NPR美国国家公共电台 NPR 2015-04-12

 The Justice Department has charged a Kansas man with attempting to detonate a car bomb at the Fort Riley Military Base. NPR's Carrie Johnson reports, the FBI had monitored the alleged¹ suicide plot for months.

 

Court Paper say John Booker told his friends that becoming a murderer for the self-declared Islamic State became his No.1 aspiration². The FBI says its agents watched Booker, who is 20 years old, purchase components³ for his bomb, record a propaganda video, and rent a storage locker⁴. Justice Department officials say the public and the base at Fort Riley were never in any danger, and they made sure that Booker's alleged bomb, was inert⁵. The Kansas case is the latest in a series of prosecutions⁶ of Americans who allegedly align⁷ themselves with violent extremists. In either travel overseas to fight or try to mount attacks on U.S. soil. National Security officials say they're working hard to identify and bring those people to justice. Carrie Johnson, NPR News, Washington.

 

The World Health Organization says ebola continues to be an emergency, even as the number of cases drops dramatically. NPR's Jason Beaubien reports. The W.H.O. says the outbreak could still regain⁸ strength. 

 

W.H.O. officials meeting in Geneva say it's too soon to downgrade the ebola outbreak from emergency status. There were just 30 ebola cases reported last week in West Africa, compared to 82 of the week before and more than a 1,000 cases a week back in November.

"We believe this reflects real progress."

 

Bruce Aylward, heads of the U.N. Health Agencies responds to the outbreak. He adds however, that ten of the most recent ebola cases in Sierra Leone and Guinea were people who died at home. This poses a serious threat for the virus to spread. He says the outbreak should continue to be treated as emergency until the number of cases is all the way at zero. Jason Beaubien, NPR News.

 

At the National Rifle Association Candidate Forum⁹ today, CEO Wayne Lapierre says if Hillary Clinton runs for president, powerful gun lobby will "stand shoulder to shoulder to prevent her from winning." Today a parade of likely Republican candidates spoke¹⁰, targeting at Clinton candidacy. Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker told the crowd, Clinton measures success in government by how many people depend on it.

 

"We got a president, people like Hillary Clinton, who seemed to think that you measure success in government by how many people are dependent on the government. I think we should measure success, by just the opposite, by how many people are no longer dependent on the government."

 

Clinton plans to announce her bid for the Democratic nomination¹¹ this weekend.

 

In the tornado¹²-ravaged community of Fairdale, Illinois, emergency officials say they are confident everyone's been accounted for. The tornado hit overnight, killing¹³ two women and injuring about a dozen others. Dozens of homes have also been damaged, and the local fire chief says residents probably won't be able to return to their damaged houses until tomorrow. The states governor has declared both Ogle¹⁴ and DeKalb Counties, disaster areas. 

 

This is NPR.

 

A Swedish tobacco company had a setback¹⁵ today in its bid to claim, for the first time, that one of its products is safer than cigarettes. As NPR's Rob Stein reports, a federal advisory¹⁶ panel failed to endorse¹⁷ the company's request.

 

The product is called Snus. It's flavored tobacco that comes in little bags that looked kinda like small teabags. Users slip them between their upper lip and gum. A Swedish company wants to remove most of the health warnings on Snus, and claims Snus is safer than cigarettes. 

Because Snus doesn't involve any smoke. A panel of experts spend two days reviewing the company's request. In the end, the committee was divided by how much safer Snus may be than cigarettes. But the committee voted unanimously against the letting the company claim Snus is substantially safer than cigarettes. The F.D.A. does not have to follow the committee's recommendation, but the agency usually does. Rob Stein, NPR News.

 

Bird flu outbreaks have found at four additional turkey farms in Minnesota, and that brings to 13, the number of farms affected¹⁸ by the virus. State and federal officials say turkeys not killed by the virus will be euthanized to prevent the disease from spreading. Now since the outbreak was confirmed early last month, farms in Minnesota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Missouri, Kansas and Arkansa have been affected. 

 

Wall Street was higher by the closing bell today, the Dow have 98 points to end at 18,057, the NASDAQ up 21 points to end at 4995, the S&P 500 was up ten points to end at 2102.

1 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

2 aspiration   

n.志向，志趣抱负；渴望；(语)送气音；吸出

参考例句：

• Man's aspiration should be as lofty as the stars.人的志气应当象天上的星星那么高。
• Young Addison had a strong aspiration to be an inventor.年幼的爱迪生渴望成为一名发明家。

3 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。

4 locker   

n.更衣箱，储物柜，冷藏室，上锁的人

参考例句：

• At the swimming pool I put my clothes in a locker.在游泳池我把衣服锁在小柜里。
• He moved into the locker room and began to slip out of his scrub suit.他走进更衣室把手术服脱下来。

5 inert   

adj.无活动能力的，惰性的；迟钝的

参考例句：

• Inert gas studies are providing valuable information about other planets,too.对惰性气体的研究，也提供了有关其它行星的有价值的资料。
• Elemental nitrogen is a very unreactive and inert material.元素氮是一个十分不活跃的惰性物质。

6 prosecutions   

起诉( prosecution的名词复数 )； 原告； 实施； 从事

参考例句：

• It is the duty of the Attorney-General to institute prosecutions. 检察总长负责提起公诉。
• Since World War II, the government has been active in its antitrust prosecutions. 第二次世界大战以来，政府积极地进行着反对托拉斯的检举活动。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

7 align   

vt.使成一线，结盟，调节；vi.成一线，结盟

参考例句：

• Align the ruler and the middle of the paper.使尺子与纸张的中部成一条直线。
• There are signs that the prime minister is aligning himself with the liberals.有迹象表明首相正在与自由党人结盟。

8 regain   

vt.重新获得，收复，恢复

参考例句：

• He is making a bid to regain his World No.1 ranking.他正为重登世界排名第一位而努力。
• The government is desperate to regain credibility with the public.政府急于重新获取公众的信任。

9 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。

10 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。

11 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

12 tornado   

n.飓风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• A tornado whirled into the town last week.龙卷风上周袭击了这座城市。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。

13 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

14 ogle   

v.看；送秋波；n.秋波，媚眼

参考例句：

• He likes to ogle at the pretty girls.他爱盯着漂亮的女孩子。
• All she did was hang around ogling the men in the factory.她所做的就只是在工厂里荡来荡去，朝男人抛媚眼。

15 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。

16 advisory   

adj.劝告的，忠告的，顾问的，提供咨询

参考例句：

• I have worked in an advisory capacity with many hospitals.我曾在多家医院做过顾问工作。
• He was appointed to the advisory committee last month.他上个月获任命为顾问委员会委员。

17 endorse   

vt.(支票、汇票等)背书，背署；批注；同意

参考例句：

• No one is foolish enough to endorse it.没有哪个人会傻得赞成它。
• I fully endorse your opinions on this subject.我完全拥护你对此课题的主张。

18 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。