NPR美国国家公共电台 NPR 2013-08-23

 The Army staff sergeant¹ who massacred 16 Afghan villagers during a nighttime raid last year says what he did was an act of cowardice³ behind a mask of fear and bravado⁴. NPR's Martin Kaste describes Robert Bales' demeanor⁵ today.

When Sgt. Bales took the stand in the small courtroom here, he was visibly nervous. He his puffed⁶ out his cheeks, had to control his breathing. It was clearly taking him a lot of effort just to keep himself calm and collected as his lawyer asked him questions about his mood (on) the day of the massacre².

NPR's Martin Kaste. Bales will serve life in prison, but a jury will decide whether he gets a shot at freedom some day.

Jurors are now deliberating in Major Nidal Hasan's trial for the 2009 Fort Hood⁷ shooting that claimed 13 lives and left more than 30 people wounded. Kate McGee with member station KUT reports Nidal Hasan representing himself had nothing to say, but it was just the opposite for the prosecution⁸.

Government lawyers boiled down 11 days of testimony⁹ into an hour-and-a-half closing argument. They replayed tape from a 911 phone call, video of the shooting抯 aftermath and a dashboard camera from the police who responded to the shooting. Hasan did not give any closing arguments. Nine of the 13 members of the military panel must agree for Hasan to be found guilty. They must unanimously agree for him to receive the death penalty. For NPR News, I'm Kate McGee at Fort Hood.

The Obama administration says so far it's unable to conclusively¹⁰ determine if chemical weapons were used in an attack near the Syrian capital yesterday. UN monitors are on the ground, but so far they are blocked from verifying rebels' allegations that the military conducted the attack.

Several rockets are fired from southern Lebanon toward Israel today and one did not reach its target. Tim Fitzsimons reports from Beirut the attack raises tensions on a border that has been mostly calm for years.

According to the Israel Defense¹¹ Forces, none of the four rockets fell on Israeli territory. One was shot out of the sky by the country's Iron Dome¹² missile defense system and there were no casualties. The incident raises tensions on an increasingly uneasy border. On August 7th, a bomb exploded near the blue line and wounded four Israeli soldiers. The Lebanese Armed Forces said Israelis had entered Lebanese territory. In 2006 Israel fought a month-long war with the Lebanese militant¹³ organization Hezbollah, during which rockets and bombs were exchanged between the two sides. However, Israel did not accuse Hezbollah of involvement in the rocket incident. An IDF statement blamed the strike on global jihad terrorists, and a spokesman told Israeli TV the IDF is regarding this as a one-time incident. There is no change in regulations or orders. For NPR News, I'm Tim Fitzsimons in Beirut.

The NASDAQ Stock Exchange is back in business. NPR's Steve Henn says it was a technical glitch¹⁴.

Major stocks like Apple and Microsoft were unable to be traded for three hours today.

Dow was up 66, NASDAQ up now 39 more than 1% at 3,639. This is NPR News.

Deposed¹⁵ Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak's out of prison and under house arrest at a military hospital in Cairo. He is expected to be retried, starting next week on charges he was complicit in the deaths of hundreds of protesters during a 2011 uprising that overthrew¹⁶ him.

Egypt is now dealing¹⁷ with a new round of unrest this time over former President Mohammed Morsi who was overthrown¹⁸ last month. A man convicted of murder and rape¹⁹ has become the first person in Britain to challenge his sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Larry Miller²⁰ reports the move comes after European judges ruled such sentences amounted to human rights violations²¹.

In 1983 Arthur Hutchinson broke into a home, stabbing to death three members of the same family and raping²² a teenage guest. The trial judge rule that 搇ife will mean life.?Hutchinson and three other killers²³ appealed to the European Court of Human Rights, which says life behind bars is inhuman²⁴ and degrading, and prisoners should have their cases reviewed after 25 years. If no longer dangerous, they should be freed. Britain has six months to respond. If a court rejects his challenge, Hutchinson could be given a parole hearing. He is one of around 50 lifers. Many other have sentences exceeding the 25 years. Britain's justice secretary says his sympathies are with the victims and he'll resist the ruling. For NPR News, I'm Larry Miller in London.

Rates for fixed²⁵ mortgages in the US are at the highest levels in two years. Mortgage giant Freddie Mac says the average rate on the 30-year loan has risen a 4.58% this week. The average on the 15-year loan has increased to 3.6%.

1 sergeant   

n.警官，中士

参考例句：

• His elder brother is a sergeant.他哥哥是个警官。
• How many stripes are there on the sleeve of a sergeant?陆军中士的袖子上有多少条纹？

2 massacre   

n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀

参考例句：

• There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在战争中，这里的村民惨遭屠杀。
• If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘记了大屠杀，大屠杀就有可能再次发生！

3 cowardice   

n.胆小，怯懦

参考例句：

• His cowardice reflects on his character.他的胆怯对他的性格带来不良影响。
• His refusal to help simply pinpointed his cowardice.他拒绝帮助正显示他的胆小。

4 bravado   

n.虚张声势，故作勇敢，逞能

参考例句：

• Their behaviour was just sheer bravado. 他们的行为完全是虚张声势。
• He flourished the weapon in an attempt at bravado. 他挥舞武器意在虚张声势。

5 demeanor   

n.行为；风度

参考例句：

• She is quiet in her demeanor.她举止文静。
• The old soldier never lost his military demeanor.那个老军人从来没有失去军人风度。

6 puffed   

adj.疏松的v.使喷出( puff的过去式和过去分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧

参考例句：

• He lit a cigarette and puffed at it furiously. 他点燃了一支香烟，狂吸了几口。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He felt grown-up, puffed up with self-importance. 他觉得长大了，便自以为了不起。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 hood   

n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖

参考例句：

• She is wearing a red cloak with a hood.她穿着一件红色带兜帽的披风。
• The car hood was dented in.汽车的发动机罩已凹了进去。

8 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。

9 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

10 conclusively   

adv.令人信服地，确凿地

参考例句：

• All this proves conclusively that she couldn't have known the truth. 这一切无可置疑地证明她不可能知道真相。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• From the facts,he was able to determine conclusively that the death was not a suicide. 根据这些事实他断定这起死亡事件并非自杀。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

12 dome   

n.圆屋顶，拱顶

参考例句：

• The dome was supported by white marble columns.圆顶由白色大理石柱支撑着。
• They formed the dome with the tree's branches.他们用树枝搭成圆屋顶。

13 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

14 glitch   

n.干扰；误操作，小故障

参考例句：

• There is a glitch in the computer program somewhere.这个计算机程序中的某个部分有点小问题。
• It could just be a random glitch that can be solved by restarting the machine.可能只是一个小故障，重新启动主机就能解决了。

15 deposed   

v.罢免( depose的过去式和过去分词 )；（在法庭上）宣誓作证

参考例句：

• The president was deposed in a military coup. 总统在军事政变中被废黜。
• The head of state was deposed by the army. 国家元首被军队罢免了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 overthrew   

overthrow的过去式

参考例句：

• The people finally rose up and overthrew the reactionary regime. 人们终于起来把反动的政权推翻了。
• They overthrew their King. 他们推翻了国王。

17 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

18 overthrown   

adj. 打翻的，推倒的，倾覆的 动词overthrow的过去分词

参考例句：

• The president was overthrown in a military coup. 总统在军事政变中被赶下台。
• He has overthrown the basic standards of morality. 他已摒弃了基本的道德标准。

19 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

20 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

21 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

22 raping   

v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的现在分词 )；强奸

参考例句：

• In response, Charles VI sent a punitive expedition to Brittany, raping and killing the populace. 作为报复，查理六世派军讨伐布列塔尼，奸淫杀戮平民。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The conquerors marched on, burning, killing, raping and plundering as they went. 征服者所到之处烧杀奸掠，无所不做。 来自互联网

23 killers   

凶手( killer的名词复数 )； 消灭…者； 致命物； 极难的事

参考例句：

• He remained steadfast in his determination to bring the killers to justice. 他要将杀人凶手绳之以法的决心一直没有动摇。
• They were professional killers who did in John. 杀死约翰的这些人是职业杀手。

24 inhuman   

adj.残忍的，不人道的，无人性的

参考例句：

• We must unite the workers in fighting against inhuman conditions.我们必须使工人们团结起来反对那些难以忍受的工作条件。
• It was inhuman to refuse him permission to see his wife.不容许他去看自己的妻子是太不近人情了。

25 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。