NPR 2008-05-31

In a decision certain to be appealed to the US Supreme¹ Court, a three-judge federal court today upheld a key provision of the federal Voting Rights Act. NPR’s Nina Totenberg has more.

The 1965 Voting Rights Act was reauthorized most recently two years ago, requiring certain states and districts to get approval from the Justice Department or a federal court here in Washington before making any change to election procedures. A local government district in Texas challenged the law, contending that despite many demographic changes in various parts of the country, Congress had made no change as to which states and districts were covered by the law. But today, a three-judge court here in Washington rejected that argument, concluding that there was sufficient evidence of contemporary discrimination in voting in the covered areas to justify² the legislative³ decision. Applying either the Supreme Court’s original standard on this question or more recent and stricter standard, the court said, Congress had acted rationally and constitutionally. Nina Totenberg, NPR News, Washington.

Afghan government officials say they are battling to retake a town that was captured by Taliban fighters last night. NPR’s Ivan Watson reports from Kabul.

The Afghan government had sent 80 Afghan soldiers and police to recapture the town of Rashidan. A Taliban spokesman says his fighters captured the town Thursday night after a battle that lasted about an hour. The Taliban claims it captured the town police chief and the top government official in Rashidan along with a number of Afghan policemen. Rashidan is located less than 100 miles southwest of Kabul. The United Nations says last year, more than 4,000 Taliban fighters were killed in clashes with foreign troops led by the NATO alliance. But due in large part to the weakness of the Afghan central government, the insurgents⁴ have succeeded in infiltrating⁵ provinces neighbouring the Afghan capital. Ivan Watson, NPR News, Jalalabad, Afghanistan.

NASA says all systems are go at the moment for tomorrow’s scheduled lift-off of the space shuttle Discovery. The shuttle and its seven-member crew are slated⁶ to take part in a 14-day mission to the International Space Station, where they’ll help install a one-billion-dollar Japanese lab. Shuttle Weather Officer Kathy Winters says the weather is also expected to cooperate for tomorrow's scheduled 5:02 p.m. Eastern Time launch. “Everything is coming together for launch and that includes the weather. The weather is looking promising⁷ for launch day.” Perhaps more urgency to the space station astronauts, however: the part the shuttle will be carrying into orbit to help fix a malfunctioning⁸ toilet aboard the International Space Station.

Officials in New York are now confirming a second death related to the collapse⁹ of a construction crane there, the second deadly crane collapse in that city in the past several months. The two dead were identified as construction workers. In an earlier accident back in March, a crane gave way, killing¹⁰ seven people.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell seven points today. This is NPR.

United Airlines and US Airways¹¹ have decided¹² against merging¹³. The second and sixth largest airlines ended talks, which heated up last month following word that Atlanta-based Delta¹⁴ was combining with Northwest to create the world’s largest carrier. In a letter on the airline’s website, US Airways CEO Doug Parker notified employees the consolidation¹⁵ will not be taking place now. However, he did not rule out future merger¹⁶. In the case of a possible United Airlines-US Airways combination, sources say labor¹⁷ opposition¹⁸ and integration¹⁹ costs were apparently²⁰ enough to kill the deal.

The Food & Drug Administration issued a public health advisory²¹ today regarding asthma²² inhalers. NPR’s Joanne Silberner has more.

Albuterol inhalers can stop the wheeze²³ in asthma and other kinds of lung diseases. Push down on the inhaler, and out squirts the drug along with the chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, used to carry it. But those CFCs deplete²⁴ the ozone²⁵ layer. And these old-style inhalers are banned as of next January. Many people have already made the switch to new-style inhalers, but millions haven’t. So, the FDA has issued an advisory, suggesting that they talk to their healthcare providers now about changing to the new inhalers, which use a different propellant. The agency says they’re widely available, but they do taste and feel a bit different. The spray itself is softer, and each one has different instructions for cleaning and priming. They are also as much as triple the price of the old ones. Joanne Silberner, NPR News, Washington.

Crude oil futures²⁶ wound up the week on an up note, ending the session up 73 cents a barrel to settle at $127.35 a barrel in New York.

1 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。

2 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？

3 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

4 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

5 infiltrating   

v.（使）渗透，（指思想）渗入人的心中( infiltrate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Be vigilant against the danger of enemy agents infiltrating the government and boring from within. 要警惕敌特渗入政府内部进行暗中破坏。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The metastatic melanoma is seen here to be infiltrating into the myocardium. 图示转移性黑色素瘤浸润到心肌。 来自互联网

6 slated   

用石板瓦盖( slate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Yuki is working up an in-home phonics program slated for Thursdays, and I'm drilling her on English conversation at dinnertime. Yuki每周四还有一次家庭语音课。我在晚餐时训练她的英语口语。
• Bromfield was slated to become U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. 布罗姆菲尔德被提名为美国农业部长。

7 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

8 malfunctioning   

出故障

参考例句：

• But something was malfunctioning in the equipment due to human error. 但由于人为的错误，设备发生故障了。 来自超越目标英语 第4册
• Choke coils are useful for prevention of malfunctioning electronic equipment. 扼流圈对于防止电器设备的故障很有帮助。 来自互联网

9 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

10 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。

11 AIRWAYS   

航空公司

参考例句：

• The giant jets that increasingly dominate the world's airways. 越来越称雄于世界航线的巨型喷气机。
• At one point the company bought from Nippon Airways a 727 jet. 有一次公司从日本航空公司买了一架727型喷气机。

12 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

13 merging   

合并（分类）

参考例句：

• Many companies continued to grow by merging with or buying competing firms. 许多公司通过合并或收买竞争对手的公司而不断扩大。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• To sequence by repeated splitting and merging. 用反复分开和合并的方法进行的排序。

14 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

15 consolidation   

n.合并,巩固

参考例句：

• The denser population necessitates closer consolidation both for internal and external action. 住得日益稠密的居民，对内和对外都不得不更紧密地团结起来。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• The state ensures the consolidation and growth of the state economy. 国家保障国营经济的巩固和发展。 来自汉英非文学 - 中国宪法

16 merger   

n.企业合并，并吞

参考例句：

• Acceptance of the offer is the first step to a merger.对这项提议的赞同是合并的第一步。
• Shareholders will be voting on the merger of the companies.股东们将投票表决公司合并问题。

17 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。

18 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

19 integration   

n.一体化，联合，结合

参考例句：

• We are working to bring about closer political integration in the EU.我们正在努力实现欧盟內部更加紧密的政治一体化。
• This was the greatest event in the annals of European integration.这是欧洲统一史上最重大的事件。

20 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。

21 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。

22 asthma   

n.气喘病，哮喘病

参考例句：

• I think he's having an asthma attack.我想他现在是哮喘病发作了。
• Its presence in allergic asthma is well known.它在过敏性气喘中的存在是大家很熟悉的。

23 wheeze   

n.喘息声，气喘声；v.喘息着说

参考例句：

• The old man managed to wheeze out a few words.老人勉强地喘息着说出了几句话。
• He has a slight wheeze in his chest.他呼吸时胸部发出轻微的响声。

24 deplete   

v.弄空，排除，减轻，减少...体液，放去...的血

参考例句：

• Most native mammal species have been severely depleted.大多数本地哺乳动物的数量都已经大大减少了。
• Elastic collisions deplete very little of the electron's energy.弹性碰撞中电子减少的能量非常少。

25 ozone   

n.臭氧，新鲜空气

参考例句：

• The ozone layer is a protective layer around the planet Earth.臭氧层是地球的保护层。
• The capacity of ozone can adjust according of requirement.臭氧的产量可根据需要或调节。

26 futures   

n.期货，期货交易

参考例句：

• He continued his operations in cotton futures.他继续进行棉花期货交易。
• Cotton futures are selling at high prices.棉花期货交易的卖价是很高的。