NPR美国国家公共电台 2013-01-28

　　From NPR News in Washington, I’m Korva Coleman.

 

　　Brazilian authorities say a night-club fire killed more than 200 people early today, mostly students in the southern city of Santa Maria. The BBC’s Gary Duffy reports witnesses say the fire began after a member of a band that was playing at the time lit fireworks on stage.

 

　　We are getting very clear as eyewitness¹ accounts from people who were inside that club at the time and what they are saying is that the flames spread extremely quickly. Even so it is not the fire itself which has been blamed for the majority of deaths. What the police and the fire services are saying quite emphatically is that people died in the panic to get out. So the question’s now you are focusing on whether really the safety procedures in this club were adequate.

 

　　The BBC’s Gary Duffy in Brazil.

 

　　Protests continue in Egypt against President Mohammed Morsi for a fourth day. Police in Cairo clashed with street demonstrators who say Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood² political party have betrayed the country’s revolution. Separately in the northern city of Port Said, mass funerals were held today for some of the more than 30 people who died in rioting yesterday. Three people were killed today. The violence erupted yesterday after a court sentenced 21 soccer fans to death for their role in in the deadly soccer riot a year ago. Now President Morsi has declared a state of emergency in Port Said and two other Egyptian provinces.

 

　　French forces along with soldiers from Mali are moving north toward the Malian town of Timbuktu. It has been in the hands of Islamist rebels since last April. French troops arrived in Mali earlier this month to push out the rebels who were threatening to advance on the Malian capital. France has used airstrikes and heavy weapons to attack the insurgents³.

 

　　Starting today, you may be paying more to use your credit card. NPR’s Allison Keyes reports it’s the result of a federal court ruling.

 

　　Last year a U.S. district court ruled that merchants can impose a surcharge of up to 4% of your purchase price on customers paying by credit card. The charges are supposed to equal the cost of processing the credit card transaction, but it’s unclear how many merchants will implement⁴ them. A spokesman for the National Retail⁶ Federation⁷ told NBC News not a single merchant he spoke⁵ to plans to impose the charges. Debit⁸ cards are exempted⁹ from a $7. 2 billion settlement agreement between credit card companies and merchants, and credit card surcharges are banned by law in 10 states including California, Maine and Texas. The settlement is being appealed. Allison Keyes, NPR News.

 

　　There’s a winter storm icing parts of the mid-west according to National Weather Service meteorologist Bob Oravec.

 

　　It will be a general trend for the freezing rain to be changing over the rain as we do have some milder air pressing northeastward from the central part of United States towards the north-central part of the United States. So we do expect the rain to be the predominant precipitation type by Sunday afternoon.

 

　　Oravec says warmer temperatures are expected by tomorrow.

 

　　This is NPR.

 

　　Tornado¹⁰ watches have been issued along large parts of Australia’s east coast as the remnants of a tropical cyclone¹¹ sweep across the region. As Stuart Cohen reports from Sydney, evacuations have also been ordered in many towns threatened by wide-spread flooding.

 

　　Torrential rain from the remnants of Cyclone Oswald continues to fall across central and southern Queensland and well into the state of New South Wales all the way down to Sydney. At least five tornadoes¹² ripped through towns along the Queensland coast. In Australia’s third largest city Brisbane, the government is warning thousands of homes and businesses will be affected¹³ by flooding. But the Queensland State Premier¹⁴ is cautioning residents who remember the record flooding from two years ago not to panic.

 

　　“I just wanna stress this is far, far a lesser¹⁵ event than 2011. That’s why people need to just be calm. Have a big think and then decide what they want to do.” The massive storm hits as hundreds of thousands of people travel Australia’s east coast for the main summer holiday weekend. For NPR News, I’m Stuart Cohen in Sydney.

 

　　The defending champ of the Australian Open men’s tennis final has kept his title. Novac Djokovic of Serbia defeated Britain Andy Murray today. Djokovic has now won the Australian Open three years in a row.

 

　　One of the biggest shopping malls in the world was robbed this weekend. Police in the Philippines say armed men entered a huge mall in the suburb of Manila, the capital, and held up a jewelry¹⁶ store. They fired shots into the air to terrify people and then used a wrench¹⁷ to break into glass showcases. They successfully made off with the gems¹⁸ and no one was hurt. The shop is in the SM Megamall, which reportedly attracts between half a million and one million people every day.

 

　　I’m Korva Coleman, NPR News from Washington.

1 eyewitness   

n.目击者，见证人

参考例句：

• The police questioned several eyewitness to the murder.警察询问了谋杀案的几位目击者。
• He was the only eyewitness of the robbery.他是那起抢劫案的唯一目击者。

2 brotherhood   

n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊

参考例句：

• They broke up the brotherhood.他们断绝了兄弟关系。
• They live and work together in complete equality and brotherhood.他们完全平等和兄弟般地在一起生活和工作。

3 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

4 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

5 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。

6 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。

7 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

8 debit   

n.借方，借项，记人借方的款项

参考例句：

• To whom shall I debit this sum?此款应记入谁的账户的借方？
• We undercharge Mr.Smith and have to send him a debit note for the extra amount.我们少收了史密斯先生的钱，只得给他寄去一张借条所要欠款。

9 exempted   

使免除[豁免]( exempt的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• His bad eyesight exempted him from military service. 他因视力不好而免服兵役。
• Her illness exempted her from the examination. 她因病而免试。

10 tornado   

n.飓风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• A tornado whirled into the town last week.龙卷风上周袭击了这座城市。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。

11 cyclone   

n.旋风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• An exceptionally violent cyclone hit the town last night.昨晚异常猛烈的旋风吹袭了那个小镇。
• The cyclone brought misery to thousands of people.旋风给成千上万的人带来苦难。

12 tornadoes   

n.龙卷风，旋风( tornado的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Tornadoes, severe earthquakes, and plagues create wide spread havoc. 龙卷风、大地震和瘟疫成普遍的毁坏。 来自互联网
• Meteorologists are at odds over the working of tornadoes. 气象学者对龙卷风的运动方式看法不一。 来自互联网

13 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

14 premier   

adj.首要的；n.总理，首相

参考例句：

• The Irish Premier is paying an official visit to Britain.爱尔兰总理正在对英国进行正式访问。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。

15 lesser   

adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地

参考例句：

• Kept some of the lesser players out.不让那些次要的球员参加联赛。
• She has also been affected,but to a lesser degree.她也受到波及，但程度较轻。

16 jewelry   

n.（jewllery）（总称）珠宝

参考例句：

• The burglars walked off with all my jewelry.夜盗偷走了我的全部珠宝。
• Jewelry and lace are mostly feminine belongings.珠宝和花边多数是女性用品。

17 wrench   

v.猛拧；挣脱；使扭伤；n.扳手；痛苦，难受

参考例句：

• He gave a wrench to his ankle when he jumped down.他跳下去的时候扭伤了足踝。
• It was a wrench to leave the old home.离开这个老家非常痛苦。

18 gems   

growth； economy； management； and customer satisfaction 增长

参考例句：

• a crown studded with gems 镶有宝石的皇冠
• The apt citations and poetic gems have adorned his speeches. 贴切的引语和珠玑般的诗句为他的演说词增添文采。