NPR 2012-12-15

　　From NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston.

 

　　A shooting spree at a Connecticut elementary school has left an unknown number of people dead. School district officials at Sandy Hook Elementary School say the shooting occurred this morning. Law enforcement officials say the gunman, a 20-year-old man with ties to the school is dead. The Connecticut Governor's top aide Roy Occhiogrosso says he is deeply saddened by today's tragedy.

 

　　You can imagine the governor is horrified¹ by what's happened. He is meeting with the families right now. His chief concern is to get the families the information they need as quickly as possible. That's why he is not here.

 

　　Pat Broderick, Chairman of the Emergency Department at Danbury Hospital says they are doing everything they can to assist families and victims.

 

　　We have many staff members who live in the Sandy Hook area who have been impacted by this. We have set up crisis services that we have mobilized to the Sandy Hook firehouse to be of assistance. The FBI has joined local law enforcement in responding to the deadly school shooting. NPR's Scott Horsley has White House reaction.

 

　　President Obama was first briefed on the shooting by his Homeland Security Advisor² in the Oval Office this morning. White House Spokesman Jay Carney says the President later spoke³ by telephone with his FBI director and Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy.

 

　　I can just tell you that as a father, incidents like these weigh heavily on him. And I think everyone who has children and can imagine the enormous suffering that accompanies an event like this.

 

　　Carney sidestepped questions about gun control, saying today is not the day, but what he called long-running Washington policy battles. Scott Horsley, NPR News, the White House.

 

　　Inflation at the retail⁴ level is down slightly. NPR's Dave Mattingly reports cheaper gas helped drive down the consumer price index by 0.3%.

 

　　Gasoline prices fell nearly 7.5% last month. That's the sharpest decline in almost four years. It offset⁵ a slight rise in food prices. Unemployment is still near 8% in the U.S. and with limited growth in incomes, Chief Economist⁶ Stewart Hoffman at PNC Financial, says inflation in the economy remains⁷ a non-issue.

 

　　It's still well under control and drops in the consumer price index are driven by drops in gasoline prices. It's actually good for the consumers' pocketbook.

 

　　The Federal Reserve expects the nation's jobless rate to remain above 6.5% for at least another three years. Dave Mattingly, NPR News, Washington.

 

　　Just to recap a shooting spree at a Connecticut elementary school this morning has left an unknown number of people dead.

 

　　At last check on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down five points at 13,164; the NASDAQ Composite was down 13.

 

　　This is NPR News.

 

　　President Obama says he won't go after Washington State and Colorado for legalising marijuana. In a Barbara Walters ABC News interview, Mr. Obama was asked whether he supports making pot legal. He says he wouldn't go that far but won't pursue the issue in the states where voters legalized the use of marijuana in the November's elections. Marijuana remains illegal under Federal Law who was legalized this month in Washington State and Colorado.

 

　　Some of Britain's most eminent⁸ scientists have called for a government pardon for World War II code breaker Alan Turing. Larry Miller⁹ reports he killed himself after being prosecuted¹⁰ for being gay.

 

　　Cambridge physicist¹¹ Stephen Hawking¹² is among 11 signatories to a letter in the Daily Telegraph, urging the prime minister to formally forgive Turing. The scientists described him as a British hero and one of the most brilliant mathematicians¹³ of the modern era. Turing's team broke the Nazi's Enigma¹⁴ code. Former colleagues say without him, Britain would have lost the war. In 1952, with homosexuality illegal, Turing was convicted of gross indecency after a chemical castration and removal of his security clearance¹⁵, he swallowed cyanide. The British government apologized three years ago but he has been refused a posthumous¹⁶ pardon. There is a bill in the House of Lords that could achieve that. For NPR News, I'm Larry Miller in London.

 

　　The Pentagon is planning to send Patriot¹⁷ air defense¹⁸ missiles and 400 troops to Turkey. It's all part of a NATO force aimed at protecting Turkish territory from a possible Syrian missile attack. Speaking at a Turkish airbase, Defense Secretary  Leon Panetta told troops the country might need such weapons.

 

　　I'm Windsor Johnston, NPR News, in Washington.

1 horrified   

a.(表现出)恐惧的

参考例句：

• The whole country was horrified by the killings. 全国都对这些凶杀案感到大为震惊。
• We were horrified at the conditions prevailing in local prisons. 地方监狱的普遍状况让我们震惊。

2 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

3 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。

4 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

5 offset   

n.分支，补偿；v.抵消，补偿

参考例句：

• Their wage increases would be offset by higher prices.他们增加的工资会被物价上涨所抵消。
• He put up his prices to offset the increased cost of materials.他提高了售价以补偿材料成本的增加。

6 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。

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 eminent   

adj.显赫的，杰出的，有名的，优良的

参考例句：

• We are expecting the arrival of an eminent scientist.我们正期待一位著名科学家的来访。
• He is an eminent citizen of China.他是一个杰出的中国公民。

9 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

10 prosecuted   

a.被起诉的

参考例句：

• The editors are being prosecuted for obscenity. 编辑因刊载污秽文字而被起诉。
• The company was prosecuted for breaching the Health and Safety Act. 这家公司被控违反《卫生安全条例》。

11 physicist   

n.物理学家，研究物理学的人

参考例句：

• He is a physicist of the first rank.他是一流的物理学家。
• The successful physicist never puts on airs.这位卓有成就的物理学家从不摆架子。

12 hawking   

利用鹰行猎

参考例句：

• He is hawking his goods everywhere. 他在到处兜售他的货物。
• We obtain the event horizon and the Hawking spectrumformula. 得到了黑洞的局部事件视界位置和Hawking温度以及Klein—Gordon粒子的Hawking辐射谱。

13 mathematicians   

数学家( mathematician的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Do you suppose our mathematicians are unequal to that? 你以为我们的数学家做不到这一点吗？ 来自英汉文学
• Mathematicians can solve problems with two variables. 数学家们可以用两个变数来解决问题。 来自哲学部分

14 enigma   

n.谜，谜一样的人或事

参考例句：

• I've known him for many years,but he remains something of an enigma to me.我与他相识多年，他仍然难以捉摸。
• Even after all the testimonies,the murder remained a enigma.即使听完了所有的证词，这件谋杀案仍然是一个谜。

15 clearance   

n.净空；许可(证)；清算；清除，清理

参考例句：

• There was a clearance of only ten centimetres between the two walls.两堵墙之间只有十厘米的空隙。
• The ship sailed as soon as it got clearance. 那艘船一办好离港手续立刻启航了。

16 posthumous   

adj.遗腹的；父亡后出生的；死后的，身后的

参考例句：

• He received a posthumous award for bravery.他表现勇敢，死后受到了嘉奖。
• The legendary actor received a posthumous achievement award.这位传奇男星在过世后获得终身成就奖的肯定。

17 patriot   

n.爱国者，爱国主义者

参考例句：

• He avowed himself a patriot.他自称自己是爱国者。
• He is a patriot who has won the admiration of the French already.他是一个已经赢得法国人敬仰的爱国者。

18 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。