NPR 2011-01-31

Political unrest continues in Egypt with thousands of anti-government protesters taking to the streets for a sixth day. Opposition¹ leader Mohamed ElBaradei says President Hosni Mubarak can end the crisis right now.

"People have been saying or demonstrating for him to leave. Today, the demonstrations² say that he should be put to trial. If he wants to save his skin, if he has an iota³ of patriotism⁴, I would advise him to leave today and save the country."

ElBaradei was interviewed on CNN. He said Mubarak's departure would clear the way for a national unity⁵ government which could arrange for a free and fair election. As violence continues to escalate⁶ in Egypt, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton made the rounds of the Sunday talk shows, urging an orderly transition to democracy. NPR's Allison Keyes reports.

As to whether the US is beginning to back away from supporting Egyptian President Mubarak, Clinton told NBC's "Meet the Press":

"I want the Egyptian people to have the chance to chart a new future. It needs to be an orderly, peaceful transition to real democracy, not faux democracy like the elections we saw in Iran two years ago."

As the White House appears to be walking a fine line between praising Mubarak, a strategic ally in the Middle East, and protesters who have what Clinton called legitimate⁷ grievances⁸. Clinton said the Obama administration doesn't want to see instability chaos⁹ in Egypt. Allison Keyes, NPR News, Washington.

Later, Clinton flew to Haiti to discuss the political crisis there. She's to meet with President Rene Preval as well as three candidates who want to succeed him. A presidential election November was marred¹⁰ by allegations of fraud. A run-off election is scheduled to be held in March.

In Southern Sudan, preliminary results of a recent referendum show overwhelming support for secession from the North. NPR's Frank Langfitt has details from Juba, Sudan's southern capital.

All the preliminary results from its referendum for independence, and the results are almost 99% of Southern Sudanese voting to split from Northern Sudan. But it isn't gonna happen immediately. It's actually gonna happen probably around July 9th. And so there'll be time to make arrangement. But if they choose that and this will be, Southern Sudan will be the newest nation in the world.

NPR's Frank Langfitt in Juba, Sudan.

Five Somali pirates arrived in South Korea today. They've been captured after hijacking¹¹ a cargo¹² ship earlier this month. They face charges including attempted murder. They could be given life in prison if convicted. They were arrested as South Korean commandos raided the hijacked¹³ ship, killing¹⁴ eight pirates. None of the crew members were injured except for the captain who was shot in the stomach by a pirate. Piracy¹⁵ has flourished in recent years off the coast of Somalia, which has dad no functioning governments since 1991.

This is NPR News from Washington.

A cargo train and a passenger train collided in eastern Germany last night. Officials say at least eight people were killed and they fear the death toll¹⁶ will rise because many passengers suffered severe injuries. The trains collided in heavy fog on a single-line track about 125 miles southwest of Berlin.

Six months after Pakistan was devastated¹⁷ by record-setting monsoon¹⁸ floods, the United Nations is reporting the crisis there is far from over. Lisa Schlein in Geneva reports UNICEF says the condition of Pakistan's children has significantly worsened.

A recent survey shows children in Sindh province are facing a nutrition crisis. UNICEF official Pascal Villeneuve says over 23% of children aged¹⁹ between six and 59 months are acutely malnourished.

"This rate is well above the World Health Organization's emergency threshold level, triggering a humanitarian²⁰ response."

Villeneuve says around 120,000 malnourished children and women are receiving therapeutic²¹ feeding and health care in special emergency feeding centers. UNICEF and other agencies are aiming to immunize more than nine million children against measles²² and polio. For NPR News, I'm Lisa Schlein in Geneva.

Northeast Australia is still trying to recover from major flooding caused by heavy rains that began in November. Tens of thousands of homes and businesses were destroyed. Damage is estimated in the billions of dollars. Now people there are bracing²³ for a cyclone²⁴. Cyclone Anthony is a Category 2 storm with winds of 80 miles per hour. It is expected to hit Queensland early tomorrow morning.

I'm Nora Raum, NPR News in Washington.

1 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

2 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

3 iota   

n.些微，一点儿

参考例句：

• There is not an iota of truth in his story.他的故事没有一点是真的。
• He's never shown an iota of interest in any kind of work.他从来没有对任何工作表现出一点儿兴趣。

4 patriotism   

n.爱国精神，爱国心，爱国主义

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• They obtained money under the false pretenses of patriotism.他们以虚伪的爱国主义为借口获得金钱。

5 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

6 escalate   

v.(使)逐步增长(或发展)，(使)逐步升级

参考例句：

• It would tempt Israel's neighbors to escalate their demands.它将诱使以色列的邻国不断把他们的要求升级。
• Defeat could cause one side or other to escalate the conflict.失败可能会导致其中一方将冲突升级。

7 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

8 grievances   

n.委屈( grievance的名词复数 )；苦衷；不满；牢骚

参考例句：

• The trade union leader spoke about the grievances of the workers. 工会领袖述说工人们的苦情。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He gave air to his grievances. 他申诉了他的冤情。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

10 marred   

adj. 被损毁, 污损的

参考例句：

• The game was marred by the behaviour of drunken fans. 喝醉了的球迷行为不轨，把比赛给搅了。
• Bad diction marred the effectiveness of his speech. 措词不当影响了他演说的效果。

11 hijacking   

n. 劫持, 抢劫 动词hijack的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• I have been told about the hijacking . 我已听说了那次劫机事件。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 口语
• They are taking measures to guarantee against the occurrence of hijacking. 他们正采取措施防止劫机事件的发生。

12 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

13 hijacked   

劫持( hijack的过去式和过去分词 )； 绑架； 拦路抢劫； 操纵（会议等，以推销自己的意图）

参考例句：

• The plane was hijacked by two armed men on a flight from London to Rome. 飞机在从伦敦飞往罗马途中遭到两名持械男子劫持。
• The plane was hijacked soon after it took off. 那架飞机起飞后不久被劫持了。

14 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。

15 piracy   

n.海盗行为，剽窃，著作权侵害

参考例句：

• The government has already adopted effective measures against piracy.政府已采取有效措施惩治盗版行为。
• They made the place a notorious centre of piracy.他们把这地方变成了臭名昭著的海盗中心。

16 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

17 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

18 monsoon   

n.季雨，季风，大雨

参考例句：

• The monsoon rains started early this year.今年季雨降雨开始得早。
• The main climate type in that region is monsoon.那个地区主要以季风气候为主要气候类型。

19 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

20 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

21 therapeutic   

adj.治疗的，起治疗作用的；对身心健康有益的

参考例句：

• Therapeutic measures were selected to fit the patient.选择治疗措施以适应病人的需要。
• When I was sad,music had a therapeutic effect.我悲伤的时候，音乐有治疗效力。

22 measles   

n.麻疹，风疹，包虫病，痧子

参考例句：

• The doctor is quite definite about Tom having measles.医生十分肯定汤姆得了麻疹。
• The doctor told her to watch out for symptoms of measles.医生叫她注意麻疹出现的症状。

23 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。

24 cyclone   

n.旋风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• An exceptionally violent cyclone hit the town last night.昨晚异常猛烈的旋风吹袭了那个小镇。
• The cyclone brought misery to thousands of people.旋风给成千上万的人带来苦难。