NPR 2008-03-26

From NPR News in Washington, I am Jack¹ Speer.

 Concern is growing that a 7-month-old ceasefire between Shiite Cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army and the US is about to end. NPR's Dina Temple-Raston reports.

 The clashes began in Basra. Iraqi security forces moved in on members of the Mahdi Army they said were allied² with Iran. Hours later, explosions rang out in Baghdad. For the second time this week, rockets and mortars³ rained down on the heavily fortified⁴ Green Zone. In Baghdad's Sadr city, Mahdi Army forces took on a rival militia⁵. American forces sealed off the area and imposed a curfew. Muqtada al-Sadr has called for a nation-wide backlash against government crackdowns. The concern is that a 7-month ceasefire with the Mahdi Army is unraveling. A military spokesman told NPR that as far as the US was concerned, the ceasefire was still in force and rogue⁶ elements of the Mahdi Army were responsible for the recent violence. Dina Temple-Raston, NPR News, Baghdad.

 Pentagon officials announced today the military mistakenly sent missile components⁷ to Taiwan two years ago, in the belief that they were helicopter batteries. Officials say all the equipment has been returned. NPR's Tom Bowman reports.

 The parts were four nose cone⁸ electrical fuses used to trigger Minuteman nuclear missiles, but officials say there was no nuclear material in the package. Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne told reporters the parts were mistakenly sent to Taiwan in the fall of 2006, from a Utah facility run by the Defense⁹ Logistics Agency, a division of the Pentagon that ships military supplies. Wynne said the nose cone fuses were placed in storage in Taiwan. There is no evidence they were opened or tampered¹⁰ with. It was the Taiwan government that first alerted US officials last year they didn't receive their requested batteries. But it wasn't until the past week that officials learned the scope of what happened. A Pentagon investigation¹¹ is underway to determine how the mistake was made with an initial report due in April. Tom Bowman, NPR News, the Pentagon.

 For jittery¹² homeowners and others concerned about the economy, there is more reason for worry. A private index of home prices shows prices in large metropolitan¹³ areas declined by more than 11% in January. The drop in the Case-shiller Index was the largest in its two-decade history. Meanwhile, a key barometer¹⁴ of consumer sentiment also fell sharply this month. David Wyss is chief economist¹⁵ at Standard & Poor's. He says clearly the mood of consumers isn't good. "People are scared. They're scared because their house price is dropping; they are scared because price of filling up their gas tank is going up; and they are scared because they see jobs disappearing out there in the economy." In some cities, year-over-year house price declines were even more severe. In Las Vegas and Miami, two of the hardest-hit cities, home prices are down upwards¹⁶ of 20% from a year ago. On Wall Street, the Dow-Jones Industrial Average fell 16 points today to close at 12,532.

 This is NPR.

 Speaking in California, Republican presidential candidate John McCain said he thinks that pretty much every option should now be on the table in terms of dealing¹⁷ with the nation's troubled housing market. Addressing a group of local business leaders near Los Angeles today, the expected GOP nominee¹⁸ said he would evaluate everything in an effort to deal with the situation. He also said it isn't the government's job to "bail¹⁹ out banks or irresponsible lenders".

 Two people were killed and five others injured today when a crane collapsed²⁰ at a high-rise condominium under construction in Miami. From Miami NPR's Greg Allen reports.

 The crane was mounted on Paramount²¹ Bay, a high-rise condominium overlooking Biscayne Bay in Miami. Officials say workers were attempting to lengthen²² the crane when a segment broke free. It plummeted²³ through the roof of a building next door that was being used as headquarters by construction personnel. The Paramount Bay is one of dozens of high-rise projects currently under construction in Miami. And construction cranes dot the skyline. The state of Florida doesn't require certifications or inspections²⁴ of construction cranes. But just last week after a crane collapsed in New York in which 7 people died, Miami-Dade's County Commission passed a measure that now requires inspections and certifications of construction cranes. Greg Allen, NPR News, Miami.

 Names of more than 3. 5 million people displaced after World War II have now been provided to Holocaust²⁵ memorial groups and museums in the US, Israel and Poland through a recently opened archive of Nazi²⁶-era documents. Committee of the International Red Cross announced it's handed over a batch²⁷ of digitized documents taken from those who were freed from Nazi camps and those listed as prisoners of war. Officials say there are millions of index cards in the files, some containing detailed²⁸ family histories.

 I'm Jack Speer, NPR News, in Washington.

 move in on: 向……逼进

 unravel: 分开，解开

 rogue: adj. not behaving in the usual or accepted way and often causing trouble

 nose cone: (火箭或飞弹)前锥体;头部

 upwards of: more than; in excess of

 codominium: 物业共管。在这里指 codominium apartment

1 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

2 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

3 mortars   

n.迫击炮( mortar的名词复数 )；砂浆；房产；研钵

参考例句：

• They could not move their heavy mortars over the swampy ground. 他们无法把重型迫击炮移过那片沼泽地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Where the hell are his mortars? 他有迫击炮吗？ 来自教父部分

4 fortified   

adj. 加强的

参考例句：

• He fortified himself against the cold with a hot drink. 他喝了一杯热饮御寒。
• The enemy drew back into a few fortified points. 敌人收缩到几个据点里。

5 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

6 rogue   

n.流氓；v.游手好闲

参考例句：

• The little rogue had his grandpa's glasses on.这淘气鬼带上了他祖父的眼镜。
• They defined him as a rogue.他们确定他为骗子。

7 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。

8 cone   

n.圆锥体，圆锥形东西，球果

参考例句：

• Saw-dust piled up in a great cone.锯屑堆积如山。
• The police have sectioned off part of the road with traffic cone.警察用锥形路标把部分路面分隔开来。

9 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

10 tampered   

v.窜改( tamper的过去式 )；篡改；（用不正当手段）影响；瞎摆弄

参考例句：

• The records of the meeting had been tampered with. 会议记录已被人擅自改动。 来自辞典例句
• The old man's will has been tampered with. 老人的遗嘱已被窜改。 来自辞典例句

11 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

12 jittery   

adj. 神经过敏的, 战战兢兢的

参考例句：

• However, nothing happened though he continued to feel jittery. 可是，自从拉上这辆车，并没有出什么错儿，虽然他心中嘀嘀咕咕的不安。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
• The thirty-six Enterprise divebombers were being squandered in a jittery shot from the hip. 这三十六架“企业号”上的俯冲轰炸机正被孤注一掷。

13 metropolitan   

adj.大城市的，大都会的

参考例句：

• Metropolitan buildings become taller than ever.大城市的建筑变得比以前更高。
• Metropolitan residents are used to fast rhythm.大都市的居民习惯于快节奏。

14 barometer   

n.气压表，睛雨表，反应指标

参考例句：

• The barometer marked a continuing fall in atmospheric pressure.气压表表明气压在继续下降。
• The arrow on the barometer was pointing to"stormy".气压计上的箭头指向“有暴风雨”。

15 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。

16 upwards   

adv.向上，在更高处...以上

参考例句：

• The trend of prices is still upwards.物价的趋向是仍在上涨。
• The smoke rose straight upwards.烟一直向上升。

17 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

18 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

19 bail   

v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人

参考例句：

• One of the prisoner's friends offered to bail him out.犯人的一个朋友答应保释他出来。
• She has been granted conditional bail.她被准予有条件保释。

20 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

21 paramount   

a.最重要的，最高权力的

参考例句：

• My paramount object is to save the Union and destroy slavery.我的最高目标是拯救美国，摧毁奴隶制度。
• Nitrogen is of paramount importance to life on earth.氮对地球上的生命至关重要。

22 lengthen   

vt.使伸长，延长

参考例句：

• He asked the tailor to lengthen his coat.他请裁缝把他的外衣放长些。
• The teacher told her to lengthen her paper out.老师让她把论文加长。

23 plummeted   

v.垂直落下，骤然跌落( plummet的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Share prices plummeted to an all-time low. 股票价格暴跌到历史最低点。
• A plane plummeted to earth. 一架飞机一头栽向地面。 来自《简明英汉词典》

24 inspections   

n.检查( inspection的名词复数 )；检验；视察；检阅

参考例句：

• Regular inspections are carried out at the prison. 经常有人来视察这座监狱。
• Government inspections ensure a high degree of uniformity in the standard of service. 政府检查确保了在服务标准方面的高度一致。 来自《简明英汉词典》

25 holocaust   

n.大破坏；大屠杀

参考例句：

• The Auschwitz concentration camp always remind the world of the holocaust.奥辛威茨集中营总是让世人想起大屠杀。
• Ahmadinejad is denying the holocaust because he's as brutal as Hitler was.内贾德否认大屠杀，因为他像希特勒一样残忍。

26 Nazi   

n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的

参考例句：

• They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻，并出面求和。
• Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。

27 batch   

n.一批(组，群)；一批生产量

参考例句：

• The first batch of cakes was burnt.第一炉蛋糕烤焦了。
• I have a batch of letters to answer.我有一批信要回复。

28 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。