NPR 2010-11-20

Those very careful pat-downs at airport security checkpoints have some passengers and pilots in a furor¹. But the head of the TSA says they are necessary considering the current terrorist threats. John Pistole told the CBS's Early Show security screening is a tough challenge.
"The bottom line is trying to ensure that everybody that gets on every flight can be assured with high confidence that everybody else on that flight has been properly screened."Pistole noted² the attempted bombing of a US-bound plane last Christmas and the more recent effort to ship bombs on cargo³ planes. Florida Congressman⁴ John Mica⁵ has told the nation's 100 busiest airports they should switch to private security guards. He has received campaign donations from some private airport security contractors⁶.
German experts sent to investigate a suspicious package at an airport in Namibia say the case found near bags bound for Munich was intended to test airport security. They determine the case was made by an American firm, but it's not clear who was conducted in the test. Germany is under heightened alert over increased concern about terrorism.
President Obama is Lisbon, Portugal to discuss the way forward in Afghanistan with European allies.
"This summit is an important opportunity for us to align⁷ an approach to transition in Afghanistan."Mr. Obama is facing tough questions on the exit strategy in Afghanistan as well as US economic policies. The president pledged to work with Portugal and all of Europe on strengthening the world's financial markets.
For the first time in months, a long-range missile has been fired into Israel from the Gaza Strip. NPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro says no one was hurt, but Israeli officials are worried.
The Soviet-designed Grad-type missiles have a range of up to 25 miles, about twice that of homemade Kassam rockets, usually used by Palestinian militants⁸. The projectiles⁹ struck a tanker¹⁰ truck near the Negev desert town of Ofakim, but no one was injured. This week, Israel killed two alleged¹¹ senior Palestinian militants in Gaza who were reportedly planning attacks on Israeli citizens. Since then, there's been an uptick in fire coming from the Gaza Strip. Two more mortar¹² shells landed in an open territory in Israel today and two were fired yesterday. Lourdes Garcia-Navarro, NPR News.

1 furor   

n.狂热；大骚动

参考例句：

• His choice of words created quite a furor.他的措辞引起了相当大的轰动。
• The half hour lecture caused an enormous furor.那半小时的演讲引起了极大的轰动。

2 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

3 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

4 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

5 mica   

n.云母

参考例句：

• It could not pass through material impervious to water such as mica.它不能通过云母这样的不透水的物质。
• Because of its layered structure,mica is fissile.因为是层状结构，云母很容易分成片。

6 contractors   

n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 align   

vt.使成一线，结盟，调节；vi.成一线，结盟

参考例句：

• Align the ruler and the middle of the paper.使尺子与纸张的中部成一条直线。
• There are signs that the prime minister is aligning himself with the liberals.有迹象表明首相正在与自由党人结盟。

8 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。

9 projectiles   

n.抛射体( projectile的名词复数 )；（炮弹、子弹等）射弹，（火箭等）自动推进的武器

参考例句：

• These differences are connected with the strong absorption of the composite projectiles. 这些差别与复杂的入射粒子的强烈吸收有关。 来自辞典例句
• Projectiles became more important because cannons could now fire balls over hundreds or yards. 抛射体变得更加重要，因为人们已能用大炮把炮弹射到几百码的距离之外。 来自辞典例句

10 tanker   

n.油轮

参考例句：

• The tanker took on 200,000 barrels of crude oil.油轮装载了二十万桶原油。
• Heavy seas had pounded the tanker into three parts.汹涌的巨浪把油轮撞成三载。

11 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

12 mortar   

n.灰浆，灰泥；迫击炮；v.把…用灰浆涂接合

参考例句：

• The mason flushed the joint with mortar.泥工用灰浆把接缝处嵌平。
• The sound of mortar fire seemed to be closing in.迫击炮的吼声似乎正在逼近。