NPR美国国家公共电台 NPR 2013-09-04

 Two key Republican lawmakers who抳e been pushing for a military strike against Syria met today with President Obama at the White House, senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham emerging from the meeting to say they want Syria's government to be punished for its apparent use of chemical weapons. However, McCain says a public worry of wars in Afghanistan and Iraq wants no involvement of US troops. 

揂mericans are skeptical¹. We've gone for two and a half years without helping² these people. Obviously people are weary after Iraq and Afghanistan. Americans have to be assured that no plan will entail³ American boots on the ground, and we totally are in agreement with that.?

Twelve members of the president's foreign policy team were set to testify before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as the White House continues to try to build support for action against Syria. 

The French government, meanwhile, says it has overwhelming evidence the regime of Bashar al-Assad gassed its own people. NPR's Eleanor Beardsley reports France says the massive chemical attack near Damascus last month could not have been ordered and carried out by anyone but the Syrian government. 

Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault made public the French Secret Services?nine-page report into the incident drawn⁴ up by military and foreign intelligence services. It says Syria's arsenal⁵ of chemical weapons is massive and diverse, comprising several hundred tons of the nerve agent sarin and dozens of tons of the most toxic⁶ nerve agent VX. The report also says the Syrian regime has carried out three chemical attacks since April. That's why the international community must respond, said Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault. 揥e must punish this,?said Ayrault, 揥e cannot let Assad get away with using chemical weapons, or he will do it again.?Eleanor Beardsley, NPR News, Paris. 

Silicon⁷ Valley companies are attacking a decision by the US Patent Office to suspend plans to open a satellite office in the high-tech⁸ region. NPR's Ina Jaffe reports the decision was a result of the sequester⁹. 

Silicon Valley companies seek more patents than any other region in the world. The nation's only Patent and Trademark¹⁰ Office used to be located in Arlington, Virginia. Companies would have to send top scientists there for a few days, costing time and money. In 2011 a new law raised patent fees with promises that the money would go to open more offices, but budget cuts sent some of those funds straight to the Treasury¹². Last year another patent office was opened in Detroit. Permanent quarters have been found for offices in Dallas and Denver, but federal officials still have no timetable for an office in Silicon Valley. The US Patent Office currently has a backlog¹³ of nearly 600,000 patent applications, and patent applicants¹⁴ can wait more than two years for a review. Ina Jaffe, NPR News. 

US telecommunications company Verizon is agreeing to pay 130 billion dollars to buy the part of its business it does not already own from British company Vodafone. The deal ends a 14-year marriage between the two companies. 

US financial markets are closed for the Labor¹⁵ Day holiday. You抮e listening to NPR. 

While a number of schools have been opening earlier -- they did prior to Labor Day, many have already run to a problem -- high heat across much of the nation. As temperatures rose into the 90s last week in the Midwest, a number of schools had to either find creative ways for kids to cool off or simply canceled classes. In a number of school systems they were under pressure to start early, but they do not have air conditioning in much of the building. Schools have moved towards the early start days because they need more time for teacher training and testing. 

Hispanics in the US continue to disperse¹⁶ throughout the nation. Members of the country's largest minority group are gradually moving into new states and cities. NPR's Ted¹¹ Robbins has more. 

According to the Pew center抯 Hispanic Trends Project, Latinos have been moving away from traditionally Latino counties. Seventy-one percent of Latinos live in those counties compared with 78% two decades ago. Still even 71% is a large number in concentrated areas. Census¹⁷ data shows that half of all Latinos in the US still live in California, Texas and Florida. People of Mexican descent tend to live in the West and Southwest. Puerto Ricans and Dominicans are centered in the New York, New Jersey¹⁸ region, and Cuban Americans are concentrated in the Miami area. The largest growth area for Hispanics over the last decade has been in the nation's Southeast. Ted Robbins, NPR News. 

Quite an up-and-down summer movie season. Hollywood is winding¹⁹ up the final weekend of the summer with the record 4.7 billion dollar[s] in box office revenues. The boy band concert will be One Direction: This is us, raking in an estimated 18 million dollars for Sony Pictures. But that was not enough to unseat the No.1 box office draw over the weekend. Lee Daniel's The Butler would ... an estimated 20 million dollars. Both attendance and revenues were up from last year. 

1 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

2 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。

3 entail   

vt.使承担，使成为必要，需要

参考例句：

• Such a decision would entail a huge political risk.这样的决定势必带来巨大的政治风险。
• This job would entail your learning how to use a computer.这工作将需要你学会怎样用计算机。

4 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

5 arsenal   

n.兵工厂，军械库

参考例句：

• Even the workers at the arsenal have got a secret organization.兵工厂工人暗中也有组织。
• We must be the great arsenal of democracy.我们必须成为民主的大军火库。

6 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

7 silicon   

n.硅(旧名矽)

参考例句：

• This company pioneered the use of silicon chip.这家公司开创了使用硅片的方法。
• A chip is a piece of silicon about the size of a postage stamp.芯片就是一枚邮票大小的硅片。

8 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

9 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。

10 trademark   

n.商标；特征；vt.注册的…商标

参考例句：

• The trademark is registered on the book of the Patent Office.该商标已在专利局登记注册。
• The trademark of the pen was changed.这钢笔的商标改了。

11 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

12 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。

13 backlog   

n.积压未办之事

参考例句：

• It will take a month to clear the backlog of work.要花一个月的时间才能清理完积压的工作。
• Investment is needed to reduce the backlog of repairs.需要投资来減轻积压的维修工作。

14 applicants   

申请人，求职人( applicant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were over 500 applicants for the job. 有500多人申请这份工作。
• He was impressed by the high calibre of applicants for the job. 求职人员出色的能力给他留下了深刻印象。

15 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。

16 disperse   

vi.使分散；使消失；vt.分散；驱散

参考例句：

• The cattle were swinging their tails to disperse the flies.那些牛甩动着尾巴驱赶苍蝇。
• The children disperse for the holidays.孩子们放假了。

17 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

18 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

19 winding   

n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈

参考例句：

• A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
• The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。