NPR 2010-07-17

BP says early test results from its blown-out well in the Gulf¹ of Mexico are not calls for alarm, but aren't calls for celebration either. Scientists have been spending today studying what's happening in the well now that the flow of oil has stopped. NPR's Richard Harris has the latest.

The test was designed to build pressure up inside the well, so BP can evaluate what shape it's in. The pressure results fall into a gray area, not the lowest to the alarming, but not high enough to be completely reassuring². So it will take more analysis yet before BP and the government decide whether to leave the well shut or whether to open it up again. If the valves are open, more oil will spill into the Gulf of Mexico until BP can gear up production on oil-collecting ships. That will probably take several days. BP has surveyed the seafloor for any signs of oil leakage³ around the well and through the sediment⁴. They say they have not found anything of concern. Richard Harris, NPR News.

The federal government is touting⁵ the largest Medicare fraud bust⁶ in US history. Attorney General Eric Holder⁷.

"Ninety-four people in five cities have been charged for their participation⁸ in schemes to submit more than $251 million in false Medicare claims."

As of this morning, at least 36 people were arrested during raids.

Utah's identifying at least two state workers accused of unlawfully creating a list of purported⁹ illegal immigrants. Governor Gary Herbert says that government employees used confidential¹⁰ data to draft a list of 1,300 people, some of whom were confirmed not to be of illegal status. But the names were distributed to law enforcement officials and newsrooms and sparked widespread fear in the Latino communities. The employees have been placed on administrative¹¹ leave.

Eastern European economies are bouncing back from the financial crisis faster than their Western European counterparts. Teri Schultz reports from Brussels on new World Bank figures showing the first period of growth since 2008.

The European Union's eastern economies grew by an average of 0.8% in the first quarter of this year. That's up from a 2.1% slump¹² in the last quarter of 2009. The Western EU states posted a rise of 0.6%. The World Bank warns the growth is uneven¹³. Half of the ten Eastern European members actually continue to decline economically, but a strong surge in the others, most notably¹⁴ Poland and Slovakia, brought up the average. Next year's forecast puts the eastern economies on an even faster track. They're expected to grow by 3.6%, more than double the figure expected for the Western EU. For NPR News, I'm Teri Schultz in Brussels.

Mixed economic news out today leads to a downward trend in US stocks. Last check on Wall Street, Dow Jones Industrial Average down 261 points at 10,098, NASDAQ down 70 at 2,179.

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Military officials in Mexico have announced that an explosion in the border city of Juarez late yesterday was indeed a car bomb. NPR's Jason Beaubien has more from Mexico City.

Car bombs have not generally been part of the notoriously brutal¹⁵ Mexican drug cartels' arsenals¹⁶ until now. A spokesman for the Mexican military in Juarez says they found residue¹⁷ of roughly ten kilos of C4 at the site of Thursday's explosion. Officials say a green Ford¹⁸ Focus rammed¹⁹ to federal police vehicles and then exploded. The attack in a busy intersection²⁰ in Juarez killed two policemen and a paramedic. It also left seven other officers, three paramedics and a TV cameraman injured. The military spokesman says the explosives were wired to a cell phone and set off remotely some time after the collision. The Juarez cartel claimed responsibility for the bombing, saying it was a reprisal²¹ for the arrest hours earlier of one of their top leaders. Jason Beaubien, NPR News, Mexico City.

Southern California is bracing²² for thunderstorms and lightning strikes like those that started dozens of fires yesterday. They include a 970-acre blaze in Riverside County that's 10% contained. National Weather Service has also issued an excessive heat warning through Sunday. That could make firefighting efforts more challenging.

It's been nearly 12 hours, but Washington area residents are still talking about the earthquake this morning that many initially²³ mistook for a passing truck or train or something. It was a magnitude 3.6, just a jolt compared to what California gets but quite rare for the East Coast region, and there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries

1 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。

2 reassuring   

a.使人消除恐惧和疑虑的，使人放心的

参考例句：

• He gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. 他轻拍了一下她的肩膀让她放心。
• With a reassuring pat on her arm, he left. 他鼓励地拍了拍她的手臂就离开了。

3 leakage   

n.漏，泄漏；泄漏物；漏出量

参考例句：

• Large areas of land have been contaminated by the leakage from the nuclear reactor.大片地区都被核反应堆的泄漏物污染了。
• The continuing leakage is the result of the long crack in the pipe.这根管子上的那一条裂缝致使渗漏不断。

4 sediment   

n.沉淀，沉渣，沉积(物)

参考例句：

• The sediment settled and the water was clear.杂质沉淀后，水变清了。
• Sediment begins to choke the channel's opening.沉积物开始淤塞河道口。

5 touting   

v.兜售( tout的现在分词 )；招揽；侦查；探听赛马情报

参考例句：

• He's been touting his novel around publishers for years. 他几年来一直到处找出版商兜售自己的小说。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Technology industry leaders are touting cars as a hot area for growth. 科技产业领袖吹捧为增长热点地区的汽车。 来自互联网

6 bust   

vt.打破；vi.爆裂；n.半身像；胸部

参考例句：

• I dropped my camera on the pavement and bust it. 我把照相机掉在人行道上摔坏了。
• She has worked up a lump of clay into a bust.她把一块黏土精心制作成一个半身像。

7 holder   

n.持有者，占有者；(台，架等)支持物

参考例句：

• The holder of the office of chairman is reponsible for arranging meetings.担任主席职位的人负责安排会议。
• That runner is the holder of the world record for the hundred-yard dash.那位运动员是一百码赛跑世界纪录的保持者。

8 participation   

n.参与，参加，分享

参考例句：

• Some of the magic tricks called for audience participation.有些魔术要求有观众的参与。
• The scheme aims to encourage increased participation in sporting activities.这个方案旨在鼓励大众更多地参与体育活动。

9 purported   

adj.传说的，谣传的v.声称是…，（装得）像是…的样子( purport的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• the scene of the purported crime 传闻中的罪案发生地点
• The film purported to represent the lives of ordinary people. 这部影片声称旨在表现普通人的生活。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 confidential   

adj.秘（机）密的，表示信任的，担任机密工作的

参考例句：

• He refused to allow his secretary to handle confidential letters.他不让秘书处理机密文件。
• We have a confidential exchange of views.我们推心置腹地交换意见。

11 administrative   

adj.行政的，管理的

参考例句：

• The administrative burden must be lifted from local government.必须解除地方政府的行政负担。
• He regarded all these administrative details as beneath his notice.他认为行政管理上的这些琐事都不值一顾。

12 slump   

n.暴跌，意气消沉，（土地）下沉；vi.猛然掉落，坍塌，大幅度下跌

参考例句：

• She is in a slump in her career.她处在事业的低谷。
• Economists are forecasting a slump.经济学家们预言将发生经济衰退。

13 uneven   

adj.不平坦的，不规则的，不均匀的

参考例句：

• The sidewalk is very uneven—be careful where you walk.这人行道凹凸不平—走路时请小心。
• The country was noted for its uneven distribution of land resources.这个国家以土地资源分布不均匀出名。

14 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

15 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。

16 arsenals   

n.兵工厂，军火库( arsenal的名词复数 )；任何事物的集成

参考例句：

• We possess-each of us-nuclear arsenals capable of annihilating humanity. 我们两国都拥有能够毁灭全人类的核武库。 来自辞典例句
• Arsenals are factories that produce weapons. 军工厂是生产武器的工厂。 来自互联网

17 residue   

n.残余，剩余，残渣

参考例句：

• Mary scraped the residue of food from the plates before putting them under water.玛丽在把盘子放入水之前先刮去上面的食物残渣。
• Pesticide persistence beyond the critical period for control leads to residue problems.农药一旦超过控制的临界期，就会导致残留问题。

18 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

19 rammed   

v.夯实（土等）( ram的过去式和过去分词 )；猛撞；猛压；反复灌输

参考例句：

• Two passengers were injured when their taxi was rammed from behind by a bus. 公共汽车从后面撞来，出租车上的两位乘客受了伤。
• I rammed down the earth around the newly-planted tree. 我将新栽的树周围的土捣硬。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 intersection   

n.交集，十字路口，交叉点；[计算机] 交集

参考例句：

• There is a stop sign at an intersection.在交叉路口处有停车标志。
• Bridges are used to avoid the intersection of a railway and a highway.桥用来避免铁路和公路直接交叉。

21 reprisal   

n.报复，报仇，报复性劫掠

参考例句：

• There is no political alternative but a big reprisal.政治上没有旁的选择只能是大规模报复。
• They bombed civilian targets in reprisal.他们炮轰平民目标作为报复。

22 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。

23 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。