NPR美国国家公共电台 NPR 2014-07-19

 Global reaction has been quick and calming following the crash of a Malaysia Airlines' jet with reported 298 people on board. Malaysia's prime minister demanding quick justice if it's determined¹ as US officials and others have stated that the plane was apparently² brought down by a surface-to-air missile. Vice³ President Joe Biden today said officials are still trying to determine whether any Americans were on board the plane.

 

We see reports that there may have been American citizens on board and obviously that's our first concern and we are now working every minute to try to confirm those reports as I speak. 

 

So far both Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian rebels are denying they fired on the plane. The jet's wreckage⁴ reported to be strewn over a wide area inside eastern Ukraine some 25 miles from the Russian border.

 

The Federal Aviation Administration had warned airlines in the US to avoid flying over the Crimean Peninsula and adjacencies  because of tensions over the region. But as NPR's David Schaper explains that restricted airspace is not with the Malaysia Airlines' Boeing 777 went down. 

 

The FAA issued a warning back in April that prohibited US flight operations over the Crimean region of Ukraine. The FAA says it took the action due to Russia's unilateral and illegal action to assert control over Crimean airspace, rating the potential for conflicting air traffic control instructions from Ukrainian and Russian authorities. The FAA also warned that the situation could result a civil aircraft being misidentified as a threat and engaged by air defence forces of one of the countries. But Malaysia Airlines' flight 17 went down about 200 miles outside of the FAA-restricted zone. The FAA says US air carriers are now voluntarily avoiding all air space near the Russia-Ukraine border. David Schaper, NPR News.

 

Israel has begun a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip. This marks a significant shift from the ten days of an air war which killed one Israeli and more than 200 Palestinians. From Gaza city, NPR's Emily Harris has more. 

 

The invasion started with intense Israeli fire, particularly in north and east. One person living near Gaza's eastern border with Israel said the electricity was out, but it looked like daytime  from Israeli flares⁵ and explosions. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military's focus is to destroy weapons and infrastructure⁶ used by militants⁸ in the Gaza Strip, especially hidden tunnels that could be used to hide weapons or get inside Israel. A spokesman for the main militant⁷ group Hamas said Israel will pay a price for ground war.  Emily Harris, NPR News, Gaza.

 

Software maker⁹ Microsoft is wielding¹⁰ the jobs cutting acts in a big way. The company announcing what it's calling its single biggest ever lay-off with elimination¹¹ around 18,000 positions, roughly 14% of its overall workforce¹².  Microsoft says many of the job (cuts) are being cut or jobs are being lost while there's a lot of the overlap¹³ for the company's Nokia mobile device business.

 

On Wall Street, the Dow was down 161 points.

 

This is NPR.

 

A judge in the Florida Keys has moved today to overturn that state's constitutional ban on same sex marriage. Move by the judge coming after a legal challenge by six gay couples who said the law effectively has relegated¹⁴ them to second class citizenship¹⁵, ruling in the case was issued by a Circuit Court Judge Luis M. Garcia, would only apply to the Florida county  that covers the Keys. She contends Florida-voter-approved ban on same sex marriage violates US constitution's guarantee of equal protection under the law. 

 

Members of Congress are heading home for the weekend, but still seem far apart on President Obama's budget request to deal with thousands of unaccompanied children crossing the Mexican border, NPR's S.V. Date reports it's a big sticking point and over what to do about a 2008 law that many Republicans believe has helped cause the problem.

 

The law gives minors¹⁶ a legal review prior to being deported¹⁷. It was passed six years to protect children from human trafficking. And the Democrats¹⁸ who control the Senate want to keep possible changes to it separate from the money request. Republican House Speaker John Boehner says that makes little sense. 

 

I don't know how Congress can send more money to the border to begin to mitigate¹⁹ the problem. If you don't do something about the 08 law that's being abused. And it's being abused.

 

Boehner says he is still awaiting a recommendation from a Republican working group studying the problem and continues to hope solution can pass both chambers²⁰ in the coming weeks. S.V. Date, NPR News, the Capitol.

 

North Carolina based Duke Energy has reportedly finished cleaning up coal ash spilled in the area of the Dan River from one of its plants. According to Environmental Protection Agency Duke has dredged up about 3,000 tons of the ash. Duke estimated as much as 39,000 tons of coal ash was allowed to spill into the river.

 

I'm Jack²¹ Speer, NPR News, in Washington.

1 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

2 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。

3 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。

4 wreckage   

n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏

参考例句：

• They hauled him clear of the wreckage.他们把他从形骸中拖出来。
• New states were born out of the wreckage of old colonial empires.新生国家从老殖民帝国的废墟中诞生。

5 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》

6 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

7 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。

8 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。

9 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

10 wielding   

手持着使用（武器、工具等）( wield的现在分词 )； 具有； 运用（权力）； 施加（影响）

参考例句：

• The rebels were wielding sticks of dynamite. 叛乱分子舞动着棒状炸药。
• He is wielding a knife. 他在挥舞着一把刀。

11 elimination   

n.排除，消除，消灭

参考例句：

• Their elimination from the competition was a great surprise.他们在比赛中遭到淘汰是个很大的意外。
• I was eliminated from the 400 metres in the semi-finals.我在400米半决赛中被淘汰。

12 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

13 overlap   

v.重叠，与…交叠；n.重叠

参考例句：

• The overlap between the jacket and the trousers is not good.夹克和裤子重叠的部分不好看。
• Tiles overlap each other.屋瓦相互叠盖。

14 relegated   

v.使降级( relegate的过去式和过去分词 )；使降职；转移；把…归类

参考例句：

• She was then relegated to the role of assistant. 随后她被降级做助手了。
• I think that should be relegated to the garbage can of history. 我认为应该把它扔进历史的垃圾箱。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

15 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

16 minors   

n.未成年人( minor的名词复数 )；副修科目；小公司；[逻辑学]小前提v.[主美国英语]副修，选修，兼修( minor的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The law forbids shops to sell alcohol to minors. 法律禁止商店向未成年者出售含酒精的饮料。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He had three minors this semester. 这学期他有三门副修科目。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 deported   

v.将…驱逐出境( deport的过去式和过去分词 )；举止

参考例句：

• They stripped me of my citizenship and deported me. 他们剥夺我的公民资格，将我驱逐出境。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The convicts were deported to a deserted island. 罪犯们被流放到一个荒岛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 mitigate   

vt.（使）减轻，（使）缓和

参考例句：

• The government is trying to mitigate the effects of inflation.政府正试图缓和通货膨胀的影响。
• Governments should endeavour to mitigate distress.政府应努力缓解贫困问题。

20 chambers   

n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅

参考例句：

• The body will be removed into one of the cold storage chambers. 尸体将被移到一个冷冻间里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mr Chambers's readable book concentrates on the middle passage: the time Ransome spent in Russia. Chambers先生的这本值得一看的书重点在中间：Ransome在俄国的那几年。 来自互联网

21 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。