美国国家公共电台 NPR 2015-12-27

 For NPR news in Washington, I'm Jeanine Herbst.Muslim majority Senegal is celebrating Christmas a day after marking the anniversary of the birth of the Prophet Mohammed. From Dakar, NPR's AC reports that hawkers are selling Christmas and utensils¹ to both Christians³ and Muslims as Senegal continues to promote tolerance⁴ and diversity in a region often blighted⁵ by sectarian and ethnic⁶ strife⁷. Muslims in Senegal celebrated⁸ Mulid, Prophet Mohammed's birthday overnight Wednesday, spilling into Christmas Eve as Christians prepared to mount the birth of Christ. In this nation of 14 million, most Muslim people, both are holy days of public holidays. At Christmas time, Senegalese Muslims are invited into Christian² homes just as Christians joined Muslim festivals, marking out Senegal as a bright spot in western central Africa where countries like central African republic remained divided by religion and tribe. This 94 percent majority Muslim country's first president Léopold Sédar Senghor was a Christian. governed independent Senegal for 2o years. AC, NPR news, Dakar.

 

 

At least 30 people are hurt in Peshawar Pakistan after a powerful earthquake in Afghanistan near the border with Tajikistan and Pakistan today. The US geological survey put it at a preliminary magnitude of 6.3. It was felt in Kabul and also the Pakistani capital of Islamabad. Officials say those injuries happened as houses and walls collapsed⁹. 

 

 

The Arable¹⁰ is condemning¹¹ the kidnapping in southern Iraq of 26 men from Karter. NPR's Alice Fordham reports that incident could create tensions between the two countries. The man disappeared earlier this month while on a hunting trip. The south of Iraq is particularly popular with wealth Arabs from gulf¹² countries including Karter and Saudi Arabia for hunting birds of prey¹³. No group has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping although there are unconfirmed reports in Arabia media that the kidnappers¹⁴ were Shiite armed group, calling for Karter and other Sunni countries to release Shiite prisoners and stop supporting Sunni groups in Iraq and Syria. The Arab League's Statement called on Iraq government to shoulder its legal responsibility and help to resolve the matter. Earlier in the year, a Shiite group kidnapped Turkish construction workers in Iraq. They were freed after negotiations¹⁵. Alice Fordham, NPR news.

 

 

Fedex has problems delivering packages this holiday season. Companies officials have apologized to customers, saying it just wasn't able to make all its scheduled deliveries yesterday, blaming it on last minutes's surges of shopping coupled with bad weather in parts of the US. 

 

 

And the east coast is spending this Christmas with near-record warm in places along with rain and fog in cities including Washington DC. Parts of Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee are getting heavy rain and flooding. National Weather Services has issued flash flood warnings for several counties in those states. And Tornadoes¹⁶ are possible in Alabama this afternoon. I'm Janine Herbst. NPR news in Washington.

 

 

The prime minister of India made a surprise trip to Pakistan today. It's Narendra Modi's first official visit to the Islamic nation. That has been his country's long-standing rival in the region. The unannounced visit is a possible sign of thawn relations between the two nuclear armed neighbors. 

 

 

New data from the federal government show a very strong start to the snow season in the parched¹⁷ Pacific northwest. As Scott Graf, a Boise State Public Radio reports, the region is experiencing above-average snow pack. This part of the country relies heavily on winter snow accumulating and slowly melting in the spring to replenish¹⁸ the water supply. So it's good news that federal hydrology say the amount of snow that has fallen is above average. In fact, all 44 the basins measured cross Idaho, Oregon and Washington have more snow than normal for late December. Last winter was very dry here and drought was prevalent over the summer. There has been some * over the need for a good snow  season this year. In far southwest in Idaho and southeastern Oregon, one of the driest sections of the area, snow pacts¹⁹ right now are more than 220 percent of normal. For NPR news, I'm Scott Graf in Boise.

 

 

Former president Bill Clinton's childhood house was damaged by fire. And officials say they this it's arson²⁰. Firefighters in Hope, Arkansas see flames a feet high when they got to the home earlier today but it was put out quickly. Arson is suspected because an investigator²¹ say they smelled an accelerant at the scene. Clinton lived in that home as a child before moving to Hot Springs Arkansas and it was designated as a national historic site in 2011. I'm Janine Herbst. NPR news in Washington.

1 utensils   

器具，用具，器皿( utensil的名词复数 )； 器物

参考例句：

• Formerly most of our household utensils were made of brass. 以前我们家庭用的器皿多数是用黄铜做的。
• Some utensils were in a state of decay when they were unearthed. 有些器皿在出土时已经残破。

2 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

3 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

4 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。

5 blighted   

adj.枯萎的，摧毁的

参考例句：

• Blighted stems often canker.有病的茎往往溃烂。
• She threw away a blighted rose.她把枯萎的玫瑰花扔掉了。

6 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

7 strife   

n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争

参考例句：

• We do not intend to be drawn into the internal strife.我们不想卷入内乱之中。
• Money is a major cause of strife in many marriages.金钱是造成很多婚姻不和的一个主要原因。

8 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

9 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

10 arable   

adj.可耕的，适合种植的

参考例句：

• The terrain changed quickly from arable land to desert.那个地带很快就从耕地变成了沙漠。
• Do you know how much arable land has been desolated?你知道什么每年有多少土地荒漠化吗？

11 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》

12 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

13 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

14 kidnappers   

n.拐子，绑匪( kidnapper的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They were freed yesterday by their kidnappers unharmed. 他们昨天被绑架者释放了，没有受到伤害。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The kidnappers had threatened to behead all four unless their jailed comrades were released. 帮匪们曾经威胁说如果印度方面不释放他们的同伙，他们就要将这四名人质全部斩首。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

16 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

17 parched   

adj.焦干的；极渴的；v.（使）焦干

参考例句：

• Hot winds parched the crops.热风使庄稼干透了。
• The land in this region is rather dry and parched.这片土地十分干燥。

18 replenish   

vt.补充；(把…)装满；(再)填满

参考例句：

• I always replenish my food supply before it is depleted.我总是在我的食物吃完之前加以补充。
• We have to import an extra 4 million tons of wheat to replenish our reserves.我们不得不额外进口四百万吨小麦以补充我们的储备。

19 pacts   

条约( pact的名词复数 )； 协定； 公约

参考例句：

• Vassals can no longer accept one-sided defensive pacts (!). 附庸国不会接受单方面的共同防御协定。
• Well, they are EU members now and have formed solidarity pacts with members such as Poland. 他们现在已经是欧盟的一部分了并且他们和欧盟成员诸如波兰等以签署了合作协议。

20 arson   

n.纵火，放火

参考例句：

• He was serving a ten spot for arson.他因纵火罪在服十年徒刑。
• He was arraigned on a charge of arson.他因被指控犯纵火罪而被传讯。

21 investigator   

n.研究者，调查者，审查者

参考例句：

• He was a special investigator for the FBI.他是联邦调查局的特别调查员。
• The investigator was able to deduce the crime and find the criminal.调查者能够推出犯罪过程并锁定罪犯。