NPR 2010-12-21

British police have arrested 12 men on terrorism charges during early morning raids in three cities, saying urgent action was needed to protect public safety. But officials are calling the arrest just the first stage of a large-scale intelligence operation into a terror plot against UK targets.

The former Soviet¹ state of Belarus is still picking up the pieces after a night of violence. Hundreds were arrested in the capital Minsk last night, protesting President Alexander Lukashenko's reelection victory. As NPR's David Greene reports, the president is defending the election is fair, but international election observers aren't convinced.

TV news is controlled by the government in Belarus so opposition² voices were not on air. This voice was - President Lukashenko live for two hours. Sunday's election he said was open and honest. He also defended the police crackdown during which seven of his opponents were arrested. One, Vladimir Neklyayev, was beaten by police and hospitalized. Unknown men then came to the hospital and carted the candidate away in a blanket. Lukashenko insisted authorities were only going after people determined³ to commit barbarism. Officially, the president won 80% of the vote, but Tony Lloyd, who led a team of European election observers, said they were often denied access to vote counts.

"Frankly⁴, the people of Belarus deserve better."

Lloyd said police targeting of candidates is part of the backdrop by which this election will be judged. David Greene, NPR News, Minsk.

Travelers in Europe hoping to get home or go away for winter holidays aren't getting very far because of snow and frigid⁵ temperatures. But it's not just the weather that's getting in the way. As Eleanor Beardsley reports from Paris, so are flaws in transportation systems' ability to respond.

British authorities continue to struggle to get rid of snow buildups and ice. London's Heathrow is the continent's worst bottleneck⁶ and thousands of travelers are stranded⁷. For the second day, Paris's Charles de Gaulle Airport canceled 40% of its flights even that the snowfall has been minimal⁸. New Yorker Susan Manuele, who spent Sunday night on the floor of Charles de Gaulle, says the worst part has been Air France's handling of the situation.

"The Internet age and there's no Internet. There's no one on the phone. So it's really very frustrating⁹, well beyond the weather."

London's airport operator has apologized for the chaos¹⁰. For NPR News, I'm Eleanor Beardsley in Paris.

Parts of California are bracing¹¹ for more rain after record rainfall yesterday with some regions already saturated¹² more than 12 inches of rain. Forecasters are warning the storm will intensify¹³ tomorrow and could bring an additional ten inches.

Iran's state television reports an earthquake of at least a magnitude 6.3 has rocked the southeast of the country. The region is prone¹⁴ to earthquakes and has no major population centers.

On Wall Street an hour before the close, the Dow is up eight points at 11,500; the NASDAQ is up four points at 1,248; and the S&P is up 12.

This is NPR.

Mexican officials say criminals trying to siphon crude oil are likely responsible for a deadly pipeline¹⁵ explosion yesterday in the central Puebla state, some 60 miles from Mexico City. At least 28 people were killed. Authorities say the punctured¹⁶ pipeline flooded the streets of San Martin with fuel, which then caught fire.

The FBI reports violent crime in the US fell sharply by more than 6% in the first half of this year. As Danielle Karson reports, the numbers contradict a historical pattern of economic downturns triggering a spike¹⁷ in crime.

Cities with the population of half a million to a million residents posted the biggest drops in violent crimes, more than 8%. Robberies fell 10%, murders 7%, except in the Northeast, where they went up. Rapes¹⁸ and assaults also declined. Today's report follows a steady three-year drop in violent crime. The FBI report bucks¹⁹ the trend of higher crime rates during times of the economic stress. Many analysts²⁰ say they are hard-pressed to explain it. Law enforcement officials suggest policing techniques have advanced, such as state-of-the-art crime hotspot maps, which help target crime trends quickly. But many police departments now worry that their cash-strapped cities and states will be forced to lay off large numbers of officers, which could lead to more crime. For NPR News, I'm Danielle Karson in Washington.

The author of a guide for pedophiles is under arrest. Florida police had Phillip Greaves taken into custody²¹ at his home in Pueblo²², Colorado under a warrant out of Florida. The suspect had mailed a signed copy of his book entitled "The Pedophile's Guide to Love and Pleasure" to an undercover officer in Orlando.

1 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

2 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。

3 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

4 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

5 frigid   

adj.寒冷的，凛冽的；冷淡的；拘禁的

参考例句：

• The water was too frigid to allow him to remain submerged for long.水冰冷彻骨，他在下面呆不了太长时间。
• She returned his smile with a frigid glance.对他的微笑她报以冷冷的一瞥。

6 bottleneck   

n.瓶颈口，交通易阻的狭口；妨生产流程的一环

参考例句：

• The transportation bottleneck has blocked the movement of the cargo.运输的困难阻塞了货物的流通。
• China's strained railroads already become a bottleneck for the economy.中国紧张的铁路运输已经成为经济增长的瓶颈。

7 stranded   

a.搁浅的，进退两难的

参考例句：

• He was stranded in a strange city without money. 他流落在一个陌生的城市里， 身无分文，一筹莫展。
• I was stranded in the strange town without money or friends. 我困在那陌生的城市，既没有钱，又没有朋友。

8 minimal   

adj.尽可能少的，最小的

参考例句：

• They referred to this kind of art as minimal art.他们把这种艺术叫微型艺术。
• I stayed with friends, so my expenses were minimal.我住在朋友家，所以我的花费很小。

9 frustrating   

adj.产生挫折的，使人沮丧的，令人泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的现在分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's frustrating to have to wait so long. 要等这么长时间，真令人懊恼。
• It was a demeaning and ultimately frustrating experience. 那是一次有失颜面并且令人沮丧至极的经历。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

11 bracing   

adj.令人振奋的

参考例句：

• The country is bracing itself for the threatened enemy invasion. 这个国家正准备奋起抵抗敌人的入侵威胁。
• The atmosphere in the new government was bracing. 新政府的气氛是令人振奋的。

12 saturated   

a.饱和的，充满的

参考例句：

• The continuous rain had saturated the soil. 连绵不断的雨把土地淋了个透。
• a saturated solution of sodium chloride 氯化钠饱和溶液

13 intensify   

vt.加强；变强；加剧

参考例句：

• We must intensify our educational work among our own troops.我们必须加强自己部队的教育工作。
• They were ordered to intensify their patrols to protect our air space.他们奉命加强巡逻，保卫我国的领空。

14 prone   

adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的

参考例句：

• Some people are prone to jump to hasty conclusions.有些人往往作出轻率的结论。
• He is prone to lose his temper when people disagree with him.人家一不同意他的意见,他就发脾气。

15 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。

16 punctured   

v.在（某物）上穿孔( puncture的过去式和过去分词 )；刺穿（某物）；削弱（某人的傲气、信心等）；泄某人的气

参考例句：

• Some glass on the road punctured my new tyre. 路上的玻璃刺破了我的新轮胎。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A nail on the road punctured the tyre. 路上的钉子把车胎戳穿了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

17 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

18 rapes   

n.芸苔( rape的名词复数 )；强奸罪；强奸案；肆意损坏v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的第三人称单数 )；强奸

参考例句：

• The man who had committed several rapes was arrested. 那个犯了多起强奸案的男人被抓起来了。 来自辞典例句
• The incidence of reported rapes rose 0.8 percent. 美国联邦调查局还发布了两份特别报告。 来自互联网

19 bucks   

n.雄鹿( buck的名词复数 )；钱；（英国十九世纪初的）花花公子；（用于某些表达方式）责任v.（马等）猛然弓背跃起( buck的第三人称单数 )；抵制；猛然震荡；马等尥起后蹄跳跃

参考例句：

• They cost ten bucks. 这些值十元钱。
• They are hunting for bucks. 他们正在猎雄兔。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

21 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。

22 pueblo   

n.（美国西南部或墨西哥等）印第安人的村庄

参考例句：

• For over 2,000 years,Pueblo peoples occupied a vast region of the south-western United States.在长达2，000多年的时间里，印第安人统治着现在美国西南部的大片土地。
• The cross memorializes the Spanish victims of the 1680 revolt,when the region's Pueblo Indians rose up in violent protest against their mistreatment and burned the cit