NPR 2012-03-04

 From NPR News in Washington, I’m Nora Raum.

        Rusty¹ words are searching through rubble² in several states after a stream of tornados³ yesterday that demolished⁴ small towns tones tractor trailers in the area and broke down power lines from the Gulf⁵ Coast to the Great Lakes. Officials say at least 37 people died in 4 states: Kentucky, Ohio, Alabama, Indiana. Mitt⁶ Shawn lost his businesses in Henryville, Indiana who’ in the basement where several others when a school bus crashed down on top of it.

        “I hear walking and a neighbor came over today at news on and they were covered flock from came out. They say they will come over to the basement and we watch over the street, a school anyone could see them all around common in middle went up.”

        Kentucky was especially hard hit. Cheri Lawson of member station WNKU reports. 

        According to Kentucky emergency management, at least 13 tornados touched down in the state causing property damage, hundreds of injuries and deaths. Dannis Quicherlow was independence within the basement of her mother-in-law’s house in a small town of Pine Knot when a storm came through.

        “We’ve just started hearing the break in the house. She didn’t know what’s going on. She was sitting down the basement. And danger was hitting the house and the opposite was just over.”

        Governor Steve Beshear declared the state of emergency and deployed⁷ the state’s national guard Friday evening. He announced plans detoured⁸ some of the worst hit areas including county Perry where 3 of the deaths occurred. For NPR News, I’m Cheri Lawson in Cincinnati.

        Three Republican presidential candidates in Ohio today. Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich all are calling voters ahead of the Super Tuesday primaries. NPR’s Tamara Keith says travelling with the Romney campaign.

        Recent poll shows Santorum and Romney are very close. And both candidates see a win in Ohio as critical. For Santorum it will prove him can win a big primary. For Romney it will provide momentum⁹ something that’s been elusive¹⁰ for all of the candidates, it’s a primary season. Romney’s wife Ann summed it up the rally in Cleveland last night. 

        “Ohio is important. And Tuesday is an important day.”

        Ohio isn’t just important to these candidates because of its high delegate county. It’s important because this will be a key battleground state in November. Tamara Keith, NPR News, Cleveland.

        Republicans in Washington stayed are voting now caucuses¹¹ got underway about an hour ago though selected 40 delegates to the Republican now in any convention this summer. The caucuses are open to everyone by participants must sign in affidavit¹² identified themselves as Republican and promising¹³ that take part in the caucuses for another party.

        Activists¹⁴ say Syrian forces today renewed their bombardment of the city of Homs after a month-long siege. Meanwhile, Syria is still refusing to allow the Red Cross to enter the city with needed supplies. The bodies of two foreign journalists killed where covering the bombardment of Homs were turned over to the embassy officials today. 

        This is NPR News from Washington.

        BP expects to pay $7.8bln to settle lawsuits¹⁵ brought by more than 100,000 people who’ve said they suffered the damage in the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil disaster. BP still must resolve claims by the US government Gulf States and Deepwater Horizon. The company that owned the rig that exploded after a BP oil well blew out. Eleven workers died and more than 200 million gallons of oil spill, spoiling sensitive tainted¹⁶ areas killing¹⁷ wildlife and interrupting fish in the region.

        Major League Baseball is expanding its play-off season for the first time since 1995. NPR’s Tom Goldman reports the number of teams in the postseason will grow from 8 to 10. 

        The new format¹⁸ answered another wild-card team to each League meaning now there will be 2 wild-card teams in both the American and National leagues. Wild-card are teams who have the best records but don’t win the division. The two wild-cards would play one game the loser result, the winner moves on with first round player in series. Baseball officials said the change would let postseason the excitement to 2 more cities it also makes winning the division more important because the wild-card birds would be precarious¹⁹ due to the single elimination²⁰ game. Baseball still has the fewest number of play-off teams in the American major sports but critic said the change would delude²¹ the postseason product in diminishing excitement at the end of the regular season. Tom Goldman, NPR News. 

        The 48th Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race gets underway today with the ceremony run through in Anchorage. The official start will take place tomorrow in the small town of Willow²². 69 teams will then head for Nome, 922 miles away. The race traces the past once used to transport siren to stop the diphtheria epidemic²³.

        I’m Nora Raum, NPR News.

1 rusty   

adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的

参考例句：

• The lock on the door is rusty and won't open.门上的锁锈住了。
• I haven't practiced my French for months and it's getting rusty.几个月不用，我的法语又荒疏了。

2 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

3 tornados   

n.龙卷风，旋风( tornado的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• And the national weather service reports several tornados touch down. 国家气象中心报告预测龙卷风将来袭。 来自互联网
• They had stock footage of lightning, tornados, and hurricanes. 他们存有关于闪电、龙卷风和飓风的电影胶片。 来自互联网

4 demolished   

v.摧毁( demolish的过去式和过去分词 )；推翻；拆毁（尤指大建筑物）；吃光

参考例句：

• The factory is due to be demolished next year. 这个工厂定于明年拆除。
• They have been fighting a rearguard action for two years to stop their house being demolished. 两年来，为了不让拆除他们的房子，他们一直在进行最后的努力。

5 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。

6 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。

7 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

8 detoured   

绕道( detour的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The car detoured round the bomb pits. 汽车绕过了弹坑。
• The police detoured them around the scene of the accident. 警察使他们绕过事故现场行驶。

9 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

10 elusive   

adj.难以表达(捉摸)的；令人困惑的；逃避的

参考例句：

• Try to catch the elusive charm of the original in translation.翻译时设法把握住原文中难以捉摸的风韵。
• Interpol have searched all the corners of the earth for the elusive hijackers.国际刑警组织已在世界各地搜查在逃的飞机劫持者。

11 caucuses   

n.（政党决定政策或推举竞选人的）核心成员( caucus的名词复数 )；决策干部；决策委员会；秘密会议

参考例句：

• Republican caucuses will happen in about 410 towns across Maine. 共和党团会议选举将在缅因州的约410个城镇进行。 来自互联网

12 affidavit   

n.宣誓书

参考例句：

• I gave an affidavit to the judge about the accident I witnessed.我向法官提交了一份关于我目击的事故的证词。
• The affidavit was formally read to the court.书面证词正式向出席法庭的人宣读了。

13 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

14 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 lawsuits   

n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权，耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
• I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多，赢的也多，输的也多。 来自辞典例句

16 tainted   

adj.腐坏的；污染的；沾污的；感染的v.使变质( taint的过去式和过去分词 )；使污染；败坏；被污染，腐坏，败坏

参考例句：

• The administration was tainted with scandal. 丑闻使得政府声名狼藉。
• He was considered tainted by association with the corrupt regime. 他因与腐败政府有牵连而名誉受损。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

18 format   

n.设计，版式；[计算机]格式，DOS命令:格式化(磁盘)，用于空盘或使用过的磁盘建立新空盘来存储数据；v.使格式化，设计，安排

参考例句：

• Please format this floppy disc.请将这张软盘格式化。
• The format of the figure is very tasteful.该图表的格式很雅致。

19 precarious   

adj.不安定的，靠不住的；根据不足的

参考例句：

• Our financial situation had become precarious.我们的财务状况已变得不稳定了。
• He earned a precarious living as an artist.作为一个艺术家，他过得是朝不保夕的生活。

20 elimination   

n.排除，消除，消灭

参考例句：

• Their elimination from the competition was a great surprise.他们在比赛中遭到淘汰是个很大的意外。
• I was eliminated from the 400 metres in the semi-finals.我在400米半决赛中被淘汰。

21 delude   

vt.欺骗；哄骗

参考例句：

• You won't delude him into believing it.你不能诱使他相信此事。
• Don't delude yourself into believing that she will marry you.不要自欺，别以为她会嫁给你。

22 willow   

n.柳树

参考例句：

• The river was sparsely lined with willow trees.河边疏疏落落有几棵柳树。
• The willow's shadow falls on the lake.垂柳的影子倒映在湖面上。

23 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。