NPR 2010-10-29

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Lakshmi Singh.

Investigators¹ appear to be contradicting claims by Halliburton that its cement job was no responsible for the BP blowout that led to a historical oil spill in the Gulf² of Mexico. NPR's Jeff Brady says the news led to a sharp drop in Halliburton shares this afternoon.

The chief council for the national oil spill commission says in a letter that test result last spring should have raised questions about the cement used to seal BP's well. Halliburton was contracted by BP to cement the well. It blew out April 20th, killing³ 11 workers and eventually releasing more than 4 million barrels of oil into the water. BP has previously⁴ identified the faulty cement make it is a possible cause of the accident, but the company declined to comment on this latest development. A spokeswoman for Halliburton says the company is reviewing the commission report. Jeff Brady, NPR News.

Distraught his survivor⁵ of Monday tsunami⁶ of Sumatra recounts ordeal⁷ on TV 1. Many hundreds more share a similar account of massive waves sweeping⁸ away loved ones into the sea. The death toll⁹ has climbed to at least 370. Hundreds are still missing. In another part of the seismically¹⁰ active region, Indonesians are also grieving the deaths of dozens of people in a volcanic¹¹ eruption¹² that struck just 24 hours after the tsunami. From Djakarta, Julie Simon reports on the uncertainty¹³ confronting thousands of evacuees¹⁴.

Tens of thousands are displaced and living in government camps. The camps are not far from the holy Buddhist¹⁵ Temple, Borobudur, in Java. Some of evacuees eat instant noodles for dinner tonight, but others await donations of water and food. The evacuees will spend the night in communal¹⁶ tents in schools. For NPR News, I'm Julie Simon in Djakarta.

The crisis in home foreclosures in the US isn't getting any better. In some metropolitan¹⁷ areas, it's actually getting worse, as NPR's Paul Brown explains.

RealtyTrac, which monitors the foreclosures market, says foreclosures are now following expanding unemployment problems where once they were largely correlated with bad loans and overpricing. The means markets including Seattle and Chicago are seeing more foreclosures than before. RealtyTrac's Rick Shager says he expects fairly stagnant¹⁸ home prices until 2014.

Simply because of the volume of properties that have already been repossessed by the banks and need to be sold, and the 6 millions of properties that are either in foreclosure or seriously delinquent¹⁹.

California, Nevada, Arizona and Florida continue to have the highest foreclosure rates, after overbuilding, a housing bubble and the bust²⁰. Paul Brown, NPR news.

At last check on Wall Street, Dow Jones Industrial Average down 17 points at 11,110, NASDAQ showing gains up four points at last check at 2,507. From Washington, this is NPR News.

At least one death is reported from a rare autumn storm system that pummeled much of the U.S. this week. Authorities in central Michigan say a utility worker, who was clearing collapsed²¹ trees, died last night when he touched a live wire. Other workers faced similar dangers in several states where power outages were reported.

Now, more evidence that exercise is good for you. As NPR's Patti Neighmond reports, the study in the Archives of Internal Medicine finds that breast cancer risk decreased among postmenopausal women who walked briskly for about an hour pretty much every day.

The type of walking researchers are talking about is really quite fast. Three to four miles an hour which means it's not easy to hold a conversation. But when women scheduled this daily exercise and stuck to it, it seemed to decrease their risk of getting breast cancer after menopause by 15%, and even among women who were somewhat sedentary before menopause, if they boosted their activity after menopause, they also reduced their breast cancer risk. And walking appeared more protective than other activities like swimming or hiking. Harvard researchers analyzed²² date from nearly 100,000 women involved in an on-going, long-term study of women and health. Patti Neighmond, NPR news.

The Pew Hispanic Center reports Latinos fear backlash over immigration and border security issues. It's less than a week to go before midterm election. The center reported more than 60% of Hispanics say discrimination against minority group is a major problem. That is up from 54% back in 2007.
 

1 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

3 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。

4 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

5 survivor   

n.生存者，残存者，幸存者

参考例句：

• The sole survivor of the crash was an infant.这次撞车的惟一幸存者是一个婴儿。
• There was only one survivor of the plane crash.这次飞机失事中只有一名幸存者。

6 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

7 ordeal   

n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验

参考例句：

• She managed to keep her sanity throughout the ordeal.在那场磨难中她始终保持神志正常。
• Being lost in the wilderness for a week was an ordeal for me.在荒野里迷路一星期对我来说真是一场磨难。

8 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

9 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

10 seismically   

地震

参考例句：

• The crust and mantle are separated by a seismically determined boundary known as the Moho-discontinuity. 改译为：地壳与地幔的交接处系根据地波走失而确定的一个界面，通称为莫霍界面。 来自互联网
• China's code is now on par with similar codes in seismically active areas of the world. 中国现在施行的标准与世界其他地震活跃地区施行的标准基本一致。 来自互联网

11 volcanic   

adj.火山的；象火山的；由火山引起的

参考例句：

• There have been several volcanic eruptions this year.今年火山爆发了好几次。
• Volcanic activity has created thermal springs and boiling mud pools.火山活动产生了温泉和沸腾的泥浆池。

12 eruption   

n.火山爆发；（战争等）爆发；（疾病等）发作

参考例句：

• The temple was destroyed in the violent eruption of 1470 BC.庙宇在公元前1470年猛烈的火山爆发中摧毁了。
• The eruption of a volcano is spontaneous.火山的爆发是自发的。

13 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

14 evacuees   

n.被疏散者( evacuee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Moreover, for multi-exits, evacuees select a exit based on game theory. 在有多个出口时，疏散人员根据对策论选择出口。 来自互联网
• Evacuees wade through flooded area following heavy monsoon rains in Peshawar on Saturday, July 31, 2010. 撤离灾区涉水通过后在白沙瓦沉重的季风降雨在周六，2010年7月31日。 来自互联网

15 Buddhist   

adj./n.佛教的，佛教徒

参考例句：

• The old lady fell down in adoration before Buddhist images.那老太太在佛像面前顶礼膜拜。
• In the eye of the Buddhist,every worldly affair is vain.在佛教徒的眼里，人世上一切事情都是空的。

16 communal   

adj.公有的，公共的，公社的，公社制的

参考例句：

• There was a communal toilet on the landing for the four flats.在楼梯平台上有一处公共卫生间供4套公寓使用。
• The toilets and other communal facilities were in a shocking state.厕所及其他公共设施的状况极其糟糕。

17 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。

18 stagnant   

adj.不流动的，停滞的，不景气的

参考例句：

• Due to low investment,industrial output has remained stagnant.由于投资少，工业生产一直停滞不前。
• Their national economy is stagnant.他们的国家经济停滞不前。

19 delinquent   

adj.犯法的，有过失的；n.违法者

参考例句：

• Most delinquent children have deprived backgrounds.多数少年犯都有未受教育的背景。
• He is delinquent in paying his rent.他拖欠房租。

20 bust   

vt.打破；vi.爆裂；n.半身像；胸部

参考例句：

• I dropped my camera on the pavement and bust it. 我把照相机掉在人行道上摔坏了。
• She has worked up a lump of clay into a bust.她把一块黏土精心制作成一个半身像。

21 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。

22 analyzed   

v.分析( analyze的过去式和过去分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析

参考例句：

• The doctors analyzed the blood sample for anemia. 医生们分析了贫血的血样。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The young man did not analyze the process of his captivation and enrapturement, for love to him was a mystery and could not be analyzed. 这年轻人没有分析自己蛊惑著迷的过程，因为对他来说，爱是个不可分析的迷。 来自《简明英汉词典》