NPR美国国家公共电台 NPR 2014-01-20

 “What do we want? Safe water! When do we want? Now!”

West Virginians rallied out the State House in Charleston today in the wake of a chemical spill that left 300,000 people without clean water. Resident Janet Thompson told WOWKTV that he wants to see a major cleanup. 

“I don’t care who he did what in the past; how the incident happened; I don’t care about legislation in the future. I want we have super fund do some right now pull the plant down; clean the water up, so we can go home.”

The company blamed for the chemical spill is now filing for bankruptcy¹. The filling temporarily holds numerous lawsuits³ against freedom in industry and allows the company to continue operation. 

 

Afghan president Hamid Karzai is condemning⁴ a Taliban suicide attack in Kabul that killed 21 Afghans and foreign civilians⁵, including 3 Americans. NPR’s Sean Carberry reports.

The assault on the popular Lebanese restaurant is the most deadly attack on foreign civilians in Kabul since the start of the war in 2001. After a militant⁶ blew off himself outside the restaurant, 2 attackers stormed inside and gunned down 13 foreigners, mostly civilians working with UN and other international agencies. The Taliban claimed the attack was a retribution for a recent US airstrike that allegedly killed Afghan civilians. In his condemnation⁷ issued 20 hours after the restaurant attack, Karzai also said US’ policies in Afghanistan have not been successful and have caused Afghan people great sacrifice. Sean Carberry, NPR News, Kabul. 

 

The South Sudanese military says it has recaptured a strategic city, north of the capital and is moving to outer rebels from another stronghold. But NPR’s Gregory Warner reports no capture can be certain and a month old conflict where the battle line keeps shifting. 

The strategic city of Bor, close to the country’s capital and to many of its oil fields has changed hands 4 times over the past month. Captured by rebels then retaken, recaptured and now apparently⁸ retaken by the South Sudanese military with critical air and ground support from Uganda. The leader of rebel forces is the country’s former vice⁹ president. He accuses the president of attempted genocide and his marshal to rebel fighting force did some see including thousands of children. Peace talks continue in the Ethiopian capital, but the observers said the both sides seem to be trying to gain a military upper hand before any ceasefire is agreed upon. Gregory Warner, NPR News, Nairobi.

 

At least 30 people have been killed in violence across Iraq today, including a series of car bombings around Baghdad. Fighting is also continuing between government troops and militants¹⁰ over controls of country’s contested Anbar Province. The White House says Vice President Joe Biden called the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki today to discuss the fighting. 

 

This is NPR News. 

 

A group of plane crash survivals are suing Boeing, claiming it fail to install etiquette¹¹ safety system in some of its planes. Novel Saffle reports from Chicago. 

The lawsuit² stems from Asiana Airline crash last July in which Boeing 777 came in for a landing just short the runway at San Francisco International Airport and hit seawall. 3 people died and more than 180 others were injured. Now a group of passengers is suing Chicago-based Boeing in Illinois State Court. The passengers claim the aircraft that crashed had inadequate¹² low speed warning and automatic correction system and they say Boeing should have done more to train the pilots. The crash investigation¹³ has shown that low speed and not enough training were facts in the Asiana Airline crash. Boeing says it has no comment on the lawsuit. For NPR News, I’m Novel Saffle in Chicago. 

 

Officials in California say the soaring value of the state’s nut crops is attracting and new breed of thieves who have been making off with pricy commodities by the truckload. Almond farmer Kevin Fondse says the theft of nuts is a growing problem, but officials have been working on ways to trace the theft down. 

“I have a neighbor that his farm has been thieved away 3 truckloads store out of the yard. He is a @@ lander of walnuts¹⁴ that has been through fake trail that wasn’t found.”

Domestic demand for specialty¹⁵ foods and an expanding Asian market for them have prompted a nut orchard¹⁶ boom in the state's agricultural heartland, which is a worldwide leader. 

1 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

2 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

3 lawsuits   

n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权，耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
• I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多，赢的也多，输的也多。 来自辞典例句

4 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》

5 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。

6 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。

7 condemnation   

n.谴责; 定罪

参考例句：

• There was widespread condemnation of the invasion. 那次侵略遭到了人们普遍的谴责。
• The jury's condemnation was a shock to the suspect. 陪审团宣告有罪使嫌疑犯大为震惊。

8 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

9 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。

10 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

11 etiquette   

n.礼仪，礼节；规矩

参考例句：

• The rules of etiquette are not so strict nowadays.如今的礼仪规则已不那么严格了。
• According to etiquette,you should stand up to meet a guest.按照礼节你应该站起来接待客人。

12 inadequate   

adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的

参考例句：

• The supply is inadequate to meet the demand.供不应求。
• She was inadequate to the demands that were made on her.她还无力满足对她提出的各项要求。

13 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。

14 walnuts   

胡桃（树）( walnut的名词复数 )； 胡桃木

参考例句：

• Are there walnuts in this sauce? 这沙司里面有核桃吗？
• We ate eggs and bacon, pickled walnuts and cheese. 我们吃鸡蛋，火腿，腌胡桃仁和干酪。

15 specialty   

n.(speciality)特性，特质；专业，专长

参考例句：

• Shell carvings are a specialty of the town.贝雕是该城的特产。
• His specialty is English literature.他的专业是英国文学。

16 orchard   

n.果园，果园里的全部果树，(美俚)棒球场

参考例句：

• My orchard is bearing well this year.今年我的果园果实累累。
• Each bamboo house was surrounded by a thriving orchard.每座竹楼周围都是茂密的果园。