NPR 2011-03-22

Coalition¹ jets are enforcing the no-fly zone over Libya with more air strikes. Gen. Carter Ham, the US military commander in Africa, says a dozen cruise missiles were fired on Libyan defense² sites. This after a weekend of relentless³ air strikes. Gen. Ham says he doesn't know where Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is. And in Tripoli, nobody's talking. In the capital, NPR's David Greene says supporters still at Gaddafi's compound are vocal⁴ about giving their lives.

A lot of his supporters have basically decided⁵ to remain there, and some of the people have been welcomed in and are sleeping at the compound, and they say that they are serving as very willing human shields if the Gaddafi compound were to be targeted again.

NPR's David Greene.

The US and its allies are also keeping close watch of what's unfolding in Japan, where the earthquake-triggered tsunami⁶ touched off a nuclear crisis, with fears of radiation contamination rising. The head of the UN's nuclear agency says the situation at the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant remains⁷ very serious, but NPR's Philip Reeves reports Yukiya Amano says there are some signs of improvement.

Amano spoke⁸ in Vienna at an emergency meeting of the governors of his organization, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). It was convened⁹ to discuss the crisis in Japan, the world's worst nuclear accident in a quarter of a century. Amano, who's just back from a trip to Tokyo, made little secret he thinks his agency needs stronger powers to impose safety standards. The IAEA can only advise. Enforcing regulations is up to individual countries. This lack of teeth has been widely criticized in the ten days since a huge earthquake and tsunami hit Japan. Amano said the agency's role in nuclear safety may now need to be reexamined, but the first priority is figuring out exactly what went wrong in Japan. Philip Reeves, NPR News, Vienna.

Some disappointing numbers out today for the housing market. Sales of existing homes fell 9.6% in February. Reviewing the latest report from the National Association of Realtors, NPR's Chris Arnold found that home prices also fell by more than 5%.

The median price of a home in the US is now $156,000, and prices haven't been that low in nine years. 

"That it's a discouraging picture that you see in the quantities of sales and starts. It's very tricky¹⁰ to call when markets are gonna turn."

Karl Case is a housing economist¹¹ with Harvard University. He says that despite the continued housing slump¹², he's actually been feeling a bit more optimistic lately. That's because it keeps getting more affordable¹³ to buy a house as the price of housing keeps falling.

"It's down 30% nationally. It's down more than 50% in some places. Interest rates are very low."

At some point, Case says that has to lead to a recovery in housing as more people decide to buy, but apparently¹⁴ not yet. Chris Arnold, NPR News.

This is NPR.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the American Academy of Pediatrics have some new advice on kids and car seats. As NPR's April Fulton tells us, they're urging children to stay in their car seats longer.

Since 2002, pediatricians have recommended that babies under one be strapped¹⁵ into car seats that face backward rather than forward, but new evidence suggests they should face backward till they're two. Flora¹⁶ Koplin Winston heads the Center for Injury Research and Prevention at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

"For children under two, they're 75% less likely to die or be seriously injured in a crash if they're rideing rear-facing."

The report also has recommendations that are not likely to be popular with the elementary school set. The new advice says children should stay in booster seats until they reach a height of 4'9". For smaller kids, that can means sitting in a booster up to age 12. Car crashes are the leading cause of death for children four and older. April Fulton, NPR News, Washington.

A Boston hospital declares a new milestone¹⁷ with the first full face transplant ever performed in the United States. Doctors released details today about an operation performed last week on a 25-year-old patient. Dr. Bohdan Pomahac led a medical team of 30 people to replace Dallas Wiens' lips, nose, facial skin, muscles and nerves. Although this full facial transplant was the first in the US, last year Spain became the first in the world to perform the full facial transplant operation.

At last check on Wall Street, Dow up 178 points at 12,036; NASDAQ up 48 to 2,692.

1 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

2 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

3 relentless   

adj.残酷的，不留情的，无怜悯心的

参考例句：

• The traffic noise is relentless.交通车辆的噪音一刻也不停止。
• Their training has to be relentless.他们的训练必须是无情的。

4 vocal   

adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目

参考例句：

• The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
• Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 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。

7 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。

8 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。

9 convened   

召开( convene的过去式 )； 召集； （为正式会议而）聚集； 集合

参考例句：

• The chairman convened the committee to put the issue to a vote. 主席召集委员们开会对这个问题进行表决。
• The governor convened his troops to put down the revolt. 总督召集他的部队去镇压叛乱。

10 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

11 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

12 slump   

n.暴跌，意气消沉，（土地）下沉；vi.猛然掉落，坍塌，大幅度下跌

参考例句：

• She is in a slump in her career.她处在事业的低谷。
• Economists are forecasting a slump.经济学家们预言将发生经济衰退。

13 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

14 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。

15 strapped   

adj.用皮带捆住的，用皮带装饰的；身无分文的；缺钱；手头紧v.用皮带捆扎(strap的过去式和过去分词)；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带

参考例句：

• Make sure that the child is strapped tightly into the buggy. 一定要把孩子牢牢地拴在婴儿车上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The soldiers' great coats were strapped on their packs. 战士们的厚大衣扎捆在背包上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 flora   

n.(某一地区的)植物群

参考例句：

• The subtropical island has a remarkably rich native flora.这个亚热带岛屿有相当丰富的乡土植物种类。
• All flora need water and light.一切草木都需要水和阳光。

17 milestone   

n.里程碑；划时代的事件

参考例句：

• The film proved to be a milestone in the history of cinema.事实证明这部影片是电影史上的一个里程碑。
• I think this is a very important milestone in the relations between our two countries.我认为这是我们两国关系中一个十分重要的里程碑。