NPR 2010-07-06

Much of the East Coast has steeped in a prolonged heatwave that could reach historic levels in some areas. Forecasters are predicting triple-digit temperatures that, they say, could cause a dangerous situation. In New York, Emergency Management Commissioner¹ Joe Bruno says the city is trying to reach vulnerable groups.

"The two groups most at risk are the very young, under five and those above 64. Heat exhaustion² is a dangerous condition."

Like many other cities, New York is setting up cooling centers.

BP's weekly status update on the Gulf³ oil spill indicates steadily⁴ rising costs but also increased collection of oil. Larry Miller⁵ has more from London.

BP says it's paid around half of the 95,000 compensation claims so far submitted, totaling $147 million. That's a relatively⁶ small part of the $3.1 billion now spent since the explosion at its oil well in April. The company reports that around 25,000 barrels of oil a day are being collected. And today, its containment⁷ efforts have collected or flared⁸ around 585,000 barrels, taking part in the containment and response, nearly 45,000 people, 6,500 boats and 113 aircraft. BP says the drilling of the two relief wells is on schedule, and they are due to be in place in August. For NPR News, I'm Larry Miller in London.

Across India, workers are on strike against a hike in fuel prices that the government says it needs to help cut the deficit⁹. Organizers say the 12-hour stoppage is bringing transportation to a halt and forcing businesses to shut down.

Chrysler will set up a new dealer¹⁰ network to sell Fiat¹¹ brand cars. Chrysler, Dodge¹², Jeep and Ram¹³ dealers¹⁴, who want to sell Fiats¹⁵, will have to set up a separate showroom with a separate sales team. Michigan Radio's Tracy Samilton has more.

The tiny Fiat 500 goes on sale in the US late this year. The European-bred subcompact car is unlike anything Chrysler has sold in the States before. Spokesman Ralph Kisiel says that's why Fiats need their own space.

"You can't put a Fiat 500 next to a Ram and have the same salesman talking about both vehicles obviously."

Kisiel says the Fiat 500 is also unlikely to attract the same customers who currently shop Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep or Ram vehicles. Chrysler expects to award about 200 Fiat franchises¹⁶ nationwide mostly to metro¹⁷ area dealers, where small cars are more popular. For NPR News, I'm Tracy Samilton in Ann Arbor¹⁸.

Toyota's issuing another recall. This time it affects more than 90,000 luxury Lexus and Crown vehicles in Japan that may have defective¹⁹ engines.

This is NPR News.

President Obama reportedly is inviting²⁰ Poland's new president to the White House. Reuters news service cites the White House, saying that the president phoned Bronislaw Komorowski today to congratulate him. Poland's interim²¹ president defeated Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the identical twin brother of the late President Lech Kaczynski who died in a plane crash three months ago.

A new study published in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine confirms that high school students would benefit from a later start to the school day. NPR's Alix Spiegel has the story.

Researchers have known for a long time that teenage sleep patterns are different from the sleep patterns of younger children. Teens actually go to bed about two hours later and also wake up later, but since school starts early in the morning, this often means that they don't get enough sleep. To test how a later start time would affect the mental of being of teenagers, researchers from Hasbro's Children's Hospital in Rhode Island convinced a high school to push back its start time by half an hour—from 8 to 8:30, then required the students to complete a series of surveys. They found the reports of depressed²² moods fell from 64% to 45%, class attendance improved and visits to the health center dropped. The authors write that these results are in line with a growing body of evidence. That suggest later start times have benefits for adolescents. Alix Spiegel, NPR News, Washington.

Forensic²³ testing is underway on the remains²⁴ of American chess legend Bobby Fischer. Authorities in Iceland exhumed²⁵ his body today two years after his death to get DNA²⁶ sample that could decide a paternity suit. A woman from the Philippines argues that her daughter is Fischer's child.
 

1 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

2 exhaustion   

n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述

参考例句：

• She slept the sleep of exhaustion.她因疲劳而酣睡。
• His exhaustion was obvious when he fell asleep standing.他站着睡着了，显然是太累了。

3 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

4 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

5 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。

6 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

7 containment   

n.阻止，遏制；容量

参考例句：

• Your list might include such things as cost containment,quality,or customer satisfaction.你的清单上应列有诸如成本控制、产品质量、客户满意程度等内容。
• Insularity and self-containment,it is argued,go hand in hand.他们争论说，心胸狭窄和自我封闭是并存的。

8 Flared   

adj. 端部张开的, 爆发的, 加宽的, 漏斗式的 动词flare的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The match flared and went out. 火柴闪亮了一下就熄了。
• The fire flared up when we thought it was out. 我们以为火已经熄灭，但它突然又燃烧起来。

9 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

10 dealer   

n.商人，贩子

参考例句：

• The dealer spent hours bargaining for the painting.那个商人为购买那幅画花了几个小时讨价还价。
• The dealer reduced the price for cash down.这家商店对付现金的人减价优惠。

11 fiat   

n.命令，法令，批准；vt.批准，颁布

参考例句：

• The opening of a market stall is governed by municipal fiat.开设市场摊位受市政法令管制。
• He has tried to impose solutions to the country's problems by fiat.他试图下令强行解决该国的问题。

12 dodge   

v.闪开，躲开，避开；n.妙计，诡计

参考例句：

• A dodge behind a tree kept her from being run over.她向树后一闪，才没被车从身上辗过。
• The dodge was coopered by the police.诡计被警察粉碎了。

13 ram   

(random access memory)随机存取存储器

参考例句：

• 512k RAM is recommended and 640k RAM is preferred.推荐配置为512K内存，640K内存则更佳。

14 dealers   

n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者

参考例句：

• There was fast bidding between private collectors and dealers. 私人收藏家和交易商急速竞相喊价。
• The police were corrupt and were operating in collusion with the drug dealers. 警察腐败，与那伙毒品贩子内外勾结。

15 fiats   

n.命令，许可( fiat的名词复数 )；菲亚特汽车（意大利品牌）

参考例句：

16 franchises   

n.（尤指选举议员的）选举权( franchise的名词复数 )；参政权；获特许权的商业机构（或服务）；（公司授予的）特许经销权v.给…以特许权，出售特许权( franchise的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• TV franchises will be auctioned to the highest bidder. 电视特许经营权将拍卖给出价最高的投标人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Ford dealerships operated as independent franchises. 福特汽车公司的代销商都是独立的联营商。 来自辞典例句

17 metro   

n.地铁；adj.大都市的；(METRO)麦德隆(财富500强公司之一总部所在地德国，主要经营零售)

参考例句：

• Can you reach the park by metro?你可以乘地铁到达那个公园吗？
• The metro flood gate system is a disaster prevention equipment.地铁防淹门系统是一种防灾设备。

18 arbor   

n.凉亭；树木

参考例句：

• They sat in the arbor and chatted over tea.他们坐在凉亭里，边喝茶边聊天。
• You may have heard of Arbor Day at school.你可能在学校里听过植树节。

19 defective   

adj.有毛病的，有问题的，有瑕疵的

参考例句：

• The firm had received bad publicity over a defective product. 该公司因为一件次品而受到媒体攻击。
• If the goods prove defective, the customer has the right to compensation. 如果货品证明有缺陷， 顾客有权索赔。

20 inviting   

adj.诱人的，引人注目的

参考例句：

• An inviting smell of coffee wafted into the room.一股诱人的咖啡香味飘进了房间。
• The kitchen smelled warm and inviting and blessedly familiar.这间厨房的味道温暖诱人，使人感到亲切温馨。

21 interim   

adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间

参考例句：

• The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
• It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。

22 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

23 forensic   

adj.法庭的，雄辩的

参考例句：

• The report included his interpretation of the forensic evidence.该报告包括他对法庭证据的诠释。
• The judge concluded the proceeding on 10:30 Am after one hour of forensic debate.经过近一个小时的法庭辩论后，法官于10时30分宣布休庭。

24 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

25 exhumed   

v.挖出，发掘出( exhume的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Marie Curie's remains were exhumed and interred in the Pantheon. 玛丽·居里的遗体被移出葬在先贤祠中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His remains have been exhumed from a cemetery in Queens, New York City. 他的遗体被从纽约市皇后区的墓地里挖了出来。 来自辞典例句

26 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。