NPR 2010-07-23

The temporary cap on the BP oil well will stay closed even as ships are evacuated¹ for a tropical storm expected to hit the area this weekend. Incident Commander Thad Allen says it's safe to leave it unmonitored for a couple of days, and he says they will decide tonight whether the more than 60 ships have to leave the area. Meanwhile, tropical storm warnings are in effect for the Bahamas and southern Florida as a tropical depression develops in the Caribbean. NPR's Jason Beaubien reports.

The storm system is moving slowly along the northern coast of Cuba, and it's producing heavy rains in the Bahamas. Forecasters say it could dump up to six inches of rain on the southern tip of Florida and the Keys before entering the Gulf² of Mexico. Officials with the National Hurricane Center are monitoring it closely and say could strengthen significantly in the coming days. The storm's currently forecast to move in a northwesterly direction between Cuba and Florida, then cut straight across the Gulf toward the Texas-Louisiana border. If it follows this path, it could pass directly over BP's crippled Deepwater Horizon rig. Jason Beaubien, NPR News.

President Obama says he's sorry for the way things were handled. Mr. Obama called former USDA official Shirley Sherrod today. As NPR's Mara Liasson reports, Sherrod says she didn't want an apology from the president, but she did want to talk to him.

The president told Ms. Sherrod that he regretted the events of the last several days. He emphasized that Secretary Vilsack was sincere in the apology he made to her yesterday. He also told her that this misfortune, this unfortunate series of events can present an opportunity for her to continue her work on behalf of those in need which she has devoted³ her career to, and that he hopes she will do so.

She was fired in a racially tinged⁴ incident when a conservative blogger posted an edited version of a speech about an incident that occurred 24 years ago.

Two years after Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia, the highest United Nations court ruled the move was not in violation⁵ of international law. NPR's Sylvia Poggioli has this report.

The ruling is a major victory for Kosovo's predominantly ethnic⁶ Albanian population. Up to now, only 69 of the UN's 192 members have recognized its independence. While Kosovo leaders hailed the ruling, Serbia denounced it and vowed⁷ it will never recognize its former province and spiritual heartland as a separate state. Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic warned the ruling could encourage separatist movements in other parts of the world. Following years of repression⁸ under Belgrade, a bloody⁹ war with Serbia in the late 90s and nearly a decade of international administration, Kosovo declared independence in 2008, but a small area in the north around the city of Mitrovica has remained mostly under control of its local Serb majority population. Sylvia Poggioli, NPR News.

Higher numbers on Wall Street today, the Dow ending the day up 180 points, yet NASDAQ ending 56, the S&P 500 up 21.

This is NPR.

In a field about 1,000 yards from Stonehenge, archaeologists have found a second henge, this one comprising 24 wooden posts in a lineup with a stone circle. As Larry Miller¹⁰ reports from London, inside the newly discovered circle in southern England is a burial mound¹¹.

Archaeologists say this is the first ceremonial monument found in the area in 50 years. It's a circular ditch surrounding a smaller circle of deep pits. They say timber posts would have been in these pits extending upwards¹². It dates to the Neolithic¹³ and Bronze Ages at least 4,500 years ago. Project leader Professor Vince Gaffney.

"We don't know everything about the landscape itself, and finding something like this so close to Stonehenge gives you an idea that the landscape was constantly in evolution around it, and that we're going to find an awful lot more."

The henge was discovered without any digging. Archaeologists used a special scanner, able to create a picture of what lay under the field. For NPR News, I'm Larry Miller in London.

Congress approved legislation restoring unemployment benefits to people who've been out of work six months or more, ending a seven-week impasse¹⁴ that caused 2.5 million people to lose those benefits. The House approved it today, less than a day after a mostly party-line Senate voting in favor of the measure. It now goes to the president who has promised to quickly sign it. Retroactive payments could go out as early as next week in some states.

Meanwhile, the news on the jobs front is sour today, with the biggest jump in new jobless claims since February. The Labor¹⁵ Department says new claims for unemployment benefits rose 37,000 to 464,000. Economists had expected a smaller hike

1 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

2 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。

3 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

4 tinged   

v.（使）发丁丁声( ting的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• memories tinged with sadness 略带悲伤的往事
• white petals tinged with blue 略带蓝色的白花瓣

5 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

6 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

7 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。

8 repression   

n.镇压，抑制，抑压

参考例句：

• The repression of your true feelings is harmful to your health.压抑你的真实感情有害健康。
• This touched off a new storm against violent repression.这引起了反对暴力镇压的新风暴。

9 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。

10 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。

11 mound   

n.土墩，堤，小山；v.筑堤，用土堆防卫

参考例句：

• The explorers climbed a mound to survey the land around them.勘探者爬上土丘去勘测周围的土地。
• The mound can be used as our screen.这个土丘可做我们的掩蔽物。

12 upwards   

adv.向上，在更高处...以上

参考例句：

• The trend of prices is still upwards.物价的趋向是仍在上涨。
• The smoke rose straight upwards.烟一直向上升。

13 neolithic   

adj.新石器时代的

参考例句：

• Cattle were first domesticated in Neolithic times.新石器时代有人开始驯养牛。
• The monument was Stone Age or Neolithic.该纪念碑是属于石器时代或新石器时代的。

14 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。

15 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。