NPR 2011-06-03

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Lakshmi Singh.

Mitt¹ Romney makes it official. Today, He declared his candidacy for the 2012 Republican nomination² for president. NPR's national political correspondent Don Gonyea has more.

Romney traveled to a farm in rural New Hampshire for the long-expected announcement. He delivered a speech highly critical of President Obama's economic policies, saying the recession was deeper and lasted longer because of the president's inexperience.

"Now, in the third year of his four-year term, we have more than slogans and promises to judge by. Barack Obama has failed America."

Romney highlighted his own experience in business. He called for the repeal³ of the health care law signed by President Obama last year and touched only briefly⁴ on the Massachusetts health care law he signed in 2006 while governor. Don Gonyea, NPR News.

The president's top lawyer Bob Bauer is leaving the White House to return to his law firm. He will advise Mr Obama's re-election campaign and serve as the president's personal lawyer. NPR's Carrie Johnson reports Bauer will be replaced by a veteran prosecutor⁵.

Kathryn Ruemmler has spent most of her career at the Justice Department. She started out handling drug and violent crime cases in Washington DC, and then took on a leading role in the prosecution⁶ of former Enron executives. Ruemmler helped run the Justice Department in the early days of the Obama administration, and since last year she's been a top deputy in the White House Counsel's Office, giving advice on sensitive issues such as the prison at Guantanamo Bay. Carrie Johnson, NPR News, Washington.

The man convicted of kidnapping and raping⁷ a girl he held captive for 18 years will spend the rest of his life in jail. Today, a California judge sentenced Phillip Garrido to the maximum 431 years. His wife Nancy got 36 years to life. Jaycee Dugard, the 31-year-old woman who was abducted⁸ when she was just 11, was not in court, but she issued a statement in which she said the couple had stolen her life. Dugard also made clear the Garridos no longer mattered.

The World Health Organization knows more about the rare strain of an E. coli bacteria outbreak in Europe, but it's still stumped⁹ over its source. WHO says the strain stems from two different bacteria. At least 18 people died, and hundreds were sickened. Nearly all the victims either live in Germany or recently traveled to the region. Russia has banned all vegetable imports meanwhile from the European Union.

First time unemployment claims are down, but there are still above 400,000, a level suggesting job growth. The Labor¹⁰ Department's figure on last week's new jobless claims is out a day before the government releases its monthly unemployment report.

Before the close on Wall Street, the Dow was down 41 points at 12,248.

This is NPR.

NPR has learned that Qatar is deporting¹¹ the Libyan woman who drew media attention in March, when she publicly accused Libyan forces of raping her. NPR's Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson says UN authorities confirmed that Iman al-Obeidi is being flown back to Libya despite earlier pleas against deportation¹².

The UNHCR official in Washington who I spoke¹³ to Vincent Cochetel tells me that at 6:15 this morning Washington time, Iman al-Obeidi was deported¹⁴ by Qatari authorities back to Benghazi as what is believed. There's been no communication from her or her parents who are with her since the time that she was deported.

Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson reporting.

Bill Keller, the executive editor of the New York Times, has stepped down to write full-time¹⁵ for the newspaper. NPR's David Folkenflik reports on this.

Keller took over in 2003 after the brief and turbulent tenure¹⁶ of Howell Raines, who was caught up in the Jayson Blair plagiarism¹⁷ and fabrication scandal. Keller led the Times during difficult days. The Times was not immune to the woes¹⁸ of the newspaper industry, and the Bush White House vigorously objected to the paper's investigative reporting on counter-terrorism measures. Abramson is a veteran journalist who came to prominence¹⁹ at the Wall Street Journal as an investigative reporter. She co-wrote a book on the charge confirmation²⁰ hearings of US Supreme²¹ Court Justice Clarence Thomas, and later she became the journal's Washington bureau chief. Abramson joined the Times in 1997 and rose through the ranks to DC bureau chief and managing editor. Once her appointment takes effect in September, Abramson will become the paper's first female executive editor. David Folkenflik, NPR News, New York

I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News in Washington.

1 mitt   

n.棒球手套，拳击手套，无指手套；vt.铐住，握手

参考例句：

• I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日，我送给他一只棒球手套。
• Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。

2 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

3 repeal   

n.废止，撤消；v.废止，撤消

参考例句：

• He plans to repeal a number of current policies.他计划废除一些当前的政策。
• He has made out a strong case for the repeal of the law.他提出强有力的理由，赞成废除该法令。

4 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

5 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

6 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

7 raping   

v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的现在分词 )；强奸

参考例句：

• In response, Charles VI sent a punitive expedition to Brittany, raping and killing the populace. 作为报复，查理六世派军讨伐布列塔尼，奸淫杀戮平民。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The conquerors marched on, burning, killing, raping and plundering as they went. 征服者所到之处烧杀奸掠，无所不做。 来自互联网

8 abducted   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that she was abducted. 侦探尚未排除她被绑架的可能性。
• The kid was abducted at the gate of kindergarten. 那小孩在幼儿园大门口被绑架走了。

9 stumped   

僵直地行走，跺步行走( stump的过去式和过去分词 )； 把（某人）难住； 使为难； （选举前）在某一地区作政治性巡回演说

参考例句：

• Jack huffed himself up and stumped out of the room. 杰克气喘吁吁地干完活，然后很艰难地走出房间。
• He was stumped by the questions and remained tongue-tied for a good while. 他被问得张口结舌，半天说不出话来。

10 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。

11 deporting   

v.将…驱逐出境( deport的现在分词 )；举止

参考例句：

12 deportation   

n.驱逐，放逐

参考例句：

• The government issued a deportation order against the four men.政府发出了对那4名男子的驱逐令。
• Years ago convicted criminals in England could face deportation to Australia.很多年以前，英国已定罪的犯人可能被驱逐到澳大利亚。

13 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。

14 deported   

v.将…驱逐出境( deport的过去式和过去分词 )；举止

参考例句：

• They stripped me of my citizenship and deported me. 他们剥夺我的公民资格，将我驱逐出境。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The convicts were deported to a deserted island. 罪犯们被流放到一个荒岛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

16 tenure   

n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期

参考例句：

• He remained popular throughout his tenure of the office of mayor.他在担任市长的整个任期内都深得民心。
• Land tenure is a leading political issue in many parts of the world.土地的保有权在世界很多地区是主要的政治问题。

17 plagiarism   

n.剽窃，抄袭

参考例句：

• Teachers in America fight to control cheating and plagiarism.美国老师们努力对付欺骗和剽窃的问题。
• Now he's in real trouble.He's accused of plagiarism.现在他是真遇到麻烦了。他被指控剽窃。

18 woes   

困境( woe的名词复数 )； 悲伤； 我好苦哇； 某人就要倒霉

参考例句：

• Thanks for listening to my woes. 谢谢您听我诉说不幸的遭遇。
• She has cried the blues about its financial woes. 对于经济的困难她叫苦不迭。

19 prominence   

n.突出；显著；杰出；重要

参考例句：

• He came to prominence during the World Cup in Italy.他在意大利的世界杯赛中声名鹊起。
• This young fashion designer is rising to prominence.这位年轻的时装设计师的声望越来越高。

20 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

21 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。