NPR 2011-02-05

Cairo's Tahrir Square pulsates¹ with the chants of tens of thousands, as NPR's Corey Flintoff reports, all hoping this is the day President Hosni Mubarak resigns.

The mood in the square was determined² and almost jubilant with many protesters convinced that they are on the verge³ of victory. Twenty-nine-year-old musician Ahmed Nazmi says promises of reform from Mubarak and other top officials ring hollow.

"I just cannot believe that they were never reliable. They are giving us like hopes, it's gonna happen it's gonna happen, and it never happens. That's the whole story."

Other protesters say it's too late for the president to simply step down. They want him tried for brutality⁴ and corruption⁵. Mubarak has said he wants to serve out the remaining seven months of his term to ensure stability. Corey Flintoff, NPR New, Cairo.

Egypt's ruling party's appealing on state media for its supporters not to enter confrontations⁶ with others. The party denies it played a role in this week's attacks against anti-Mubarak protesters and international journalists in Cairo.

We are expecting here shortly from astronaut Mark Kelly, the husband of wounded Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Earlier, NASA said Kelly was planning on flying shuttle Endeavor's final mission in April. Meanwhile, his wife will continue rehabilitation⁷ in Houston with the brain injury she sustained in the Tucson shooting rampage last month.

We are coming off a disappointing month for job growth. Today, the Labor⁸ Department released a monthly jobs report that revealed the economy generated 36,000 jobs, not as much as analysts⁹ had hoped. NPR's John Ydstie says part of the reason for last month's tepid¹⁰ gain was really lousy weather.

Rough winter weather probably played a role in the loss of 32,000 construction jobs in January. It also may have interrupted the hiring process in other sectors¹¹. However, upward revisions of job growth for November and December suggest the January number doesn't reflect the recent trend which shows around 100,000 jobs being added to company payrolls¹² each month. But while the job creation number was disappointing, January's unemployment rates surprised economists¹³ by improving dramatically. It fell almost 0.5 point to 9%. The two numbers often send contradictory¹⁴ signals because they are derived¹⁵ from two different surveys, one of businesses, the other of households. It's the second month in a row the unemployment rate has dropped sharply. John Ydstie, NPR News, Washington.

And this comes a day after US retailers¹⁶ posted pretty strong gains, strong revenue numbers, the strongest they say in several weeks. At last check on Wall Street, the Dow was up 19 points at 12,081 in trading of just over two billion shares; NASDAQ Composite Index up 13 at 2,767.

This is NPR.

With the Sunday evening Super Bowl almost here, the icy North Texas game site was hit with a fresh 4 to 5 inches of snow. Bill Zeeble with member station KERA in Dallas reports fans driving or flying in face new headaches.

Not only are game-bound fans from the North dealing¹⁷ with snow and ice at home, but Dallas airports are also struggling with new snowfall. Dallas Fort Worth International Airport canceled hundreds of flights Friday. And Dallas Love Field closed down Friday morning. Although many fans and celebrities¹⁸ are already in North Texas for Sunday's game in nearby Arlington, thousands have yet to make the trip. An ice storm that struck here earlier this week is a typical for North Texas. More unusual have been the consistently below freezing temperatures that left ice on many streets and forced school closures most of the week. A number of Super Bowl events [are] not canceled but forced inside. Game day temperatures are expected to rise above freezing. For NPR News, I'm Bill Zeeble in Dallas.

A Somali man has been sentenced to nine years in prison for trying to attack a Danish cartoonist who drew a controversial image of Islam's prophet Muhammad several years ago. The defendant¹⁹ was accused of breaking into Kurt Westergaard's house more than a year ago. The cartoonist escaped injury. Westergaard's caricatures of the prophet Muhammad were published more than five years ago though they are still evoking²⁰ outcries from much in the Muslim world.

Roman Catholic Church leaders say Cuba will free two prominent political prisoners. An agreement was announced by Catholic spokesman Orlando Marquez today, saying detainee Angel Moya will be permitted to stay in Cuba while fellow inmate²¹ Guido Sigler has indicated a desire to go to the US.

1 pulsates   

v.有节奏地舒张及收缩( pulsate的第三人称单数 )；跳动；脉动；受（激情）震动

参考例句：

• My life pulsates with every movment of my country. 我的一生是随着祖国的脉搏而跳动的。 来自辞典例句
• The sick cow frequently attempts urination and pulsates the urethra over the ischium arch. 病牛频频企图排尿，搏动坐骨弓上的尿道。 来自辞典例句

2 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

3 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

4 brutality   

n.野蛮的行为，残忍，野蛮

参考例句：

• The brutality of the crime has appalled the public. 罪行之残暴使公众大为震惊。
• a general who was infamous for his brutality 因残忍而恶名昭彰的将军

5 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

6 confrontations   

n.对抗，对抗的事物( confrontation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• At times, this potential has escalated into actual confrontations. 有时，这一矛盾升级为实际的对抗。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• These confrontations and uncertainties were bing played out for the first time on a global scale. 所有这一切对抗和不稳定，第一次在全球范围内得到充分的表演。 来自辞典例句

7 rehabilitation   

n.康复，悔过自新，修复，复兴，复职，复位

参考例句：

• He's booked himself into a rehabilitation clinic.他自己联系了一家康复诊所。
• No one can really make me rehabilitation of injuries.已经没有人可以真正令我的伤康复了。

8 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

9 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

10 tepid   

adj.微温的，温热的，不太热心的

参考例句：

• She bent her mouth to the tap and drank the tepid water.她把嘴伸到水龙头底下去喝那微温的水。
• Her feet firmly planted on the tepid rough brick of the floor.她一双脚稳固地立在微温而粗糙的砖地上。

11 sectors   

n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形

参考例句：

• Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

12 payrolls   

n.（公司员工的）工资名单( payroll的名词复数 )；（公司的）工资总支出，工薪总额

参考例句：

• Indices of employment, payrolls, and production steadied in February 1931931年2月，就业、工资额和生产指数稳定。 来自辞典例句
• Wall Street responded to the payrolls figures with gusto. 华尔街对就业数据作出了积极的反应。 来自互联网

13 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 contradictory   

adj.反驳的，反对的，抗辩的；n.正反对，矛盾对立

参考例句：

• The argument is internally contradictory.论据本身自相矛盾。
• What he said was self-contradictory.他讲话前后不符。

15 derived   

vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取

参考例句：

• Many English words are derived from Latin and Greek. 英语很多词源出于拉丁文和希腊文。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He derived his enthusiasm for literature from his father. 他对文学的爱好是受他父亲的影响。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 retailers   

零售商，零售店( retailer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• High street retailers reported a marked increase in sales before Christmas. 商业街的零售商报告说圣诞节前销售量显著提高。
• Retailers have a statutory duty to provide goods suitable for their purpose. 零售商有为他们提供符合要求的货品的法定义务。

17 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

18 celebrities   

n.（尤指娱乐界的）名人( celebrity的名词复数 )；名流；名声；名誉

参考例句：

• He only invited A-list celebrities to his parties. 他只邀请头等名流参加他的聚会。
• a TV chat show full of B-list celebrities 由众多二流人物参加的电视访谈节目

19 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。

20 evoking   

产生，引起，唤起( evoke的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Some occur in organisms without evoking symptoms. 一些存在于生物体中，但不发生症状。
• Nowadays, the protection of traditional knowledge is evoking heat discussion worldwide. 目前，全球都掀起了保护传统知识的热潮。

21 inmate   

n.被收容者；(房屋等的)居住人；住院人

参考例句：

• I am an inmate of that hospital.我住在那家医院。
• The prisoner is his inmate.那个囚犯和他同住一起。