美国国家电台 NPR 2012-09-12

 Poignant public and private moments are marking the remembrances on this 11th anniversary of the September 11th attacks. NPR’s Craig Windham reports President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama were among those who gathered for a ceremony at the Pentagon.

 

A military band played as the president placed a wreath on the memorial garden. He said as painful as this day is, the nation is now stronger.

 

“Osama bin¹ Laden² will never threaten us again. Our country is safer and our people are resilient.”

 

At Ground Zero in New York, a bagpiper³ played and relatives read the names of those killed there.

 

“My fiancée, firefighter, Joseph Jay Ogrun, I love and miss you so very much.”

 

And in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, Vice⁴ President Biden told family members that as their pain recedes⁵, he hopes they find comfort in recalling the smile, the laugh and the touch of their loved ones. Craig Windham, NPR News.

 

The anniversary prompted a break in the presidential campaign. Both candidates stopped their negative commercials for today and neither attended campaign rallies. Republican Mitt⁶ Romney spoke⁷ to the National Guard Convention in Reno, Nevada, whose members were deployed⁸ after the September 11th.

 

“These, then, were purposeful attacks. These were terrorist attacks. These were evil and cowardly and heinous⁹ attacks.”

 

Earlier Romney issued a statement that those who would attack the US should know that Americans are united and the determination to stand tall for peace and freedom.

 

Protesters scaled the walls of the US embassy in Cairo today and took down an American flag. The State Department says it’s working to restore order and to get the situation under control. Merrit Kennedy in Cairo reports.

 

This is in reaction to an amateur American film that mocks Prophet Mohamoud. The protesters are combination of Islamists and hardcore soccer fans, chanting against the United States and lighting¹⁰ up flares¹¹. The American embassy is a heavily securitized complex, just a block away from Tahiri Square, the center of the uprising last year. But in recent weeks security around the embassy appeared to have decreased. This is the first time that protesters have breached¹² its walls, although there were occasional demonstrations¹³ outside and a constant sit-in of hardcore Islamists for months. The Egyptian military moved in to secure the embassy, according to state media. For NPR News, I’m Merrit Kennedy in Cairo.

 

Officials in Pakistan say a fire broke out in a shoe factory in the eastern part of the country today. They say at least 23 people were killed.

 

Negotiations¹⁴ are underway in Chicago, designed to end the teachers strike now in its second day. Twenty-nine thousand employees are off the job, affecting some 350,000 students. The main issues include pay raises, job security and classroom conditions.

 

On Wall Street, the Dow was up 74 points; the NASDAQ is up a fraction at 3,103.

 

This is NPR News.

 

Moody¹⁵’s Investors¹⁶ Service said today it will most likely reduce the credit rating of the United States, if there’s no deal on the federal budget. Unless Congress reaches an agreement about 1.2 trillion dollars in spending cuts and tax increases, [it] will automatically go into effect on January 2nd. Moody says if there is no deal, it’s likely to drop the nation’s credit rating from AAA, the highest rating.

 

Former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman is heading back to prison today. NPR’s Debbie Elliott reports he’s due to finish out a sentence on a bribery¹⁷ conviction.

 

Siegelman was convicted in 2006 of giving former HealthSouth chief Richard Scrushy a seat on a medical regulatory board in exchange for a 500,000-dollar political contribution. The one-time Democratic governor of Alabama served nine months before being released to appeal. But when the US Supreme¹⁸ Court declined to take up his case, a federal judge ordered Siegelman to report to a Louisiana federal prison today to begin a 6.5-year sentence. Scrushy was also convicted in a corruption¹⁹ case and recently completed a five-year prison sentence. Siegelman and his supporters claimed he was the victim of a political prosecution²⁰ pursued by a Republican US attorney. He traveled to the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte last week to try to build support for a presidential pardon. Debbie Elliott, NPR News.

 

Post-tropical storm Leslie moved out to sea this afternoon after hitting Newfoundland with strong winds and heavy rains. The storm blew off roofs and brought down power lines. Utility officials say thousands of homes and businesses lost power. All flights were canceled at the main airport.

 

I’m Nora Raum, NPR News in Washington.

1 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

2 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

3 bagpiper   

n.吹风笛的人，风笛手

参考例句：

• Maybe I'll follow the sweet sound of the bagpiper playing along 16th Street. 也许我会顺着16街吹奏出的风笛甜美的声音走过去。 来自互联网

4 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

5 recedes   

v.逐渐远离( recede的第三人称单数 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题

参考例句：

• For this reason the near point gradually recedes as one grows older. 由于这个原因，随着人渐渐变老，近点便逐渐后退。 来自辞典例句
• Silent, mournful, abandoned, broken, Czechoslovakia recedes into the darkness. 缄默的、悲哀的、被抛弃的、支离破碎的捷克斯洛伐克，已在黑暗之中。 来自辞典例句

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 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。

8 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。

9 heinous   

adj.可憎的，十恶不赦的

参考例句：

• They admitted to the most heinous crimes.他们承认了极其恶劣的罪行。
• I do not want to meet that heinous person.我不想见那个十恶不赦的人。

10 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

11 flares   

n.喇叭裤v.（使）闪耀( flare的第三人称单数 )；（使）（船舷）外倾；（使）鼻孔张大；（使）（衣裙、酒杯等）呈喇叭形展开

参考例句：

• The side of a ship flares from the keel to the deck. 船舷从龙骨向甲板外倾。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He's got a fiery temper and flares up at the slightest provocation. 他是火爆性子，一点就着。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

12 breached   

攻破( breach的现在分词 )； 破坏，违反

参考例句：

• These commitments have already been breached. 这些承诺已遭背弃。
• Our tanks have breached the enemy defences. 我方坦克车突破了敌人的防线。

13 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

14 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

15 moody   

adj.心情不稳的，易怒的，喜怒无常的

参考例句：

• He relapsed into a moody silence.他又重新陷于忧郁的沉默中。
• I'd never marry that girl.She's so moody.我决不会和那女孩结婚的。她太易怒了。

16 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

17 bribery   

n.贿络行为，行贿，受贿

参考例句：

• FBI found out that the senator committed bribery.美国联邦调查局查明这个参议员有受贿行为。
• He was charged with bribery.他被指控受贿。

18 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

19 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

20 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。