NPR 2008-03-05

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Carl Kasell.

 Texas, Ohio, Vermont and Rhode Island are holding presidential primaries today. It's a close race for Democrats¹ between Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. On the Republican side, John McCain's could officially seal the GOP nomination². Mike Huckabee is vowing³ to remain in the race until a candidate has reached the number of delegates needed to win. NPR's Scott Horsley reports.

 Texas Secretary of State Phil Wilson is predicting a record turnout in today's presidential primary. Hundreds of thousands of Texans got a jumpstart on the balloting⁴ thanks to early voting. Wilson expects overall turnout to top 3 million voters, eclipsing the old record set 20 years ago. Ohio voters also had a chance to vote in advance of today's primary, and many took advantage of that. Ohio election watchers say there were lines out the door at some early voting sites yesterday. The Secretary of State is predicting more than half of Ohio's registered voters will take part in the presidential primary, up from 39% 4 years ago. Texas and Ohio offer the biggest delegate prizes today, but voter interest is high in Vermont and Rhode Island as well. Scott Horsley, NPR News, San Antonio.

 Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is in the Middle East today, trying to jump-start the peace process between the Israelis and Palestinians, NPR's Michelle Kelemen is traveling with Rice who she says has talk scheduled in Ramallah and Jerusalem.

 She's really trying to get, basically to get the 2 sides talking again over the weekend, the Palestinian authority President Mahmoud Abbas suspended contacts with the Israelis after this um, very bloody⁵ of Israeli offensive against Hamas in Gaza, uh, the situation was sort of untenable for the Palestinians to continue this dialogue. Secretary Rice um, has been arguing and, and is trying to make the case to the Palestinians today that the longer the talks are suspended, the more it is a victory for those who do not want to see the peace process succeed and by that she means Hamas. NPR's Michelle Kelemen.

 Police in West Palm Beach Florida say they still don't know why a 60-year-old man walked into a Wendy's fast-food restaurant at lunch time yesterday and began shooting. One man, a paramedic, who was killed and 5 others wounded before the gunman killed himself. Paul Miller⁶ is with the County Sheriff's Department.

 "He was carrying a semi-automatic handgun, at least 2 clips uh, we know he fired at least one clip and he may have reloaded a second clip. "

 The gunman was identified as Alburn Edward Blake of West Palm Beach.

 Japanese stock prices closed flat today, rising just 1/10 of 1%. Asian oil markets, uh, held a prices today about steady uh near 104 dollars a barrel over night, but this morning U. S. light crude fell by 26 cents to 102 dollars and 19 cents a barrel.

 This is NPR News.

 California's ban on same sex marriage will be reviewed by the state's Supreme⁷ Court today. Justices will hear arguments on whether the ban discriminates⁸ against gays and lesbians. From member station KQED in San Francisco Sarah Varney reports.

 4 years ago, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom ordered the city clerk to issue marriage licenses⁹ to same sex couples. Some 4, 000 couples wedded¹⁰ at City Hall until the state's Supreme Court put an end to the wedding frenzy¹¹, and nullified the licenses. In the lawsuits¹² that followed a Supreme Court judge declared the state's same sex marriage ban unconstitutional because it discriminates based on gender¹³ and violates the fundamental right to marry. An appeals court later rejected those arguments, saying gay men and lesbians can get most of the rights the state grants to married couples. At the state's Supreme Court today, attorneys for the city and the couples will argue withholding¹⁴ marriage no longer makes sense, given California's long history of granting equal rights to gay men and lesbians. The state and conservative religious groups contend only California voters can change the marriage ban. For NPR News, I'm Sarah Varney in San Francisco.

 A court in Iraq is dropping charges at least for now against 2 former Iraqi government officials accused of allowing Shiite death squads¹⁵ to use ambulances and government hospitals to carry out kidnappings and killings¹⁶. Attorneys say that the officials were released due to lack of evidence. However, the charges could be reinstated if prosecutors¹⁷ successfully appeal. The trial began yesterday after a delay because witnesses failed to show up for the start of the case last month. At the time officials did not say why the witnesses did not appeal. They noted¹⁸ that Iraq does not have a witness protection program.

 I'm Carl Kasell, NPR News in Washington.

1 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 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。

3 vowing   

起誓，发誓（vow的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• President Bush is vowing to help Minneapolis rebuild its collapsed bridge. 布什总统承诺将帮助明尼阿波利斯重建坍塌的大桥。
• President Bush is vowing to help Minneapolis rebuild this collapse bridge. 布什总统发誓要帮助明尼阿波利斯重建起这座坍塌的桥梁。

4 balloting   

v.（使）投票表决( ballot的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Clark took a commanding leading in the early balloting. 在最初投票时，克拉克遥遥领先。 来自辞典例句
• The balloting had stagnated, he couldn't win. 投票工作陷于停顿，他不能得胜。 来自辞典例句

5 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

6 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

7 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

8 discriminates   

分别，辨别，区分( discriminate的第三人称单数 )； 歧视，有差别地对待

参考例句：

• The new law discriminates against lower-paid workers. 这条新法律歧视低工资的工人。
• One test governs state legislation that discriminates against interstate commerce. 一个检验约束歧视州际商业的州立法。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

9 licenses   

n.执照( license的名词复数 )v.批准，许可，颁发执照( license的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Drivers have ten days' grace to renew their licenses. 驾驶员更换执照有10天的宽限期。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Jewish firms couldn't get import or export licenses or raw materials. 犹太人的企业得不到进出口许可证或原料。 来自辞典例句

10 wedded   

adj.正式结婚的；渴望…的，执著于…的v.嫁，娶，（与…）结婚( wed的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She's wedded to her job. 她专心致志于工作。
• I was invited over by the newly wedded couple for a meal. 我被那对新婚夫妇请去吃饭。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 frenzy   

n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动

参考例句：

• He was able to work the young students up into a frenzy.他能激起青年学生的狂热。
• They were singing in a frenzy of joy.他们欣喜若狂地高声歌唱。

12 lawsuits   

n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权，耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
• I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多，赢的也多，输的也多。 来自辞典例句

13 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

14 withholding   

扣缴税款

参考例句：

• She was accused of withholding information from the police. 她被指控对警方知情不报。
• The judge suspected the witness was withholding information. 法官怀疑见证人在隐瞒情况。

15 squads   

n.（军队中的）班( squad的名词复数 )；（暗杀）小组；体育运动的运动（代表）队；（对付某类犯罪活动的）警察队伍

参考例句：

• Anti-riot squads were called out to deal with the situation. 防暴队奉命出动以对付这一局势。 来自辞典例句
• Three squads constitute a platoon. 三个班组成一个排。 来自辞典例句

16 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

17 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

18 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。