NPR 2011-03-15

The head of the UN's Atomic Energy Agency has said the threat of an uncontrolled nuclear reaction has passed in Japan, but Japanese authorities are still concerned about the possibility of a meltdown. Reporter Doualy Xaykaothao is in Koriyama City, about 30 miles from the quake-damaged plant.

A second hydrogen explosion injured at least 11 people today and tore part of a building at the Fukushima nuclear plant. Now, the operator of the facility, Tokyo Electric Power, says fuel rods at one of its reactors² were once again fully³ exposed, indicating that reactor¹ and two others could overheat, resulting in a possible meltdown of the reactor. If this happens, there is an increased public health threat, deepening the twin disasters. For NPR News, I'm Doualy Xaykaothao in Koriyama City.

An expert who studied the 2004 Asian tsunami⁴ says it will be a miracle if the death toll⁵ is below 10,000. The official count now is 1,800 dead.

The nuclear caution light is on in Switzerland. The Swiss government's suspended plans to replace and build three nuclear plants, pending⁶ a review of Japan's two hydrogen explosions. One official said safety has absolute priority.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Paris, where she's meeting with representatives of the Libyan opposition⁷. NPR's Michele Kelemen reports Clinton will also address the situation in Bahrain.

Among the officials Clinton met on the sidelines of a Group of Eight meeting in Paris was her counterpart from the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Abdullah bin⁸ Zayed Al-Nahyan. He told reporters that his country and other Gulf⁹ states are sending troops to Bahrain to "calm things down".

"We have already sent roughly around 500 of our police force, who are there. The Saudis are there as well. There are other Gulf countries which are going to participate to support the Bahrain government and to get calm and order in Bahrain."

The White House has urged Gulf countries to show restraint and respect the rights of protesters in Bahrain. Michele Kelemen, NPR News, Paris.

President Obama's calling on Congress to redo the No Child Left Behind Act before a new school year begins next fall. He made a picture while visiting a middle school in Arlington, Virginia.

"All of us have a responsibility, not just as parents, but as citizens, for giving our kids the best possible education."

The No Child Left Behind law's been criticized as inflexible¹⁰, and numerous exemptions¹¹ have been granted to school system since its implementation¹².

Stocks have recovered a bit. Near the close on Wall Street, the Dow was down 53 points; NASDAQ was off 15; and the S&P500 was down nine points.

From Washington, this is NPR.

More than 33 people were killed and more than 40 injured in a suicide bombing in northern Afghanistan today. Afghan officials say the attacker walked up to people lined up outside an army recruiting center in Kunduz province and detonated the bomb. A local doctor says at least four children were killed in that blast.

It's been a rough couple of years in the journalism¹³ world, with traditional media outlets¹⁴ shrinking and jobs disappearing, but the way ahead may be a bit clearer. NPR's Paul Brown reports a study by the Pew Project for Excellence¹⁵ in Journalism says news consumers are turning to new media.

The Pew research shows for the first time ever more people say they get news online than from newspapers, but the report also says digital news organizations face a big challenge in controlling their own destinies. That's because aggregators, such as Google, online social networks and mobile device makers¹⁶, more and more often have control of revenue sources and information about consumers. Control traditional media had in their heyday¹⁷. The Pew researchers report newspaper newsrooms are about a third smaller than they were in 2000. It shows lots of experimentation¹⁸ at all news media but often with no clear sense of how the economic models will work out. Paul Brown, NPR News, Washington.

There's a good progress report for the Texas toddler who fell out of a second floor window onto stones below. Police in Texas City say the two-year-old boy apparently¹⁹ landed on his head, but he's expected to recover. The child's being treated at a Houston hospital, and officials say he could be released in just a few days.

1 reactor   

n.反应器；反应堆

参考例句：

• The atomic reactor generates enormous amounts of thermal energy.原子反应堆发出大量的热能。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules.在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

2 reactors   

起反应的人( reactor的名词复数 )； 反应装置； 原子炉； 核反应堆

参考例句：

• The TMI nuclear facility has two reactors. 三哩岛核设施有两个反应堆。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• The earliest production reactors necessarily used normal uranium as fuel. 最早为生产用的反应堆，必须使用普通铀作为燃料。

3 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

4 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

5 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。

6 pending   

prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的

参考例句：

• The lawsuit is still pending in the state court.这案子仍在州法庭等待定夺。
• He knew my examination was pending.他知道我就要考试了。

7 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。

8 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

9 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

10 inflexible   

adj.不可改变的，不受影响的，不屈服的

参考例句：

• Charles was a man of settled habits and inflexible routine.查尔斯是一个恪守习惯、生活规律不容打乱的人。
• The new plastic is completely inflexible.这种新塑料是完全不可弯曲的。

11 exemptions   

n.（义务等的）免除( exemption的名词复数 )；免（税）；（收入中的）免税额

参考例句：

• The exemptions for interpretive rules, policy statements, and procedural rules have just been discussed. 有关解释性规则、政策说明和程序规则的免责我们刚刚讨论过。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• A: The regulation outlines specific exemptions for some WPM. 答：该规定概述了某些木质包装材料的特定的例外情形。 来自互联网

12 implementation   

n.实施，贯彻

参考例句：

• Implementation of the program is now well underway.这一项目的实施现在行情看好。

13 journalism   

n.新闻工作，报业

参考例句：

• He's a teacher but he does some journalism on the side.他是教师，可还兼职做一些新闻工作。
• He had an aptitude for journalism.他有从事新闻工作的才能。

14 outlets   

n.出口( outlet的名词复数 )；经销店；插座；廉价经销店

参考例句：

• The dumping of foreign cotton blocked outlets for locally grown cotton. 外国棉花的倾销阻滞了当地生产的棉花的销路。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They must find outlets for their products. 他们必须为自己的产品寻找出路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

15 excellence   

n.优秀，杰出，(pl.)优点，美德

参考例句：

• His art has reached a high degree of excellence.他的艺术已达到炉火纯青的地步。
• My performance is far below excellence.我的表演离优秀还差得远呢。

16 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 heyday   

n.全盛时期，青春期

参考例句：

• The 19th century was the heyday of steam railways.19世纪是蒸汽机车鼎盛的时代。
• She was a great singer in her heyday.她在自己的黄金时代是个了不起的歌唱家。

18 experimentation   

n.实验，试验，实验法

参考例句：

• Many people object to experimentation on animals.许多人反对用动物做实验。
• Study and analysis are likely to be far cheaper than experimentation.研究和分析的费用可能要比实验少得多。

19 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。