NPR 2010-03-02

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Craig Windham.

 

Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev says his country is now ready to consider new sanctions against Iran over that nation's nuclear program. Medvedev says he's still hoping though the tougher sanctions can be avoided. The new head of the new UN watchdog agency Yukiya Amano says Iran is not fully¹ cooperating with the agency. So there's no way to know for sure that the country is using all of its nuclear material for peaceful purposes as it claims. "We are continuing to verify that Iran is not diverting any declared nuclear material for non-peaceful purposes." Amano was countering Iran's claims that his recent report on the country's nuclear program was influenced by the United States.

 

 

Chile's government is requesting help from the US and UN as it struggles to deal with the aftermath of the earthquake that hit the southern half of that country. NPR's Jason Beaubien reports rescuers are stepping up efforts to find survivors² amid the rubble³.

 

 

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet says her country is facing a disaster unparalleled in its history and will need assistance from all sectors⁵ to recover from Saturday's 8.8 quake. United Nations says it will rush relief supplies into Chile now that it's clear that the government is requesting international aid. Meanwhile President Bachelet dispatched 10, 000 soldiers to quell⁶ looting around the hard-hit city of Concepcion. She also put in place a dusk-to-dawn curfew. While the international airport in Santiago has partially⁷ reopened, many bridges and roads are still impassable. All commercial flights from Argentina into Santiago remained canceled Monday morning. Frustrated⁸ Chileans mobbed the ticket counters at the Buenos Aires Airport, trying to find out when they'll be able to return to check on their loved ones and homes. Jason Beaubien, NPR News, Buenos Aires.

 

Workers are starting to hand-deliver census⁹ forms to some homes that do not have traditional mailboxes. That's about 12 million mostly rural households around the country. NPR's Pam Fessler reports census forms will be mailed out to everyone else starting late next week.

 

Census forms this year include only ten questions. That's one of the shortest forms ever. Officials hope that most people will fill them out and send them back by April 1st. Otherwise, census workers will have to visit individual households in person to complete the national count. Census figures are used for distributing federal funds and determining the allocation of congressional seats. But every ten years, millions of people failed to participate sometimes because they were reluctant to give personal information to the government. This year, the Census Bureau's spending tens of millions of dollars on advertising¹⁰ and working with some 200, 000 community groups to improve the count. Most households are expected to receive their forms around March 15th. Pam Fessler, NPR News, Washington.

 

Stock prices are holding on to moderate gains as the closing bell approaches on Wall Street. The Dow Industrials are up 70 points, the NASDAQ is up 31. This is NPR News.

 

A federal judge in Salt Lake City says the man charged with kidnapping Elizabeth Smart back in 2002 is competent to stand trial. Attorneys for Bryan Mitchell argued that he is delusional¹¹ and incapable¹² of participating in his own defense¹³. But the judge disagreed. Mitchell could still raise an insanity¹⁴ defense during his trial. Smart was abducted¹⁵ when she was just 14 years old. She was held captive for nine months and raped¹⁶ repeatedly during that time.

 

Researchers in Florida say shark attacks in the United States declined sharply last year. Phil Latzman of member station WLRN has a look at the numbers from Miami.

 

The data comes from a newly released annual study conducted by the University of Florida's International Shark Attack File. It says the number of attacks in the US dropped from 41 in 2008 to just 28 in 2009. Of those 2/3 come from the state of Florida, but the total of 19 is significantly less than the 32 reported in the state in both 2007 and 2008. This year though is already off to a deadly start. The report comes about a month after a 32-year-old kite boarder was attacked and killed by a shark off Florida's east coast, the first shark-related death in the state in five years. For NPR News, I'm Phil Latzman in Miami.

 

New evidence that manufacturing is leading the way in the economic recovery. The Institute for Supply Management says the manufacturing sector⁴ expanded in February for the seventh straight month. The pace of growth has slowed somewhat though and the latest numbers fell short of expectations. In another report out today, the Commerce Department says personal spending was up in January by 0.5%. But the incomes of Americans barely budged¹⁷, up just 0.1%.

 

I'm Craig Windham, NPR News in Washington.

 

1 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

2 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

3 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

4 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

5 sectors   

n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形

参考例句：

• Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 quell   

v.压制，平息，减轻

参考例句：

• Soldiers were sent in to quell the riots.士兵们被派去平息骚乱。
• The armed force had to be called out to quell violence.不得不出动军队来镇压暴力行动。

7 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。

8 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

10 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

11 delusional   

妄想的

参考例句：

• You became delusional and attacked several people trying to escape. 你产生了错觉并攻击了许多人还试图逃走。 来自电影对白
• He is incoherent, delusional, suffering auditory hallucinations. 他出现无逻辑的，妄想的，幻听的症状。 来自电影对白

12 incapable   

adj.无能力的，不能做某事的

参考例句：

• He would be incapable of committing such a cruel deed.他不会做出这么残忍的事。
• Computers are incapable of creative thought.计算机不会创造性地思维。

13 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

14 insanity   

n.疯狂，精神错乱；极端的愚蠢，荒唐

参考例句：

• In his defense he alleged temporary insanity.他伪称一时精神错乱，为自己辩解。
• He remained in his cell,and this visit only increased the belief in his insanity.他依旧还是住在他的地牢里，这次视察只是更加使人相信他是个疯子了。

15 abducted   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that she was abducted. 侦探尚未排除她被绑架的可能性。
• The kid was abducted at the gate of kindergarten. 那小孩在幼儿园大门口被绑架走了。

16 raped   

v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的过去式和过去分词 )；强奸

参考例句：

• A young woman was brutally raped in her own home. 一名年轻女子在自己家中惨遭强暴。 来自辞典例句
• We got stick together, or we will be having our women raped. 我们得团结一致，不然我们的妻女就会遭到蹂躏。 来自辞典例句

17 budged   

v.（使）稍微移动( budge的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）改变主意，（使）让步

参考例句：

• Old Bosc had never budged an inch--he was totally indifferent. 老包斯克一直连动也没有动，他全然无所谓。 来自辞典例句
• Nobody budged you an inch. 别人一丁点儿都算计不了你。 来自辞典例句