NPR美国国家公共电台 NPR 2014-02-15

 From NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack¹ Speer. 

 

US commanders in Afghanistan are condemning² a decision by the Karzai government to release 65 prisoners. US says they're directly tied to attacks that killed and wounded dozens of NATO and Afghan forces. NPR's Tom Bowman has more. 

The Afghan government said there wasn't enough evidence to try those who are released from Bagram prison, just north of Kabul. But US officials say many of them had direct links to attacks and the evidence including fingerprints³ and explosion residues⁴ found on their hands and personal property. Among those releases, Nek Mohammad, is accused of helping⁵ a stage rocket attack against US and Afghan forces around Kandahar. He was found with several 107-millimeter artillery⁶ shells as well as mortal rounds in homemade explosives. Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said president Karzai has sidestepped his own rule of law. Graham wants to cut off all US develop aids until Afghan election is held in April. Tom Bowman, NPR News, Washington. 

 

GM is recalling near 800,000 older model compact cars because of the ignition key problem. As Michigan Radio Sarah Swags reports, the carmaker says the problem has been linked to 6 deaths. 

The recalling applies to some 2005 through 2007 model year Chevrolet Cobalts and Pontiac G5s. their fault ignition switch could actually cause the car’s ignition to shut off while driving. According to GM, that can be caused by a joint⁷ event at rough roads or even the drivers’ key chains be too heavy. It can also result in airbags failing to deploy⁸ in a crash. The Detroit automaker acknowledges that the flaw has been connected to 6 deaths in crashes or airbag didn’t deploy. GM dealers⁹ will replace the ignition switch in effected cars with recon loads going out to owners in the coming weeks. For NPR News, I’m Sarah Swagsin Detroit. 

 

Facebook is announcing its 159 million US users will now get an option can complete a question on their profiles, identifying gender¹⁰. Working with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights groups, the social networking site has come up with a costumer option which lets users indentify from up to 50 different terms which as known gender. Alex Schultz as Facebook director of growth:

"Facebook wants to allow people to be able to express their genuine authentic¹¹ self in the site, and we want them to express their whole selves and so we allow people to express something fundamental. While they think about their gender is not really that cool, so we want to make that available for everyone we possibly can."

Among the gender options, Facebook users in the US will now be able to specify¹² in androgynous, bigender, intersex, or genderfluid.

 

Nation's retailers¹⁴ were a bit less busy last month as the released in terms of their sales number that American spent less money on autos, clothing and restaurants.  According to the Commerce Department, retail¹³ sales were down 0.4%, marking the second straight decline after a smaller drop the previous month. 

 

Stocks close higher today with Dow back about 17,000. the Dow was up 63 points. 

 

You're listening to NPR. 

 

The mediator¹⁵ for the UN broker¹⁶ Syrian peace talks now says Russia and US have agreed to help break current deadlock¹⁷. UN negotiator Lakhdar Brahimi, emerging from the meeting, with senior US and Russia officials today said respective countries have agreed to try to unblock the situation because it lacks of progress. Second Syrian peace conference in Geneva this year offered an opportunity for conversation but resulted in little way of movement. 

 

The Obama administration is leading at an international new created global bio-surveillance network. NPR's Jason Beaubien reports the project aims at setup a system to quickly attack or respond to emerging disease outbreaks. 

The global health security agenda is an international network for aim to try to a deal with new infectious diseases wherever they popped up in the world. the project is a collaboration¹⁸ between 26 countries in the world health organization and several other international agencies. The idea is to try to be better prepared to the next SARS or swine flu outbreak. National security officials say an international bio-surveillance network will also help spot potentially dangerous passengers whether they're released accidentally or a part of terrorist attack. The initiatives will help laboratories in low-income countries so they're better able to monitor and hopefully contain the emerging disease outbreaks and other potential bio-hazards. Jason Beaubien, NPR News. 

 

Evacuation is under way in Indonesia on a densely¹⁹ populated isle²⁰ after a volcano there began erupting. Officials say the upward 200,000 people living in 36 villages were deemed the dangerous zone for the volcano which is the isle of Java. In 1990, the same volcano Mount Kelud erupted with serious flame and lava²¹ that killed more than 30 people and injured a number of others. 

1 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

2 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》

3 fingerprints   

n.指纹( fingerprint的名词复数 )v.指纹( fingerprint的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Everyone's fingerprints are unique. 每个人的指纹都是独一无二的。
• They wore gloves so as not to leave any fingerprints behind (them). 他们戴着手套，以免留下指纹。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 residues   

n.剩余，余渣( residue的名词复数 )；剩余财产；剩数

参考例句：

• pesticide residues in fruit and vegetables 残留在水果和蔬菜中的杀虫剂
• All organic and metallic residues on the wafers must be removed. 片子上所有的有机和金属残留物均必须清除。 来自辞典例句

5 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

6 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

7 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

8 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

9 dealers   

n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者

参考例句：

• There was fast bidding between private collectors and dealers. 私人收藏家和交易商急速竞相喊价。
• The police were corrupt and were operating in collusion with the drug dealers. 警察腐败，与那伙毒品贩子内外勾结。

10 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

11 authentic   

a.真的，真正的；可靠的，可信的，有根据的

参考例句：

• This is an authentic news report. We can depend on it. 这是篇可靠的新闻报道, 我们相信它。
• Autumn is also the authentic season of renewal. 秋天才是真正的除旧布新的季节。

12 specify   

vt.指定，详细说明

参考例句：

• We should specify a time and a place for the meeting.我们应指定会议的时间和地点。
• Please specify what you will do.请你详述一下你将做什么。

13 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。

14 retailers   

零售商，零售店( retailer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• High street retailers reported a marked increase in sales before Christmas. 商业街的零售商报告说圣诞节前销售量显著提高。
• Retailers have a statutory duty to provide goods suitable for their purpose. 零售商有为他们提供符合要求的货品的法定义务。

15 mediator   

n.调解人，中介人

参考例句：

• He always takes the role of a mediator in any dispute.他总是在争论中充当调停人的角色。
• He will appear in the role of mediator.他将出演调停者。

16 broker   

n.中间人，经纪人；v.作为中间人来安排

参考例句：

• He baited the broker by promises of higher commissions.他答应给更高的佣金来引诱那位经纪人。
• I'm a real estate broker.我是不动产经纪人。

17 deadlock   

n.僵局，僵持

参考例句：

• The negotiations reached a deadlock after two hours.两小时后，谈判陷入了僵局。
• The employers and strikers are at a deadlock over the wage.雇主和罢工者在工资问题上相持不下。

18 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。

19 densely   

ad.密集地；浓厚地

参考例句：

• A grove of trees shadowed the house densely. 树丛把这幢房子遮蔽得很密实。
• We passed through miles of densely wooded country. 我们穿过好几英里茂密的林地。

20 isle   

n.小岛，岛

参考例句：

• He is from the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea.他来自爱尔兰海的马恩岛。
• The boat left for the paradise isle of Bali.小船驶向天堂一般的巴厘岛。

21 lava   

n.熔岩，火山岩

参考例句：

• The lava flowed down the sides of the volcano.熔岩沿火山坡面涌流而下。
• His anger spilled out like lava.他的愤怒像火山爆发似的迸发出来。