NPR 2010-07-29

Opponents of Arizona's new immigration law are celebrating a victory this afternoon.

"We believe that a judge's ruling was a very strong one."

Clarissa Martinez of the National Council of La Raza pleased that a federal judge blocked some of the most controversial parts of the law that, NPR's Ari Shapiro reports, is scheduled to take effect tomorrow.

Judge Susan Bolton's ruling is a victory for the Obama administration which went to court to challenge the law, but it's a short-term win until the court can resolve the issues raised in the suit. Her ruling suspends the most controversial sections of the law. One such provision requires police officers to check someone's immigration status during a stop for another reason. Another requires immigrants to carry their papers at all times. And a third section that's now on hold makes it illegal for undocumented workers to seek a job in a public place. Other parts of the law will still go into effect as scheduled. Ari Shapiro, NPR News.

They still haven't stopped the flow of oil, natural gas and water from the abandoned well hit by a barge¹ on a Louisiana waterway early yesterday. They hope to shut down the well this afternoon. Officials say the amount of oil that's come out of the wellhead is minuscule², compared to the BP spill in the Gulf³ of Mexico.

BP says it's paid out more than a quarter of a billion dollars to workers and businesses hurt by the Gulf spill.

Authorities in Pakistan suspect bad weather and not terrorism in the crash of a jetliner outside the capital of Islamabad. All 152 people on board were killed, including two Americans. In Islamabad, NPR's Julie McCarthy says the plane went down in thick clouds and heavy rain.

International condolences are pouring in. Shocked relatives of the victims of the ill-fated flight swarmed⁴ hospitals to identify their loved ones, but it was clear from the rescue workers who shifted bags of remains⁵ from ambulances to area hospitals that identification would be a slow and painful process. The plane plunged⁶ into a steep ridge⁷ in the lush Margalla Hills, scorching⁸ a broad area and burning many of the victims beyond recognition. Recovery operations will resume at daylight. The government has ordered the Defense⁹ Ministry¹⁰ to investigate what caused the Airblue Airline's jet to crash. Aviation experts say among the questions are why in such bad weather, the aircraft took off from Karachi at all. Julie McCarthy, NPR News, Islamabad.

Firefighters are battling to save an entire community from a raging wildfire on the edge of California's Mojave Desert. Dozens of homes have already been consumed, but the blaze is about 25% contained.

Stocks traded lower today on news that durable¹¹ goods orders were down 1% in June. It's another sign of a sputtering¹² economic recovery.

Near the close on Wall Street this afternoon, the Dow was down 49 points to 10,493, NASDAQ down 24, the S&P off eight.

This is NPR.

President Obama is on a visit to New York and New Jersey¹³ today. He'll attend a couple of events to raise money for the Democrats¹⁴ in the upcoming midterm elections. And he's promoting again the administration plan to increase lending to small businesses. Meantime, Democratic Party Chair Tim Kaine says their fall election strategy will be to link the GOP to the Tea Party movement.

A Chicago federal jury's been deliberating the fate of Rod Blagojevich for several hours now. NPR's Cheryl Corley reports the ousted¹⁵ Illinois governor and his brother are on trial for allegedly plotting to sell or trade then President-elect Barack Obama's US Senate seat.

As jurors decide whether or not to convict Rod Blagojevich, they will weigh the evidence, testimony¹⁶ from the former Illinois governor's two-month-long trial, a plethora¹⁷ of documents and comments made by Blagojevich himself and undercover FBI recordings¹⁸ of his telephone conversations. This morning, the jury received very lengthy¹⁹ instructions on how their deliberation should be conducted. Afterwards, Blagojevich told a crowd of reporters that supporters had sustained him and his family. His lawyer said they had no regret about not putting Blagojevich on the witness stand. Earlier, attorney Sam Adam Jr. said he had done the best he could for his client.

"If at the end of the day, it's not good enough, then I apologize to Mr. Blagojevich: I'm sorry. I did everything I thought I could do and wanted to do."

The Blagojevich team also filed a motion for a mistrial today. Cheryl Corley, NPR News, Chicago.

Eleven accused pirates are being arraigned²⁰ in federal court in north of Virginia today. The Somali nationals are charged with attacking two US Navy ships last April. All of pleaded not guilty. If convicted, they face a mandatory²¹ life sentence.

1 barge   

n.平底载货船，驳船

参考例句：

• The barge was loaded up with coal.那艘驳船装上了煤。
• Carrying goods by train costs nearly three times more than carrying them by barge.通过铁路运货的成本比驳船运货成本高出近3倍。

2 minuscule   

adj.非常小的；极不重要的

参考例句：

• The human race only a minuscule portion of the earth's history.人类只有占有极小部分地球历史。
• As things stand,Hong Kong's renminbi banking system is minuscule.就目前的情况而言，香港的人民币银行体系可谓微不足道。

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 swarmed   

密集( swarm的过去式和过去分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去

参考例句：

• When the bell rang, the children swarmed out of the school. 铃声一响，孩子们蜂拥而出离开了学校。
• When the rain started the crowd swarmed back into the hotel. 雨一开始下，人群就蜂拥回了旅社。

5 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。

6 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

7 ridge   

n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭

参考例句：

• We clambered up the hillside to the ridge above.我们沿着山坡费力地爬上了山脊。
• The infantry were advancing to attack the ridge.步兵部队正在向前挺进攻打山脊。

8 scorching   

adj. 灼热的

参考例句：

• a scorching, pitiless sun 灼热的骄阳
• a scorching critique of the government's economic policy 对政府经济政策的严厉批评

9 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

10 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

11 durable   

adj.持久的，耐久的

参考例句：

• This raincoat is made of very durable material.这件雨衣是用非常耐用的料子做的。
• They frequently require more major durable purchases.他们经常需要购买耐用消费品。

12 sputtering   

n.反应溅射法；飞溅；阴极真空喷镀；喷射v.唾沫飞溅( sputter的现在分词 )；发劈啪声；喷出；飞溅出

参考例句：

• A wick was sputtering feebly in a dish of oil. 瓦油灯上结了一个大灯花，使微弱的灯光变得更加阴暗。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）
• Jack ran up to the referee, sputtering protest. 贾克跑到裁判跟前，唾沫飞溅地提出抗议。 来自辞典例句

13 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

14 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

16 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

17 plethora   

n.过量，过剩

参考例句：

• Java comes with a plethora of ready-made types.Java配套提供了数量众多的现成类型。
• A plethora of new operators will be allowed to enter the market.大批新的运营商将获准进入该市场。

18 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐

19 lengthy   

adj.漫长的，冗长的

参考例句：

• 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。
• The professor wrote a lengthy book on Napoleon.教授写了一部有关拿破仑的巨著。

20 arraigned   

v.告发( arraign的过去式和过去分词 )；控告；传讯；指责

参考例句：

• He was arraigned for murder. 他因谋杀罪而被提讯。
• She was arraigned for high treason. 她被控叛国罪。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

21 mandatory   

adj.命令的；强制的；义务的；n.受托者

参考例句：

• It's mandatory to pay taxes.缴税是义务性的。
• There is no mandatory paid annual leave in the U.S.美国没有强制带薪年假。