NPR美国国家公共电台 NPR 2013-09-18

 In Washington D.C. police officials say they still can't rule out a possible second suspect in today's shooting at a Navy complex. NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports 13 people were killed including the gunman, a former reservist, who was apparently¹ working as a subcontractor. 

The shooter was 34-year-old Aaron Alexis, a former Navy reservist, most recently stationed in Texas. Pentagon officials say he was discharged for misconduct. D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier says no motive² is known. She says 911 calls about the shooting came in at 8:20 this morning. 

“Within seven minutes with active shooter teams inside the building moving through the building, there was multiple engagements with the suspect that was eventually deceased. 

Three more wounded remained in a hospital. Residents around the Navy Yard site are being asked to stay out of the area. Nearby highways and public schools were temporarily closed, and Washington Nationals baseball game has been postponed³. Jennifer Ludden, NPR News, Washington. 

All told a dozen people were wounded in that attack. Witnesses to today's shooting at the D.C. Navy Yard complex described a confusing scene. One says he and others were in a long hallway when the gunman opened fire. Another civilian⁴ working for the Navy describes how the man began shooting from a fourth floor overlook into the building's cafeteria below. Other witnesses said they just started running when they heard the shooting. President Obama today mourned what he called “yet another mass shooting” in the US, which he describes is taking the lives of American patriots⁵. 

A report by a UN weapons inspection⁶ team says there is clear and convincing evidence of a large-scale chemical weapon attack in Syria on August 21st. It can confirm that the nerve gas sarin was used which the US says killed more than 1,400 people. NPR's Jackie Northam reports. 

This is the first independent report confirming that chemical weapons were used in an August attack on a Damascus suburb. The UN inspectors⁷ said the majority of medical and chemical samples gathered tested positive for sarin, and that surface-to-surface missiles were used to deliver the nerve agent. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the report does not say who was responsible for the attack. 

“It was the team's job to determine whether and to what extent chemical weapons were used, not who used them.” 

But the new US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power said the report makes clear the attack was carried out by the Syrian government. Jackie Northam, NPR News, Washington. 

US factories boosted their output in August, the government announcing today that was in part due to strong output by the nation's automakers. Manufacturing was up 0.7% from the previous month. Chad Moutray is chief economist⁹ at the National Association of Manufacturers.

“You’re certainly seeing the auto⁸ sector¹⁰ really being one of the stronger components¹¹ in the overall production figures this time. I think a lot of that is, you know, gearing up for the new model year, and that kind of [inaudible] more or less shows the rebound¹² that we had from the slower figures in July. 

All told industrial production was up 0.4%. 

On Wall Street today, mixed close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average up 118 points; the NASDAQ fell four points. This is NPR. 

Hundreds of mourners attended the funeral of the 12-year-old Florida girl who authorities believe took her own life after negative comments were posted about her on online message boards. A number of those who turned out for a 45-minute memorial service for Rebecca Sedwick were wearing neon green T-shirts with anti-bullying slogans. Sheriff’s detectives say Sedwick was picked on by as many as 15 girls for a year who were throwing herself from a tower at an abandoned concrete plant. Authorities say they’re still trying to determine whether there’s sufficient evidence to bring charges in the case. 

Fifteen hours after it started, the operation to raise the Costa Concordia luxury liner off the Italian coast entered its final phase. NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports the rotation¹³ of the giant ship is going to coordinate¹⁴ engineers' calculations, but more slowly than being anticipated. 

Engineer Franco Porcellacchia said the Costa Concordia has been rotated 15 degrees from its original slump¹⁵ position on a reef of the island of Giglio. This is a milestone¹⁶, he said, because of the rest of the rotation--another 40 degrees to bring the vessel¹⁷ fully¹⁸ upright--will no longer be achieved through pulleys and cables, but by pouring water into ballast tanks. That's when gravity should take over to bring the vessel to rest on large undersea platforms custom-built for the salvage¹⁹ operation. The engineers said they were very satisfied the ship's rotation is going exactly as they calculated. The operation was originally expected to last ten to 12 hours, but now it may take as many as 19. Sylvia Poggioli, NPR News, Giglio. 

Forbes Magazine's again out with its annual list of wealthiest Americans, the top spot on the list for the 20th straight year going to Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, whose net worth is estimated 72 billion dollars. Investor²⁰ Warren Buffett came in second with about 58.5 billion. 

1 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。

2 motive   

n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的

参考例句：

• The police could not find a motive for the murder.警察不能找到谋杀的动机。
• He had some motive in telling this fable.他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。

3 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。

4 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。

5 patriots   

爱国者，爱国主义者( patriot的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Abraham Lincoln was a fine type of the American patriots. 亚伯拉罕·林肯是美国爱国者的优秀典型。
• These patriots would fight to death before they surrendered. 这些爱国者宁愿战斗到死，也不愿投降。

6 inspection   

n.检查，审查，检阅

参考例句：

• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。
• The soldiers lined up for their daily inspection by their officers.士兵们列队接受军官的日常检阅。

7 inspectors   

n.检查员( inspector的名词复数 )；（英国公共汽车或火车上的）查票员；（警察）巡官；检阅官

参考例句：

• They got into the school in the guise of inspectors. 他们假装成视察员进了学校。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Inspectors checked that there was adequate ventilation. 检查员已检查过，通风良好。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

9 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

10 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

11 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

12 rebound   

v.弹回；n.弹回，跳回

参考例句：

• The vibrations accompanying the rebound are the earth quake.伴随这种回弹的振动就是地震。
• Our evil example will rebound upon ourselves.我们的坏榜样会回到我们自己头上的。

13 rotation   

n.旋转；循环，轮流

参考例句：

• Crop rotation helps prevent soil erosion.农作物轮作有助于防止水土流失。
• The workers in this workshop do day and night shifts in weekly rotation.这个车间的工人上白班和上夜班每周轮换一次。

14 coordinate   

adj.同等的，协调的；n.同等者；vt.协作，协调

参考例句：

• You must coordinate what you said with what you did.你必须使你的言行一致。
• Maybe we can coordinate the relation of them.或许我们可以调和他们之间的关系。

15 slump   

n.暴跌，意气消沉，（土地）下沉；vi.猛然掉落，坍塌，大幅度下跌

参考例句：

• She is in a slump in her career.她处在事业的低谷。
• Economists are forecasting a slump.经济学家们预言将发生经济衰退。

16 milestone   

n.里程碑；划时代的事件

参考例句：

• The film proved to be a milestone in the history of cinema.事实证明这部影片是电影史上的一个里程碑。
• I think this is a very important milestone in the relations between our two countries.我认为这是我们两国关系中一个十分重要的里程碑。

17 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

18 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

19 salvage   

v.救助，营救，援救；n.救助，营救

参考例句：

• All attempts to salvage the wrecked ship failed.抢救失事船只的一切努力都失败了。
• The salvage was piled upon the pier.抢救出的财产被堆放在码头上。

20 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。