NPR 2011-10-13

 Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says an international response is necessary to punish Iran for an alleged¹ plot to kill the Saudi ambassador to the US.

 

"This plot, very fortunately disrupted by the excellent work of our law enforcement and intelligence professionals, was a flagrant violation² of international and US law, and a dangerous escalation³ of the Iranian government's long-standing use of political violence and sponsorship of terrorism."

 

Clinton spoke⁴ today at a Washington conference. The administration is using the alleged plot to possibly call for new sanctions against Tehran.

 

A young Nigerian man accused of trying to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner⁵ on Christmas Day 2009 has changed his plea to guilty just as the second day of his trial is set to start. Sarah Hewlett of Michigan Radio reports.

 

The guilty plea put a stop to what was expected to be a month-long trial with dozens of government witnesses, pictures of the scorched⁶ underwear in which the defendant⁷ hid the explosives and a video in which he spelled out his mission to bomb the plane. After pleading guilty to all eight charges against him, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab told the court he wanted to bomb Northwest Airlines Flight 253 in retaliation⁸ for the killing⁹ of innocent Muslims around the world. Anthony Chambers¹⁰ is the court-appointed stand-by attorney for Abdulmutallab, who was representing himself. Chambers says he is disappointed with the guilty plea.

 

"We wanted to continue the trial but we respect his decision. Certainly no lawyer I think worth his weight in salt would recommend a plea to life without parole."

 

Chambers says Abdulmutallab will not cooperate with the government. For NPR News, I'm Sarah Hewlett in Detroit.

 

President Obama is reaching out to the Hispanic community in the run-up to the presidential elections. NPR's Ari Shapiro reports Mr. Obama hosted an American Latino heritage forum¹¹ in Washington today.

 

The president's support among Latino voters has slipped in the last few years. People are disappointed that this administration is deporting¹² people at a higher rate than the Bush administration, and they're frustrated¹³ that the White House failed to get comprehensive immigration reform or the more modest DREAM Act through Congress. President Obama told the crowd that the land of opportunity was not always welcoming to Latinos.

 

"You've helped us build our cities, grow our economy, defend our country. And today for the first time in history there's a Latina in my cabinet and a Latina on the bench of the highest court in the land."

 

He noted¹⁴ that the unemployment rate for Latinos is among the highest in the country and he gave another push for the job creation package that the Senate defeated. Ari Shapiro, NPR News, the White House.

 

Fertility rates are down in most states and the Pew Research Center attributes the drop to the souring of the economy that began in 2008.

 

On Wall Street heading into the last hour of trading the Dow is up 165.

 

This is NPR News.

 

An international conference on how to make better use of information related to climate change concludes in New York today. NPR's Paul Brown reports organizers hope to put structures in place will help countries plan for climate change and react more effectively to it.

 

The conference is sponsored by the Earth Institute at Columbia University. Lead organizer Stephen Zebiak says there's lots of information about weather and climate change but countries, communities, scientists and relief groups often work without enough communication. He says as hurricanes, tornadoes¹⁵ and droughts affect more people, there's a need for better planning and more ways to share information.

 

"Setting those structures in place and figuring out how to make them work effectively is something that will have big pay-offs in things that are quite immediate¹⁶ I think to most people as well as for the longer-term future."

 

Zebiak says conference participants plan to keep sharing what they learn and he says they wanna help developing countries build new capacities to deal with climate change. Paul Brown, NPR News.

 

Forecasters say Hurricane Jova is losing steam as it moves inland in Mexico. The National Hurricane Center says the storm came ashore¹⁷ early today south of the port of Vallarta as a Category 2 storm with winds near 100 miles an hour. While the winds are dying down, the storm remains¹⁸ a threat as it dumps torrents¹⁹ of rain on the region. Forecasters say up to 20 inches of rain could fall in some spots.

 

Federal investigators²⁰ say the helicopter that crashed in New York's East River early this month had been in the shop just two days before the crash. But the NTSB's preliminary report released today did not cite a specific cause of the crash.

1 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

2 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。

3 escalation   

n.扩大，增加

参考例句：

• The threat of nuclear escalation remains. 核升级的威胁仍旧存在。 来自辞典例句
• Escalation is thus an aspect of deterrence and of crisis management. 因此逐步升级是威慑和危机处理的一个方面。 来自辞典例句

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 airliner   

n.客机，班机

参考例句：

• The pilot landed the airliner safely.驾驶员使客机安全着陆。
• The passengers were shepherded across the tarmac to the airliner.旅客们被引导走过跑道去上飞机。

6 scorched   

烧焦，烤焦( scorch的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（植物）枯萎，把…晒枯； 高速行驶； 枯焦

参考例句：

• I scorched my dress when I was ironing it. 我把自己的连衣裙熨焦了。
• The hot iron scorched the tablecloth. 热熨斗把桌布烫焦了。

7 defendant   

n.被告；adj.处于被告地位的

参考例句：

• The judge rejected a bribe from the defendant's family.法官拒收被告家属的贿赂。
• The defendant was borne down by the weight of evidence.有力的证据使被告认输了。

8 retaliation   

n.报复，反击

参考例句：

• retaliation against UN workers 对联合国工作人员的报复
• He never said a single word in retaliation. 他从未说过一句反击的话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 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。

10 chambers   

n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅

参考例句：

• The body will be removed into one of the cold storage chambers. 尸体将被移到一个冷冻间里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mr Chambers's readable book concentrates on the middle passage: the time Ransome spent in Russia. Chambers先生的这本值得一看的书重点在中间：Ransome在俄国的那几年。 来自互联网

11 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

12 deporting   

v.将…驱逐出境( deport的现在分词 )；举止

参考例句：

13 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

15 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

16 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

17 ashore   

adv.在(向)岸上，上岸

参考例句：

• The children got ashore before the tide came in.涨潮前，孩子们就上岸了。
• He laid hold of the rope and pulled the boat ashore.他抓住绳子拉船靠岸。

18 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。

19 torrents   

n.倾注；奔流( torrent的名词复数 )；急流；爆发；连续不断

参考例句：

• The torrents scoured out a channel down the hill side. 急流沿着山腰冲刷出一条水沟。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Sudden rainstorms would bring the mountain torrents rushing down. 突然的暴雨会使山洪暴发。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

20 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》