NPR 2011-01-01

A storm system is generating a series of apparent tornadoes¹, the latest reported in the Midwestern and Southern US. In the tiny Missouri town of Sunset Hills just outside St. Louis, Mayor William Nolan describes being stunned² by the damage.

"It's incredible, absolutely incredible, cars overturned, trucks overturned. It's kind of hard to believe that such a thing could happen to our city."

The Associated Press reports at least one storm-related death in Southwestern Missouri, no word yet on fatalities³ following a reported twister in Illinois. Quite a different story, though, in the small Arkansas town of Cincinnati. NPR's Giles Snyder reports at least three deaths and several injuries.

Shannon McCuin is a dispatch manager for the County Sheriff's Office. She says there is widespread damage around the tiny town of Cincinnati, which is near the Oklahoma line about 20 miles west to Fayetteville.

"We do have confirmed fatalities in that area; we do have injuries; and we actually are checking residents out."

McCuin says emergency responders are going door-to-door, but debris⁴ from the damage including downed power lines is making it harder to get medical help to the injured. Giles Snyder, NPR News.

A hostage crisis is still under way at a bank in a suburb of Houston, Taxes. Authorities say two armed robbers are holding an unknown number of people inside the building.

If you have money left in your Flexible Spending Account for medical care, there're some important changes you need to know about. As NPR's Julie Rovner reports, today is the last day you can spend that money on over-the-counter medications.

The changes are being made to help pay for the new health overhaul⁵ law. Starting January 1st, over-the-counter medications including things like aspirin⁶ and acids in allergy⁷ remedies will no longer be reimbursable⁸ under Flexible Spending Accounts or other tax-deductible health accounts, such as Health Reimbursement⁹ Arrangements or Health Savings¹⁰ Accounts. There is one exception. You can get a doctor to write a prescription¹¹ for the medications, but otherwise, you'd better start looking for an open drugstore to spend the rest of that use-it-or-lose-it money you've had withheld¹² from your paycheck all year. Julie Rovner, NPR News.

A Connecticut smoker¹³ who was awarded eight million dollars in her suit against Big Tobacco is getting an additional four million in punitive¹⁴ damages. Yesterday, a judge ruled in favor of Barbara Izzarelli who developed larynx cancer. Her case was the first of its kind to come to trial in Connecticut.

The Coast Guard is investigating why a dinner cruise ran aground off Hawaii yesterday. The vessel¹⁵ was carrying 60 people when the boat ran into trouble. No one was hurt.

Here's the latest from Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial Average up eight points at 11,578, but US stocks remain mixed. The NASDAQ is off about eight point; it's at 2,655.

You're listening to NPR News.

New claims of a suspected US missile strike in northwest Pakistan today. Local intelligence says an unmanned drone fired on a convoy¹⁶ of suspected militants¹⁷, killing¹⁸ eight people. The area was hit with more than 100 such attacks this year.

The Obama administration is promising¹⁹ to boost efforts to keep the invasive Asian carp from getting into the Great Lakes in 2011, but as NPR's David Schaper reports from Chicago, officials in some Great Lake states and environmental and conservation groups say the administration's plans don't go far enough.

The 47-million-dollar Asian carp battle plan for 2011 calls for scientists to refine environmental DNA²⁰ testing to better track where Asian carp are and to find new ways to block the path of the invasive species of fish toward the Great Lakes.

"The migration²¹ of Asian carp through the Chicago Area Waterway System, the Wabash River and the Calumet River is one of the most serious invasive threats facing the Great Lakes today."

John Goss, the White House point person for Asian carp, says the stakes are high as the huge, ferocious²² and predatory fish can crowd out native species and damage a multi-billion-dollar fishery in the Great Lakes, but officials in Michigan and other states as well as environmentalists and conservationists complain there is little new in the federal plan, and that the administration should move to re-separate the Great Lakes and Mississippi River watersheds²³. David Schaper, NPR News, Chicago.

NASA is ordering more repairs to space shuttle Discovery, which is slated²⁴ to launch early February after a strain of delays. Engineers say they found more cracks in the shuttle's fuel tank. Discovery is due to rendezvous²⁵ with the International Space Station. It will be one of the final missions before NASA retires its 30-year-old shuttle program.

I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News.

1 tornadoes   

n.龙卷风，旋风( tornado的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Tornadoes, severe earthquakes, and plagues create wide spread havoc. 龙卷风、大地震和瘟疫成普遍的毁坏。 来自互联网
• Meteorologists are at odds over the working of tornadoes. 气象学者对龙卷风的运动方式看法不一。 来自互联网

2 stunned   

adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
• The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。

3 fatalities   

n.恶性事故( fatality的名词复数 )；死亡；致命性；命运

参考例句：

• Several people were injured, but there were no fatalities. 有几个人受伤，但没有人死亡。
• The accident resulted in fatalities. 那宗意外道致多人死亡。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

5 overhaul   

v./n.大修，仔细检查

参考例句：

• Master Worker Wang is responsible for the overhaul of this grinder.王师傅主修这台磨床。
• It is generally appreciated that the rail network needs a complete overhaul.众所周知，铁路系统需要大检修。

6 aspirin   

n.阿司匹林

参考例句：

• The aspirin seems to quiet the headache.阿司匹林似乎使头痛减轻了。
• She went into a chemist's and bought some aspirin.她进了一家药店，买了些阿司匹林。

7 allergy   

n.(因食物、药物等而引起的)过敏症

参考例句：

• He developed an allergy to pollen.他对花粉过敏。
• The patient had an allergy to penicillin.该患者对青霉素过敏。

8 reimbursable   

[法] 可收回的，可补偿的

参考例句：

• Expenses incurred to obtain this insurance are not reimbursable by RI. 而这类保险费用国际扶轮是不补偿的。 来自互联网
• The relevant documents are not reimbursable procedures are complete. 代办手续中的相关文件也不是很齐全。 来自互联网

9 reimbursement   

n.偿还，退还

参考例句：

• He received reimbursement for his travel expenses.由于出差的花费他可以得到公司的补偿。
• Which forms do I need to complete for my travel reimbursement?我需要填什么表来报我的旅费？

10 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

11 prescription   

n.处方，开药；指示，规定

参考例句：

• The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
• The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。

12 withheld   

withhold过去式及过去分词

参考例句：

• I withheld payment until they had fulfilled the contract. 他们履行合同后，我才付款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There was no school play because the principal withheld his consent. 由于校长没同意，学校里没有举行比赛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 smoker   

n.吸烟者，吸烟车厢，吸烟室

参考例句：

• His wife dislikes him to be a smoker.他妻子不喜欢他当烟民。
• He is a moderate smoker.他是一个有节制的烟民。

14 punitive   

adj.惩罚的，刑罚的

参考例句：

• They took punitive measures against the whole gang.他们对整帮人采取惩罚性措施。
• The punitive tariff was imposed to discourage tire imports from China.该惩罚性关税的征收是用以限制中国轮胎进口的措施。

15 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

16 convoy   

vt.护送，护卫，护航；n.护送；护送队

参考例句：

• The convoy was snowed up on the main road.护送队被大雪困在干路上了。
• Warships will accompany the convoy across the Atlantic.战舰将护送该船队过大西洋。

17 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

18 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。

19 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

20 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。

21 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

22 ferocious   

adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的

参考例句：

• The ferocious winds seemed about to tear the ship to pieces.狂风仿佛要把船撕成碎片似的。
• The ferocious panther is chasing a rabbit.那只凶猛的豹子正追赶一只兔子。

23 watersheds   

n.分水岭( watershed的名词复数 )；分水线；转折点；流域

参考例句：

• Hyetographs are important in estimating stormflow hydrographs from upstream watersheds. 降雨历线资料为上游集水区推估洪水流量历线的重要依据。 来自互联网
• Sediments check dam in small watersheds in loess hilly gully area come from three proportion, i. 黄土丘陵沟壑区治沟骨干工程泥沙淤积来源于坡面侵蚀、沟道侵蚀和库区岸坡坍塌。 来自互联网

24 slated   

用石板瓦盖( slate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Yuki is working up an in-home phonics program slated for Thursdays, and I'm drilling her on English conversation at dinnertime. Yuki每周四还有一次家庭语音课。我在晚餐时训练她的英语口语。
• Bromfield was slated to become U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. 布罗姆菲尔德被提名为美国农业部长。

25 rendezvous   

n.约会，约会地点，汇合点；vi.汇合，集合；vt.使汇合，使在汇合地点相遇

参考例句：

• She made the rendezvous with only minutes to spare.她还差几分钟时才来赴约。
• I have a rendezvous with Peter at a restaurant on the harbour.我和彼得在海港的一个餐馆有个约会。