NPR 2010-04-26

President Obama is due to speak at a memorial service this hour for 29 miners killed in a mine explosion in West Virginia earlier this month. In excerpts² of his eulogy³, the president talks about the miners dying in pursuit of a better life. As a result of the underground explosion, the president has ordered a review of mining sites with poor safety records across the country.

Members of the Hillcrest Baptist Church in Yazoo City, Mississippi singing Amazing Grace outside the church building damaged by yesterday's tornado⁴. The twister claimed at least ten lives and destroyed dozens of homes. It was among a series of tornadoes⁵ to hit several southern states this weekend.

Greece's finance minister's expressing confidence in Washington today that his debt-strapped country will get aid from the International Monetary⁶ Fund and fellow members of the European Union. Steve Beckner of Market News International reports.

Three days after mounting market pressure forced Greece to announce it would tap credit lines offered by the IMF and European governments, Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou said loan negotiations⁷ are going very well and should be concluded rather soon. Speaking to reporters following talks with IMF, European Commission and European Central Bank officials, Papaconstantinou sent a message to those betting that Greece will default on its debt. "They will lose their shirts," he warned. He said Greece is on track to slash⁸ its debt and reform its finances. Papaconstantinou said the loan package will cover a three-year time frame and have strong policy conditions attached. He declined to say whether the loans will have to be larger than the roughly $60 billion first discussed. For NPR News, I'm Steve Beckner.

The apparent front-runner in Iraq's ongoing⁹ struggle to form a new government tells NPR he will reject the results of the election if a recount exists. Ayad Allawi spoke¹⁰ with NPR's Quil Lawrence.

Allawi leads the bloc¹¹ that won the most seats in Iraq's parliamentary elections on March 7th. That gives him the first go at trying to form a coalition¹² government. But last week, an Iraqi court announced it would grant the request of incumbent¹³ Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to manually recount the votes in Baghdad. Today, Allawi vowed¹⁴ to reject the results if other areas of the country are not also recounted.

"We already have rejected this. If they don't respect others in the political process, then we have to look at the whole political process, whether it's a democratic process or not, and make and take our decisions based on our convictions."

The recount controversy¹⁵ has added as much as a month to the wait for Iraq's next government to form, a lag time that, many observers have warned, could destabilize the country. Quil Lawrence, NPR News.

From Washington, this is NPR News.

The Thai government is again warning thousands of protesters camped out in the capital to disperse¹⁶ or face another military crackdown. On national television, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva didn't say when forces might try to retake the activists¹⁷' fortified¹⁸ encampment in Bangkok's commercial district. Talks to end a month-long standoff collapsed¹⁹ last week after the prime minister rejected demands to dissolve parliament in 30 days.

The British government is apologizing to the Vatican after notes from a brainstorming²⁰ session that, officials say, went too far about the pontiff's upcoming UK visit. As Larry Miller²¹ reports from London, the British ambassador to the Vatican was dispatched with an official mea culpa.

The offending document suggests during the Pope's September visit to the UK, he should open a hospital abortion²² ward²³, bless a gay marriage, launch Benedict-branded condoms and open a helpline for abused children. The document was drawn²⁴ up by a junior civil servant in a memo¹ about what would be the ideal visit. It was circulated among officials in the prime minister's office and the Foreign Office. The foreign secretary says he's appalled²⁵. A government spokesman adds this is a foolish, ill-judged, naive²⁶ and disrespectful document that does not reflect UK policy or views. The civil servant in question has been moved to another job. For NPR News, I'm Larry Miller in London.

British author Alan Sillitoe whose work reflected the gritty realities of the working class after World War II died today. Sillitoe drew a claim for blunt depictions of tensions among the poor that came to be known as kitchen sink dramas. Sillitoe is survived by his wife and two children. He was 82 years old.
 

1 memo   

n.照会，备忘录；便笺；通知书；规章

参考例句：

• Do you want me to send the memo out?您要我把这份备忘录分发出去吗？
• Can you type a memo for me?您能帮我打一份备忘录吗？

2 excerpts   

n.摘录，摘要( excerpt的名词复数 )；节选（音乐，电影）片段

参考例句：

• Some excerpts from a Renaissance mass are spatchcocked into Gluck's pallid Don Juan music. 一些文艺复光时期的弥撒的选节被不适当地加入到了格鲁克平淡无味的唐璜音乐中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He is editing together excerpts of some of his films. 他正在将自己制作的一些电影的片断进行剪辑合成。 来自辞典例句

3 eulogy   

n.颂词；颂扬

参考例句：

• He needs no eulogy from me or from any other man. 他不需要我或者任何一个人来称颂。
• Mr.Garth gave a long eulogy about their achievements in the research.加思先生对他们的研究成果大大地颂扬了一番。

4 tornado   

n.飓风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• A tornado whirled into the town last week.龙卷风上周袭击了这座城市。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。

5 tornadoes   

n.龙卷风，旋风( tornado的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Tornadoes, severe earthquakes, and plagues create wide spread havoc. 龙卷风、大地震和瘟疫成普遍的毁坏。 来自互联网
• Meteorologists are at odds over the working of tornadoes. 气象学者对龙卷风的运动方式看法不一。 来自互联网

6 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

7 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

8 slash   

vi.大幅度削减；vt.猛砍，尖锐抨击，大幅减少；n.猛砍，斜线，长切口，衣衩

参考例句：

• The shop plans to slash fur prices after Spring Festival.该店计划在春节之后把皮货降价。
• Don't slash your horse in that cruel way.不要那样残忍地鞭打你的马。

9 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

10 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

11 bloc   

n.集团；联盟

参考例句：

• A solid bloc of union members support the decision.工会会员团结起来支持该决定。
• There have been growing tensions within the trading bloc.贸易同盟国的关系越来越紧张。

12 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

13 incumbent   

adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的

参考例句：

• He defeated the incumbent governor by a large plurality.他以压倒多数票击败了现任州长。
• It is incumbent upon you to warn them.你有责任警告他们。

14 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

15 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

16 disperse   

vi.使分散；使消失；vt.分散；驱散

参考例句：

• The cattle were swinging their tails to disperse the flies.那些牛甩动着尾巴驱赶苍蝇。
• The children disperse for the holidays.孩子们放假了。

17 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 fortified   

adj. 加强的

参考例句：

• He fortified himself against the cold with a hot drink. 他喝了一杯热饮御寒。
• The enemy drew back into a few fortified points. 敌人收缩到几个据点里。

19 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。

20 brainstorming   

献计献策,合力攻关

参考例句：

• With Brainstorming, treat the view on how to solve the problem rightly. 利用脑激励法(Brainstorming)，正确对待学生实验中的问题解决观。
• We are going to do some brainstorming soon. 我们很快就要做些脑力激荡。

21 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

22 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

23 ward   

n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开

参考例句：

• The hospital has a medical ward and a surgical ward.这家医院有内科病房和外科病房。
• During the evening picnic,I'll carry a torch to ward off the bugs.傍晚野餐时，我要点根火把，抵挡蚊虫。

24 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

25 appalled   

v.使惊骇，使充满恐惧( appall的过去式和过去分词)adj.惊骇的；丧胆的

参考例句：

• The brutality of the crime has appalled the public. 罪行之残暴使公众大为震惊。
• They were appalled by the reports of the nuclear war. 他们被核战争的报道吓坏了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

26 naive   

adj.幼稚的，轻信的；天真的

参考例句：

• It's naive of you to believe he'll do what he says.相信他会言行一致，你未免太单纯了。
• Don't be naive.The matter is not so simple.你别傻乎乎的。事情没有那么简单。