铁路系统需要大检修。

3 authorizes   

授权，批准，委托( authorize的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The dictionary authorizes the two spellings 'traveler' and 'traveller'. 字典裁定traveler和traveller两种拼法都对。
• The dictionary authorizes the two spellings "honor" and "honour.". 字典裁定 honor 及 honour 两种拼法均可。

4 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

5 intrude   

vi.闯入；侵入；打扰，侵扰

参考例句：

• I do not want to intrude if you are busy.如果你忙我就不打扰你了。
• I don't want to intrude on your meeting.我不想打扰你们的会议。

6 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

7 contractor   

n.订约人，承包人，收缩肌

参考例句：

• The Tokyo contractor was asked to kick $ 6000 back as commission.那个东京的承包商被要求退还6000美元作为佣金。
• The style of house the contractor builds depends partly on the lay of the land.承包商所建房屋的式样，有几分要看地势而定。

8 patriot   

n.爱国者，爱国主义者

参考例句：

• He avowed himself a patriot.他自称自己是爱国者。
• He is a patriot who has won the admiration of the French already.他是一个已经赢得法国人敬仰的爱国者。

9 contention   

n.争论，争辩，论战；论点，主张

参考例句：

• The pay increase is the key point of contention. 加薪是争论的焦点。
• The real bone of contention,as you know,is money.你知道，争论的真正焦点是钱的问题。

10 boycott   

n./v.(联合)抵制，拒绝参与

参考例句：

• We put the production under a boycott.我们联合抵制该商品。
• The boycott lasts a year until the Victoria board permitsreturn.这个抗争持续了一年直到维多利亚教育局妥协为止。

11 affiliate   

vt.使隶(附)属于；n.附属机构，分公司

参考例句：

• Our New York company has an affiliate in Los Angeles.我们的纽约公司在洛杉矶有一个下属企业。
• What is the difference between affiliate and regular membership?固定会员和附属会员之间的区别是什么？

12 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。

13 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

14 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

15 gusts   

一阵强风( gust的名词复数 )； （怒、笑等的）爆发； （感情的）迸发； 发作

参考例句：

• Her profuse skirt bosomed out with the gusts. 她的宽大的裙子被风吹得鼓鼓的。
• Turbulence is defined as a series of irregular gusts. 紊流定义为一组无规则的突风。

16 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

17 residential   

adj.提供住宿的；居住的；住宅的

参考例句：

• The mayor inspected the residential section of the city.市长视察了该市的住宅区。
• The residential blocks were integrated with the rest of the college.住宿区与学院其他部分结合在了一起。

18 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

19 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。

20 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。