NPR 2012-05-20

 Leaders of eight leading world economies are meeting today at Camp David, in the Maryland mountains to discuss the European debt crisis. Michael Froman is president Obama's deputy national security advisor¹ on international economics. He says the leaders agree they hope Greece can remain part of the eurozone.

There are a lot of important choices the Greece faces in the coming weeks. They are in the midst of an election campaign. They need to choose a government, that government needs to choose an economic strategy and as they do that, the G8 want to affirm their interest if Greece stays part of the eurozone while respecting its commitment. 

The summit is to wrap up tonight. The world leaders will then travel to Chicago for a two-day NATO summit which opens tomorrow. 

 

 

President Obama's reelection campaign is launching a new website to help voters navigate² a slow of state in local voting laws, including new one's requiring photo ID and limiting early voting. NPR's Pam Fessler reports.

 

 

The website is called gottavote.org. Bob Bauer, the campaign's general Counsel  says it's a one-stop shop for those looking for answers to important questions, such as, When do I have to register by? What do I need to bring to the poll? Can I vote early? Where is my polling place? The information is state-specific and available in English and Spanish. It's part of the Democratic efforts to sign up as many new voters as possible and make sure that new voting restriction³ don't discourage those most likely to vote Democratic from going to the polls. Democrats⁴ and voting rights group are fighting the laws in court. But they want to educate voters just in case the new requirements are still in effect in November. Pam Fessler, NPR News, Washington.

 

 

At least ten people were killed and three more wounded in a suicide bombing in eastern Afghanistan today. The attacker targeted an Afghan police checkpoint. NPR's Ahmad Shafi  reports. 

Afghan officials say the police were searching cars when the attacker walked out of his vehicle and set off his explosives, killing⁵ over a dozen civilians⁶ and also two police officers. Khost province lies at the border with Pakistan, the Haqqani network has a stronghold inside the Pakistani border areas where they frequently attack Afghan and US-led NATO forces. Ahmad Shafi , NPR News, Kabul. 

 

 

Chinese activists⁷ Chen Guangcheng is on his way to the United States, ending a month-long diplomatic dispute. Chinese officials today allowed him to travel to the US to further his education. Here he is speaking in ** with a reporter before going to a plane in Beijing. Chen was saying he hopes that his supporters understand why he is leaving China, he is heading to New York. He had been in prison and under house arrest for seven years. He escaped in April and sought sanctuary⁹ in the US embassy. 

 

 

You are listening to NPR News. 

 

 

A private company was supposed to launch a supply ship to the International Space Station from Cape⁸ Canaveral, but the mission was aborted¹⁰ a half second before lift off. The on-board computers automatically shut everything down while they detected a problem in one engine. Tuesday is the earliest that SpaceX can try again. This was the first attempted launch by several private US companies hoping to take over the job of delivering cargo¹¹ to the space station. Now the shuttle mission has ended. 

 

 

The second jewel in Horse racing¹² Triple Crown has been run today at Pimlico Race Course, outside Baltimore. ** of member station WYPR reports this year's Preakness will offer a rematch of the top 2 Kentucky Derby finishers.

All half another came from behind the HL Bodemeister with the Derby. The winner we said no time getting to Pimlico arriving less than 48 hours after his victory. The earliest arrival in recent memory. Trainer Doug O'Neill thinks that's working well for him. 

The horse settled in beautifully and now as you see, other horses are going to rush in. And I feel like we have an edge.  Bob Baffert, Bodemeister's trainer has one of the best records in Preakness history with five wins. He didn't bring his horse to Pimlico until Wednesday. But he thinks Bodemeister will have enough time to settle in. 

You know what you never knew. But I could always ** from excuse. The Ads makers¹³ have made Baffert's Bodemeister to win the 137th running of Preakness. For NPR News, I'm ** Baltimore.

 

 

A Japanese woman beat her own record today. Tamae Watanabe reached the summit of Mount Everest becoming the oldest woman to climb the mountain. She became the oldest ten years old. This time, she is 73.

 

 

I'm Nora Raum, NPR News in Washington.

1 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。

2 navigate   

v.航行，飞行；导航，领航

参考例句：

• He was the first man to navigate the Atlantic by air.他是第一个飞越大西洋的人。
• Such boats can navigate on the Nile.这种船可以在尼罗河上航行。

3 restriction   

n.限制，约束

参考例句：

• The park is open to the public without restriction.这个公园对公众开放，没有任何限制。
• The 30 mph speed restriction applies in all built-up areas.每小时限速30英里适用于所有建筑物聚集区。

4 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》

5 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。

6 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。

7 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》

8 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。

9 sanctuary   

n.圣所，圣堂，寺庙；禁猎区，保护区

参考例句：

• There was a sanctuary of political refugees behind the hospital.医院后面有一个政治难民的避难所。
• Most countries refuse to give sanctuary to people who hijack aeroplanes.大多数国家拒绝对劫机者提供庇护。

10 aborted   

adj.流产的，失败的v.（使）流产( abort的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）（某事物）中止；（因故障等而）（使）（飞机、宇宙飞船、导弹等）中断飞行；（使）（飞行任务等）中途失败

参考例句：

• The rocket flight had to be aborted because of difficulties with computer. 因电脑出故障，这次火箭飞行只好中辍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They aborted the space flight finally. 他们最后中止了这次宇航飞行。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

12 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

13 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》