NPR 2011-02-03

The Egyptian military is appealing for calm in the streets of Cairo, where pro- and anti-government protesters have been clashing in Tahrir Square. A spokesman said on state television that the military got the message and now it's time for normal life to return to Egypt. But that message [is] apparently¹ difficult to reach protesters in Cairo. NPR's Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson is on the scene.

It seems that this is the last stand if you will, I mean, that's the feeling certainly of people that we've talked to in the square as they read the Twitter that's going on. I should mention that the Internet has been turned back on again. Mr. Mubarak, last night in a speech, expressed that he was not fond of these protesters. He does not see them as people who have legitimate² grievances³. He talked about legitimate protests that have been co-opted by people who are causing chaos⁴ and are a threat to the security in the country. And it appears his forces are trying to clear these people from the square. NPR's Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson.

At the White House, spokesman Robert Gibbs said President Obama is calling on all sides to show restraint and for the crackdown on protesters to stop in Egypt.

"It is imperative⁵ that the violence that we are seeing stop, and that the transition that was spoken about last night begin immediately."

The revolt in Egypt is taking a heavy toll⁷ on Egypt's financial sector⁸. Moody's Investors⁹ Service says it has downgraded its ratings for five Egyptian banks so far.

In other news, the National Guard has been dispatched to areas in Wisconsin where dozens of motorists are stranded¹⁰ on an interstate. From member station WUWM in Milwaukee, LaToya Dennis reports a close portion of Interstate 94 isn't expected to reopen before late this afternoon.

Interstate 94 between the Wisconsin-Illinois border and Racine County is impassable. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation closed that section of the highway at around 3:00 a.m. Before the closure, snow and wind gusts¹¹ topping 50 mph. That's whiteout conditions and a number of accidents. Dilla Shegger is with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. He says the weather is still presenting problems.

"With still an inch of snow, even as we talked, added up, the winds will continue on through good part of the day. So visibility is still gonna be an issue."

According to the National Weather Service, Racine is one of the hardest-hit cities with nearly two feet of snow. For NPR News, I'm LaToya Dennis in Milwaukee.

An end to the growing winter may come sooner than people think, if you put any stock in Punxsutawney Phil's famous predictions. Today, the groundhog emerged and one of his handlers delivered this message to thousands gathered in Punxsutawney, Pennylvania this morning.

"He surveyed his surroundings carefully and found that there was no shadow around. So an early spring it will be."

Bill Deeley, president of the Inner Circle Punxsutawney Phil Groundhog Club at a ceremony today.

This is NPR.

A powerful cyclone¹² has forced thousands of Australians to evacuate¹³ their homes in the country's northeast. NPR's Anthony Kuhn reports from Manila that around 400,000 people live in the storm's path.

Cyclone Yasi made landfall shortly after midnight local time. Yasi has been rated a Category 5 storm comparable in strength to Hurricane Katrina, which struck New Orleans six years ago. Yasi's winds are gusting¹⁴ up to nearly 190 miles an hour. Earlier today, the Pemier of the state of Queensland, Anna Bligh, urged residents to evacuate while they still could.

"Do not bother to pack bags. Just grab each other and get to a place of safety. Remember that people are irreplaceable."

The area threatened by the cyclone is the gateway¹⁵ to the Great Barrier Reef, a top tourist destination. Queensland is still cleaning up from devastating¹⁶ floods last month, which killed more than 20 people and caused billions of dollars worth of damage. Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Manila.

Another mail bomb's been found in Athens, Greece. Police say they detonated the explosive outside the Justice Ministry¹⁷ in Greece. There were no immediate⁶ reports of injuries. Athens is the site of a string of letter bombings at embassies in November. A local militant¹⁸ group claimed responsibility for those attacks. However, there's no word yet on who was behind today's attempted bombing.

The number of US Muslims accused in terror plots is down by more than half. A study released today by the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security found that 20 Muslim Americans were suspects in 2010. That's compared with 47 the year before.

1 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

2 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。

3 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》

4 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。

5 imperative   

n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的

参考例句：

• He always speaks in an imperative tone of voice.他老是用命令的口吻讲话。
• The events of the past few days make it imperative for her to act.过去这几天发生的事迫使她不得不立即行动。

6 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。

7 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。

8 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

9 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

10 stranded   

a.搁浅的，进退两难的

参考例句：

• He was stranded in a strange city without money. 他流落在一个陌生的城市里， 身无分文，一筹莫展。
• I was stranded in the strange town without money or friends. 我困在那陌生的城市，既没有钱，又没有朋友。

11 gusts   

一阵强风( gust的名词复数 )； （怒、笑等的）爆发； （感情的）迸发； 发作

参考例句：

• Her profuse skirt bosomed out with the gusts. 她的宽大的裙子被风吹得鼓鼓的。
• Turbulence is defined as a series of irregular gusts. 紊流定义为一组无规则的突风。

12 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。

13 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

14 gusting   

（风）猛刮（gust的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• Then the treacherous North Atlantic struck, with hail, rain, lightning and gusting wind. 这时，气候变幻莫测的北大西洋出现了冰雹、大雨、闪电和狂风。 来自英汉非文学 - 百科语料821
• Jeff: Sometimes, the partiality and miscarriage of justice are dis-gusting too. 杰夫： 有时，裁判的不公平和误判也真是令人讨厌的一件事情。

15 gateway   

n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法

参考例句：

• Hard work is the gateway to success.努力工作是通往成功之路。
• A man collected tolls at the gateway.一个人在大门口收通行费。

16 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

17 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。

18 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。