NPR 2011-06-13

Calls for the resignation of Congressman¹ Anthony Weiner keep coming from both sides of the aisle². The New York lawmaker has decided³ instead of stepping down, he'll undergo treatment following his Twitter scandal. Fellow Democratic Congressman Steny Hoyer calls the whole incident "bizarre and unacceptable."

"It's my understanding Mr. Weiner has indicated he wants to take a leave. I would hope he does so. I hope he reflects upon whether or not he can proceed. It seems to me extraordinarily⁴ difficult that he can proceed to represent his constituents⁵ in an effective way."

Republican Congressman Paul Ryan says it's time for Weiner to go.

"We've got to get this behind us 'cause it's a distraction⁶. And so yes, he should resign. I don't take pleasure in saying that."

Both lawmakers appeared today on CBS's "Face the Nation."

The huge wildfire in eastern Arizona is causing health concerns due to the smoke. NPR's Allison Keyes tells us health officials in neighboring New Mexico are warning residents there about possible respiratory hazards.

The fire that had been burning for weeks in Arizona jumped the state line two days ago, and residents as far away as Santa Fe are being warned about the tiny particles in this smoky place. People with asthma⁷, seniors, children and pregnant women are being asked to take extra precautions. Firefighter Brandon Ansell says gusty⁹ winds are making the battle against the forest fire a tough one.

"We've got fire as you can see, pretty much all around us, and they're predicting 15 to 20 sustained with 35 to 40 mile an hour gust⁸."

Firefighters say they're doing their best and trying to stay safe as they fight the second largest fire in Arizona's history. Allison Keyes, NPR News.

Early returns from Turkey's elections show Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party winning a third term in power but with fewer seats than before. NPR's Peter Kenyon reports from Istanbul the ruling party will have to find a way to work with the secular¹⁰ opposition¹¹.

For Prime Minister Erdogan, the result must be seen as a disappointment. His ruling AK Party needed 330 seats to draft a new constitution without the help of the opposition. But preliminary returns project the party will come up a few seats short of that mark. Erdogan spent recent days talking about how his party would move quickly to redraft the constitution if it got a 2/3 majority. But even though it fell well short of that, the bottom line is that after more than eight years in power, the AKP has won the trust of the majority of Turks and is seen not as a dangerous party with roots in Islam but as a careful steward¹² of a modern economy. The losers today were a host of smaller parties who fared badly as voters consolidated¹³ around the four largest political blocs¹⁴. Peter Kenyon, NPR News, Istanbul.

Syrian army troops and tanks have reportedly regained¹⁵ Jisr al-Shughour in northwestern Syria near the Turkish border. It's one of the strongest crackdowns since the uprising began three months ago.

This is NPR News from Washington.

The FBI is investigating a cyber-attack on the International Monetary¹⁶ Fund, the latest in a rash of hacking¹⁷ incidents on high-profile companies and institutions. A cyber-security specialist tells Reuters this latest attack was designed to infiltrate¹⁸ the IMF with the intention of gaining sensitive "insider privileged information." The IMF says it remains¹⁹ fully²⁰ functional²¹ but has declined to comment on the extent of the attack. It comes as the lender of last resort looks for someone to replace former managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who quit last month after being charged with attempted rape²².

Tonight, the 65th Annual Tony Awards, Broadway's highest honors, will be presented in a special ceremony in New York. Jeff London reports.

Broadway's throwing itself a party after another record-breaking year. But members of Broadway's musicians' union plan to crash the party, setting up a line in front of the theater to protest the use of recorded music in the un-nominated "Priscilla Queen of the Desert." This year's favorite nominees²³ are the musicals "The Book of Mormon" and "Anything Goes" and the plays "War Horse" and "The Normal Heart." Not up for Tonys this evening is "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark." That much-delayed 75-million-dollar musical officially opens on Tuesday. For NPR News, I'm Jeff London in New York.

Hollywood's summer box-office streak²⁴ is cooling. Revenues this weekend dipped for the first time in a month. "Super 8", the sci-fi tale from JJ Abrams and Steven Spielberg, bombed "X-Men: First Class" from the top spot, bringing in 37 million dollars on its debut²⁵ weekend.

I'm Nancy Lyons, NPR News in Washington.

1 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

2 aisle   

n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道

参考例句：

• The aisle was crammed with people.过道上挤满了人。
• The girl ushered me along the aisle to my seat.引座小姐带领我沿着通道到我的座位上去。

3 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。

4 extraordinarily   

adv.格外地；极端地

参考例句：

• She is an extraordinarily beautiful girl.她是个美丽非凡的姑娘。
• The sea was extraordinarily calm that morning.那天清晨，大海出奇地宁静。

5 constituents   

n.选民( constituent的名词复数 )；成分；构成部分；要素

参考例句：

• She has the full support of her constituents. 她得到本区选民的全力支持。
• Hydrogen and oxygen are the constituents of water. 氢和氧是水的主要成分。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 distraction   

n.精神涣散，精神不集中，消遣，娱乐

参考例句：

• Total concentration is required with no distractions.要全神贯注，不能有丝毫分神。
• Their national distraction is going to the disco.他们的全民消遣就是去蹦迪。

7 asthma   

n.气喘病，哮喘病

参考例句：

• I think he's having an asthma attack.我想他现在是哮喘病发作了。
• Its presence in allergic asthma is well known.它在过敏性气喘中的存在是大家很熟悉的。

8 gust   

n.阵风，突然一阵（雨、烟等），（感情的）迸发

参考例句：

• A gust of wind blew the front door shut.一阵大风吹来，把前门关上了。
• A gust of happiness swept through her.一股幸福的暖流流遍她的全身。

9 gusty   

adj.起大风的

参考例句：

• Weather forecasts predict more hot weather,gusty winds and lightning strikes.天气预报预测高温、大风和雷电天气将继续。
• Why was Candlestick Park so windy and gusty? 埃德尔斯蒂克公园里为什么会有那么多的强劲阵风？

10 secular   

n.牧师，凡人；adj.世俗的，现世的，不朽的

参考例句：

• We live in an increasingly secular society.我们生活在一个日益非宗教的社会。
• Britain is a plural society in which the secular predominates.英国是个世俗主导的多元社会。

11 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。

12 steward   

n.乘务员，服务员；看管人；膳食管理员

参考例句：

• He's the steward of the club.他是这家俱乐部的管理员。
• He went around the world as a ship's steward.他当客船服务员，到过世界各地。

13 consolidated   

a.联合的

参考例句：

• With this new movie he has consolidated his position as the country's leading director. 他新执导的影片巩固了他作为全国最佳导演的地位。
• Those two banks have consolidated and formed a single large bank. 那两家银行已合并成一家大银行。

14 blocs   

n.集团，联盟( bloc的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The division of Europe into warring blocs produces ever-increasing centrifugal stress. 把欧洲分为作战集团产生了越来越大的离心效果。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The policy of the two blocs was played out. 把世界分为两个集团的政策已经过时了。 来自辞典例句

15 regained   

复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地

参考例句：

• The majority of the people in the world have regained their liberty. 世界上大多数人已重获自由。
• She hesitated briefly but quickly regained her poise. 她犹豫片刻，但很快恢复了镇静。

16 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

17 hacking   

n.非法访问计算机系统和数据库的活动

参考例句：

• The patient with emphysema is hacking all day. 这个肺气肿病人整天不断地干咳。
• We undertook the task of hacking our way through the jungle. 我们负责在丛林中开路。

18 infiltrate   

vt./vi.渗入，透过；浸润

参考例句：

• The teacher tried to infiltrate her ideas into the children's minds.老师设法把她的思想渗透到孩子们的心中。
• It can infiltrate as much as 100 kilometers into enemy territory at night.可以在夜间深入敌领土100千米。

19 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。

20 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。

21 functional   

adj.为实用而设计的，具备功能的，起作用的

参考例句：

• The telephone was out of order,but is functional now.电话刚才坏了，但现在可以用了。
• The furniture is not fancy,just functional.这些家具不是摆着好看的，只是为了实用。

22 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

23 nominees   

n.被提名者，被任命者( nominee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She's one of the nominees. 她是被提名者之一。 来自超越目标英语 第2册
• A startling number of his nominees for senior positions have imploded. 他所提名的高级官员被否决的数目令人震惊。 来自互联网

24 streak   

n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动

参考例句：

• The Indians used to streak their faces with paint.印第安人过去常用颜料在脸上涂条纹。
• Why did you streak the tree?你为什么在树上刻条纹？

25 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。