NPR 2010-07-05

President Obama is hosting a barbecue at the White House today for members of the military and their families. They will be able to watch the national fireworks from the South Lawn. Some local displays around the country are being canceled this year for lack of money, including in Clayton, North Carolina, population 16,000. Mayor Jody McLeod says spending $30,000 for fireworks didn't seem right at a time of layoffs¹.

"Well, I did have a few emails a couple of weeks ago about how in the world can you take away the fireworks for the Fourth of July. That really just made me think, you know, there's really more to the Fourth of July than fireworks. It's really about being the American that we were all created to be."

He said most residents understand you could only spend what you have just like a family.

Vice² President Joe Biden is in Baghdad, where he met with top Iraqi leaders to get various factions³ to agree on a new government. Earlier today, about 70 miles west of Baghdad, a woman blew herself up in a government office, killing⁴ at least three people. NPR's Kelly McEvers reports.

Iraqi police say the bomb went off in a reception area of the governor's compound in Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province. Of the wounded, more than a dozen were police. Anbar was the seed of a brutal⁵ Sunni resistance after the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. This attack comes amid a political stalemate. It's been nearly four months since the country's general elections, yet Iraq's political leaders have yet to form a government. Last month, al-Qaeda's affiliate⁶ in Iraq claimed responsibility for suicide attacks on two main banks. And on Friday, unidentified gunmen assassinated⁷ a senior cleric in Anbar. At a Fourth of July ceremony here, Vice President Biden said the country is slowly moving toward a lasting⁸ security and prosperity. He met separately with Iraqi officials to encourage them to end the political impasse⁹. Kelly McEvers, NPR News, Baghdad.

Preliminary results are expected tonight in Mexico, where 15 of 31 states held local and statewide elections today. The campaign has been marred¹⁰ by drug cartel violence. Michael O'Boyle has this report.

Mexico has not seen such a bloody¹¹ and chaotic¹² political campaign since 1994, when a guerrilla uprising and the assassination¹³ of a presidential hopeful shook the nation. One gubernatorial candidate was arrested for money laundering¹⁴. Another, the front-runner in Tamaulipas state, was gunned down on a highway by men dressed as marines. The popularity of President Felipe Calderon and his conservative party has fallen. Mexicans are more concerned with the economy than stamping out drug running, and Calderon's confrontation¹⁵ with the cartels is scaring off tourists and investment. The disenchantment is giving an edge to the PRI, the party that ruled Mexico for 70 years straight until 2000. The PRI is seen sweeping¹⁶ most of the 12 governorships up for grabs today, giving them momentum¹⁷ to recapture the presidency¹⁸ in 2012. For NPR News, I'm Michael O'Boyle in Mexico City.

You're listening to NPR News.

Exit polls in Poland showed that Parliament Speaker Bronislaw Komorowski has a slight edge in today's presidential election. He was in a two-man race with Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the twin brother of the late President Lech Kaczynski, who died in a plane crash in Russia in April.

A Russian spacecraft docked with the International Space Station today two days after its first attempt had failed. The unmanned Progress cargo¹⁹ ships carry food, oxygen and other supplies to the orbiter. They'll become even more important to the space station operations when NASA retires the space shuttle fleet. Peter Van Dyk reports from Moscow.

There were no problems with the Progress spacecraft's automated²⁰ docking system second time around. The ship's computers aborted²¹ the first attempt after receiving conflicting signals from the automated and manual docking systems. Progress ships have been in use since 1978, and they're known for their reliability²². However, Russia's Interfax news agency said the previous Progress also had a problem with the automated system on the first of May, when the space station crew had to use the manual controls to complete docking maneuvers²³. There are suggestions the second glitch²⁴ will be the ammunition²⁵ to opponents of plants to retire the space shuttle fleet, which they argue, will leave NASA overly reliant on Russia in transporting astronauts and supplies to the International Space Station. For NPR News, I'm Peter Van Dyk in Moscow.

In tennis, Rafael Nadal won the men's singles title at Wimbledon today for the second time. It's also his eighth Grand Slam championship. He beat Tomas Berdych in straight sets 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 to reinforce his position as the No.1 men's tennis player in the world

1 layoffs   

临时解雇( layoff的名词复数 )； 停工，停止活动

参考例句：

• Textile companies announced 2000 fresh layoffs last week. 各纺织公司上周宣布再次裁员两千人。
• Stock prices broke when the firm suddenly announced layoffs. 当公司突然宣布裁员时，股票价格便大跌

2 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

3 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别

4 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。

5 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

6 affiliate   

vt.使隶(附)属于；n.附属机构，分公司

参考例句：

• Our New York company has an affiliate in Los Angeles.我们的纽约公司在洛杉矶有一个下属企业。
• What is the difference between affiliate and regular membership?固定会员和附属会员之间的区别是什么？

7 assassinated   

v.暗杀( assassinate的过去式和过去分词 )；中伤；诋毁；破坏

参考例句：

• The prime minister was assassinated by extremists. 首相遭极端分子暗杀。
• Then, just two days later, President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. 跟着在两天以后，肯尼迪总统在达拉斯被人暗杀。 来自辞典例句

8 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

9 impasse   

n.僵局；死路

参考例句：

• The government had reached an impasse.政府陷入绝境。
• Negotiations seemed to have reached an impasse.谈判似乎已经陷入僵局。

10 marred   

adj. 被损毁, 污损的

参考例句：

• The game was marred by the behaviour of drunken fans. 喝醉了的球迷行为不轨，把比赛给搅了。
• Bad diction marred the effectiveness of his speech. 措词不当影响了他演说的效果。

11 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

12 chaotic   

adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的

参考例句：

• Things have been getting chaotic in the office recently.最近办公室的情况越来越乱了。
• The traffic in the city was chaotic.这城市的交通糟透了。

13 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

14 laundering   

n.洗涤（衣等），洗烫（衣等）；洗（钱）v.洗（衣服等），洗烫（衣服等）( launder的现在分词 )；洗（黑钱）（把非法收入改头换面，变为貌似合法的收入）

参考例句：

• Separate the white clothes from the dark clothes before laundering. 洗衣前应当把浅色衣服和深色衣服分开。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He was charged with laundering money. 他被指控洗钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 confrontation   

n.对抗，对峙，冲突

参考例句：

• We can't risk another confrontation with the union.我们不能冒再次同工会对抗的危险。
• After years of confrontation,they finally have achieved a modus vivendi.在对抗很长时间后，他们最后达成安宁生存的非正式协议。

16 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？

17 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

18 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

19 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。

20 automated   

a.自动化的

参考例句：

• The entire manufacturing process has been automated. 整个生产过程已自动化。
• Automated Highway System (AHS) is recently regarded as one subsystem of Intelligent Transport System (ITS). 近年来自动公路系统(Automated Highway System,AHS)，作为智能运输系统的子系统之一越来越受到重视。

21 aborted   

adj.流产的，失败的v.（使）流产( abort的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）（某事物）中止；（因故障等而）（使）（飞机、宇宙飞船、导弹等）中断飞行；（使）（飞行任务等）中途失败

参考例句：

• The rocket flight had to be aborted because of difficulties with computer. 因电脑出故障，这次火箭飞行只好中辍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They aborted the space flight finally. 他们最后中止了这次宇航飞行。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 reliability   

n.可靠性，确实性

参考例句：

• We mustn't presume too much upon the reliability of such sources.我们不应过分指望这类消息来源的可靠性。
• I can assure you of the reliability of the information.我向你保证这消息可靠。

23 maneuvers   

n.策略，谋略，花招( maneuver的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He suspected at once that she had been spying upon his maneuvers. 他立刻猜想到，她已经侦察到他的行动。 来自辞典例句
• Maneuvers in Guizhou occupied the Reds for four months. 贵州境内的作战占了红军四个月的时间。 来自辞典例句

24 glitch   

n.干扰；误操作，小故障

参考例句：

• There is a glitch in the computer program somewhere.这个计算机程序中的某个部分有点小问题。
• It could just be a random glitch that can be solved by restarting the machine.可能只是一个小故障，重新启动主机就能解决了。

25 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。