NPR 2012-03-12

 US officials are trying to determine exactly what happened in a village in southern Afghanistan early this morning. Afghan officials say an American soldier went on a shooting spree, killing¹ 16 civilians² including nine children. Siddique Siddiqui is the spokesman for the Afghan Interior Ministry³. He says an investigation⁴ is underway.

 

“We are looking into it very carefully and seriously. A high-profile delegation⁵ of the Ministry of Interior has traveled to the area, and a special team has been assigned to investigate the incident.”

 

US officials say a soldier is in custody⁶. In the US, NPR's Sonari Glinton reports both Republicans and Democrats⁸ are offering their condolences.

 

As reports of the killing in Afghanistan continue to come in, members of both parties are condemning⁹ the attacks. Here’s former House Speaker and Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich on CBS's “Face the Nation.”

 

“We obviously want to offer condolences to the families. I think we want to offer compensation. We want to recognize this is a terrible event.”

 

And Senate Majority Leader Harry¹⁰ Reid speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union” says American soldiers are under tremendous stress in Afghanistan.

 

“But no one can condone¹¹ or make any suggestion that what he did was right. It was absolutely wrong.”

 

Both Reid and Gingrich called for the US to continue on its path of withdrawal¹² from Afghanistan. Sonari Glinton, NPR News, Washington.

 

Israel fired rockets into the Gaza Strip again today. Health officials say three Palestinians were killed, including a 12-year-old boy. Palestinians in Gaza fired rockets into southern Israel for a third day. No injuries or damage were reported. 

 

Fresh off a victory in Kansas, GOP presidential hopeful Rick Santorum next moved on to neighboring Missouri. Isabel Hohl from members station of KRCU reports his visit included a stop in Rush Limbaugh's hometown.

 

Santorum addressed 700 Republicans at a Lincoln Day event in Cape¹³ Girardeau, Missouri. He later joked that visiting Limbaugh's hometown is “like a trip to Mecca.” Voter Chris Kinder is still undecided between Santorum and Newt Gingrich, but he likes Santorum's perseverance¹⁴.

 

“It's gonna tough. He’s got a long road to travel still yet, but I mean he’s already proven that he can come from behind. So it's not over yet. We’ll see what happens.”

 

Santorum carried Missouri in February's non-binding primary. Missouri Republicans will choose delegates in a caucus¹⁵ on Saturday. For NPR News, I'm Isabel Hohl.

 

Mitt¹⁶ Romney leads in the number of delegates apportioned¹⁷ in primary and caucus votes so far. The campaign moves to the South this week with primaries in Alabama and Mississippi. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says he thinks the Democrats will retain control of the Senate. He told CNN he’s more confident after the announcement that Republican Senator Olympia Snowe will not seek reelection and Democrat⁷ Bob Kerrey will run in Nebraska. 

 

This is NPR News.

 

The nation's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the USS Enterprise, left port for its final voyage today. NPR's Allison Keyes reports the ship is legendary¹⁸ both in real life and on the movie screen.

 

That's the sound of a fighter jet launching from the deck of the USS Enterprise in the movie “Top Gun.” The warship¹⁹, known as “Big E,” is headed to its final deployment²⁰ in the Middle East. Chief Mass Communication Specialist Steven White is on board.

 

“It is, uh, it's a bittersweet emotion.”

 

He says the 50-year-old warship was one of the first vessels²¹ to respond after the September 11th attacks.

 

“We have a long and storied history in answering the nation's call whenever and wherever.”

 

Chief White says this is the eighth ship called the Enterprise, not counting the fictional²² starships of the same name. As for the final deployment, “this is just, this is not usual for us.” Allison Keyes, NPR News.

 

Japan today observed the one-year anniversary of an earthquake and tsunami²³ that hit its northeast coast. More than 19,000 people died or are still missing and presumed dead. The quake had a magnitude of 9, the strongest recorded in Japanese history. It set up a tsunami that surged to 65 feet in some places, destroying tens of thousands of homes. Officials say there are some 325,000 people still living in temporary housing.

 

Swiss voters today rejected a proposal that would have required their employers to give them more vacation. The minimum paid holiday is now four weeks a year. A referendum called for an increase to six weeks a year. The standard used in many European nations. Companies had warned that the plan would raise labor²⁴ costs and could put the economy at risk.

 

I'm Nora Raum, NPR News in Washington.

1 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。

2 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

3 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

4 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

5 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

6 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

7 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

8 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 condemning   

v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的现在分词 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地

参考例句：

• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。
• I concur with the speaker in condemning what has been done. 我同意发言者对所做的事加以谴责。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

10 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

11 condone   

v.宽恕；原谅

参考例句：

• I cannot condone the use of violence.我不能宽恕使用暴力的行为。
• I will not condone a course of action that will lead us to war.我绝不允许任何导致战争的行为。

12 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

13 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

14 perseverance   

n.坚持不懈，不屈不挠

参考例句：

• It may take some perseverance to find the right people.要找到合适的人也许需要有点锲而不舍的精神。
• Perseverance leads to success.有恒心就能胜利。

15 caucus   

n.秘密会议；干部会议；v.（参加）干部开会议

参考例句：

• This multi-staged caucus takes several months.这个多级会议常常历时好几个月。
• It kept the Democratic caucus from fragmenting.它也使得民主党的核心小组避免了土崩瓦解的危险。

16 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。

17 apportioned   

vt.分摊，分配（apportion的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• They apportioned the land among members of the family. 他们把土地分给了家中各人。
• The group leader apportioned them the duties for the week. 组长给他们分派了这星期的任务。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

18 legendary   

adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学）

参考例句：

• Legendary stories are passed down from parents to children.传奇故事是由父母传给孩子们的。
• Odysseus was a legendary Greek hero.奥狄修斯是传说中的希腊英雄。

19 warship   

n.军舰，战舰

参考例句：

• He is serving on a warship in the Pacific.他在太平洋海域的一艘军舰上服役。
• The warship was making towards the pier.军舰正驶向码头。

20 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

21 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

22 fictional   

adj.小说的，虚构的

参考例句：

• The names of the shops are entirely fictional.那些商店的名字完全是虚构的。
• The two authors represent the opposite poles of fictional genius.这两位作者代表了天才小说家两个极端。

23 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。

24 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。