NPR 2008-08-24

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama appeared at a rally in Illinois this afternoon with his new running mate Senator Joe Biden of Delaware. Obama said Biden is a man who can stare down dictators, but also reach across the aisle¹ to work with Republican lawmakers when necessary in Congress. NPR's Jim Zarroli reports.

Hours after announcing he'd chosen Biden to run with, Obama appeared alongside him at the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield. Obama described Biden as a powerful critic of President Bush's foreign policy, and a statesman who doesn't have to stand behind bluster² to keep America strong. "He's uniquely suited to be my partner as we work to put our country back on track. " For his part, Biden said he is a friend of Republican presidential candidate John McCain, but he said McCain can't bring real change to Washington, because by his own admission he agrees with virtually all of President Bush's policies. Biden said Americans are up to the challenges the country faces, but only if they have real leadership. Jim Zarroli, NPR News.

And McCain considers Biden a friend as well as a Senate colleague and he made a congratulatory phone call to him today. But McCain's campaign wasted no time in rolling out an ads citing critical statements Biden made during the Democratic primary campaign about Obama, for instance, indicating that Obama was not ready to be president.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy who helped broker³ the ceasefire in Georgia is calling on Russia to withdraw its forces from the strategic Black Sea port city of Poti. The BBC's Humphrey Hawksley says a senior Russian general is saying Russian troops will stay there as part of what he called a peace keeping operation.

Asked why, he said simply that Russian troops would not sit back and watch while the Georgian military, as he put it, drove around in American-made humvees. Western and Georgian leaders have condemned⁴ Russia for violating the French-brokered agreement and the announcement about Poti will reinforce accusations⁵ that Russia is planning to create an economic stranglehold on the country. Russia insists that its action is preventing further bloodshed with claims that Georgian forces plan to carry out more attacks. The BBC's Humphrey Hawksley in Moscow.

Tropical Storm Fay made its fourth landfall in Florida today, leaving behind a trail of widespread flooding in communities such as Del-Tonald where people slosh through flood water to stack sandbags in an effort to protect homes from damage. Sandbags were also handed out today in Biloxi and Gulfport, Mississippi which lie in the path of the slow moving storm. Fay is finally easing out of Florida and headed westward⁶. The storm has been blamed for at least 11 deaths in Florida so far.

A new tropical storm has formed in the Pacific Ocean. Tropical storm "JULIO", it's called. It's churning toward Mexico's Baja Peninsula with sustained winds of 40 miles an hour.

This is NPR News from Washington.

Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai has condemned a coalition⁷ attack that he says left more than 76 civilians⁸ dead, half of them children. The US military has not acknowledged that any civilians were killed but has launched an investigation⁹ into the incident.

Predictions that airline fares would keep rising in this era of high fuel prices may have been premature¹⁰. As Larry Miller¹¹ reports from London, there is a full scale price war going on among the world's largest airlines.

Last month, the head of British Airways¹² warned the cost of soaring fuel prices would need to be met by higher airfares, however the opposite is happening. In the last week, Virgin¹³ Atlantic cut up to 40% from the price of a long haul economy ticket. British Airways is also having a seat sale, knocking up to 36% off. Lufthansa has reduced the price of economy tickets by 20%. American Airlines is running a cut price promotion¹⁴. And next week Air France and KLM get into the competitive fray¹⁵. Some of the airlines are selling tickets for well into 2009, and are left with as little as 100 dollars for a trans-Atlantic flight after taxes and fuel surcharges are deducted¹⁶. A Virgin Atlantic spokesman said there is ferocious¹⁷ competition out there which is very good news for consumers. For NPR News, I'm Larry Miller in London.

The US women's basketball team has won the gold medal at the Beijing Olympics, defeating Australia by 27 points. The matchup and the outcome have been the same for three straight Olympics. The US men's team plays Spain for the gold tomorrow. The US women's volleyball team took the silver medal after losing to Brazil today. American runners took the gold in both the men's and women's 4X400 meter relays today.

1 aisle   

n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道

参考例句：

• The aisle was crammed with people.过道上挤满了人。
• The girl ushered me along the aisle to my seat.引座小姐带领我沿着通道到我的座位上去。

2 bluster   

v.猛刮；怒冲冲的说；n.吓唬，怒号；狂风声

参考例句：

• We could hear the bluster of the wind and rain.我们能听到狂风暴雨的吹打声。
• He was inclined to bluster at first,but he soon dropped.起初他老爱吵闹一阵，可是不久就不做声了。

3 broker   

n.中间人，经纪人；v.作为中间人来安排

参考例句：

• He baited the broker by promises of higher commissions.他答应给更高的佣金来引诱那位经纪人。
• I'm a real estate broker.我是不动产经纪人。

4 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

5 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

6 westward   

n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西

参考例句：

• We live on the westward slope of the hill.我们住在这座山的西山坡。
• Explore westward or wherever.向西或到什么别的地方去勘探。

7 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

8 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

9 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。

10 premature   

adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的

参考例句：

• It is yet premature to predict the possible outcome of the dialogue.预言这次对话可能有什么结果为时尚早。
• The premature baby is doing well.那个早产的婴儿很健康。

11 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。

12 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。

13 virgin   

n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的

参考例句：

• Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗？
• There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。

14 promotion   

n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传

参考例句：

• The teacher conferred with the principal about Dick's promotion.教师与校长商谈了迪克的升级问题。
• The clerk was given a promotion and an increase in salary.那个职员升了级，加了薪。

15 fray   

v.争吵；打斗；磨损，磨破；n.吵架；打斗

参考例句：

• Why should you get involved in their fray?你为什么要介入他们的争吵呢？
• Tempers began to fray in the hot weather.大热天脾气烦燥。

16 deducted   

v.扣除，减去( deduct的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The cost of your uniform will be deducted from your wages. 制服费将从你的工资中扣除。
• The cost of the breakages will be deducted from your pay. 损坏东西的费用将从你的工资中扣除。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 ferocious   

adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的

参考例句：

• The ferocious winds seemed about to tear the ship to pieces.狂风仿佛要把船撕成碎片似的。
• The ferocious panther is chasing a rabbit.那只凶猛的豹子正追赶一只兔子。