NPR 2009-08-10

Divers¹ have now recovered seven bodies from yesterday's midair collision of a helicopter and a small plane over the Hudson River in New York City. All nine people aboard the two aircraft are presumed dead. Wreckage² of the helicopter was hoisted³ out of the river today. From member station WNYC Marc Garber has more.

New York City police say they have located the plane's fuselage just north of the helicopter crash site in the water of Hoboken, New Jersey⁴. More wreckage was found farther out in the river under about 50 feet of murky⁵ water where the visibility is about two feet. Appearing today on NBC's "Meet the Press", Mayor Michael Bloomberg responded to the issue of restricting New York's airspace in the wake of the crash. "This is may just have been er..er an accident, a total tragedy; or maybe in fact if we had different procedures, you could have prevented it." Nine people died in Saturday's collision, including three members of a Pennsylvania family in the private plane. Five Italian tourists and a pilot from New Jersey were in the helicopter. For NPR News, I am Marc Garber in New York.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Angola and she is urging the oil-producing nation to do more to fight corruption⁶ and bolster⁷ democratic institutions. About 2/3 of the people there live on less than two dollars a day. "Opportunity and prosperity for the Angolan people depend on good governance and strong democratic institutions that requires a strong civil society, transparency, accountability and vigilance in the fight against corruption."

Clinton is also calling on Angola's leaders to build on last year successful legislative⁸ elections and move ahead with plans for a presidential election. The country's President Eduardo dos Santos has ruled for 30 years and has been criticized for postponing⁹ a presidential vote that was set for this year.

Iran's government has confirmed for the first time that it has three American hikers in custody¹⁰. The three were detained after crossing the border from Northern Iraq. NPR's Howard Berkes has details.

National Security advisor¹¹ James Jones revealed the confirmation¹² from Iran in his exchange with host David Gregory on NBC's "Meet the Press". "The government has officially acknowledged that they have them in their custody." "And that's news that had not been disclosed before?" "That is as of this morning." The three Americans disappeared a week ago while hiking along the Iran-Iraq border in the Kurdish mountain region. Iranian officials consider them possible spies. Jones summarized the administration's response. "These are innocent people we want their families reunited and we would like to have it done as quickly as possible." American and Kurdish officials have said the three strayed into Iraq in an area without clear border markings. Howard Berkes, NPR News.

President Obama arrives in Guadalajara, Mexico within the hour for a brief summit with Mexico's President and Canada's prime minister. The White House says the issues to be discussed ranged from global recession and climate change to swine flu preparedness.

This is NPR News from Washington.

Typhoon Morakot has been pummeling the east coast of China today, flooding villages, and destroying hundreds of homes. Nearly a million people were evacuated¹³ in advance of the storm. The typhoon whipped up waves as high as 26 feet in the East China Sea after causing wide-spread flooding in Taiwan. At least three people were killed there and dozens are missing and feared dead.

In Indonesia, police say they are waiting DNA¹⁴ test to determine whether a man killed yesterday in a gun battle with police is the same militant¹⁵ believed responsible for last month's deadly hotel bombings in Jakarta. NPR's Michael Sullivan has the story.

Noordin Top has been Southeast Asia's most wanted fugitive¹⁶ for several years now. And Indonesian media reports yesterday suggested the authorities had finally gotten their man, cornered then killed in a remote house in Central Java. But Indonesia’s national police chief says he can't be sure the body recovered is Noordin Top's. The chief said it is clear the Malaysian-born militant had been planning a suicide car bomb attack on the home of Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Two militants¹⁷ were killed in a separate raid Saturday at a house just a few miles from the president's home. The raid uncovered large quantities of explosives and a vehicle rigged to carry them. Police say the decision to kill the president was made in an April 30th meeting chaired by Noordin Top, who wanted the president dead for allowing the execution of three men convicted of taking part in the 2002 Bali bombings. Michael Sullivan, NPR News.

A California State prison near Los Angeles remains¹⁸ on lockdown after a riot last night in which more than 250 inmates¹⁹ were injured. Several dozen of them were taken to hospitals. Platoons of guards used pepper spray and billy clubs to clear out inmates who had barricaded²⁰ themselves in prison barracks.

 

1 divers   

adj.不同的；种种的

参考例句：

• He chose divers of them,who were asked to accompany him.他选择他们当中的几个人，要他们和他作伴。
• Two divers work together while a standby diver remains on the surface.两名潜水员协同工作，同时有一名候补潜水员留在水面上。

2 wreckage   

n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏

参考例句：

• They hauled him clear of the wreckage.他们把他从形骸中拖出来。
• New states were born out of the wreckage of old colonial empires.新生国家从老殖民帝国的废墟中诞生。

3 hoisted   

把…吊起，升起( hoist的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He hoisted himself onto a high stool. 他抬身坐上了一张高凳子。
• The sailors hoisted the cargo onto the deck. 水手们把货物吊到甲板上。

4 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

5 murky   

adj.黑暗的，朦胧的；adv.阴暗地，混浊地；n.阴暗；昏暗

参考例句：

• She threw it into the river's murky depths.她把它扔进了混浊的河水深处。
• She had a decidedly murky past.她的历史背景令人捉摸不透。

6 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

7 bolster   

n.枕垫；v.支持，鼓励

参考例句：

• The high interest rates helped to bolster up the economy.高利率使经济更稳健。
• He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。

8 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。

9 postponing   

v.延期，推迟( postpone的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He tried to gain time by postponing his decision. 他想以迟迟不作决定的手段来争取时间。 来自辞典例句
• I don't hold with the idea of postponing further discussion of the matter. 我不赞成推迟进一步讨论这件事的想法。 来自辞典例句

10 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

11 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

12 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

13 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

14 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

15 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

16 fugitive   

adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者

参考例句：

• The police were able to deduce where the fugitive was hiding.警方成功地推断出那逃亡者躲藏的地方。
• The fugitive is believed to be headed for the border.逃犯被认为在向国境线逃窜。

17 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

18 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

19 inmates   

n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• One of the inmates has escaped. 被收容的人中有一个逃跑了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The inmates were moved to an undisclosed location. 监狱里的囚犯被转移到一个秘密处所。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 barricaded   

设路障于，以障碍物阻塞( barricade的过去式和过去分词 )； 设路障[防御工事]保卫或固守

参考例句：

• The police barricaded the entrance. 警方在入口处设置了路障。
• The doors had been barricaded. 门都被堵住了。