NPR美国国家公共电台 NPR 2015-05-29

 Russian officials say they don’t fear the Swiss investigation¹ into alleged² corruption⁴ in the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 world cups. NPR’s Corey Flintoff says Russia denies any wrongdoing. 

Shortly after the United States indicted⁵ 14 people on corruption charges related to world cup soccer, Swiss prosecutors⁶ announced their own investigation. They say they are looking into allegations of criminal mismanagement and money laundering⁷ related to the world cup events that will be held in Russia and Qatar. Russia’s foreign ministry⁸ immediately blamed the United States, saying the arrests of Fifa officials appear to be “the latest case of illegal extraterritorial application of U.S. laws”. The ministry says it hopes the investigation will not be used to cast a shadow on Fifa and its decisions. Corey Flintoff, NPR News, St. Petersburg. 

 

The state of Nebraska has abolished the death penalty, the first conservative state to do so in more than 40 years. As the legislature defied its Republican governor, voting to override⁹ Governor Pete Ricketts’s veto of a bill to ban capital punishment, which he strongly supports. Nebraska joined 18 others states along with the District of Columbia in banning the death penalty. 

 

The Department of Defense¹⁰ says it’s accidentally shipped live anthrax spores¹¹ to several commercial labs. As NPR’s Jeff Brumfield reports, the government is investigating what went wrong. 

The anthrax came from the army’s Dugway Proving Ground in Utah, which conducts bio-security research. The samples were apparently¹² sent to labs in nine states as part of ongoing¹³ efforts to develop field tests for anthrax. Tests are usually conductive with dead samples of anthrax and an investigation is now underway to learn why live samples were sent instead. Anthrax are highly infectious bacteria that can travel through the ear and infect people. So far the Pentagon says it appears nobody has become sick from the mistake. It has suspended all shipments of biological agents from its labs until an investigation is completed. Jeff Brumfield, NPR News, Washington. 

 

Former Republican Senator Rick Santorum is making another run for the White House, announcing today he’s ready to do this again, outlining some if his ideas.

“Step one in taking back America. Step one, let’s scrap¹⁴ the corrupt³ federal tax code and the IRS that goes with it.”

He lost the GOP nomination¹⁵ in 2012 to Governor Mitt¹⁶ Romney. The 57-year-old announced his candidacy in Cabot, Pennsylvania near his hometown. So far there are seven declared Republican presidential candidates. 

 

Wall Street higher by the closing bell. The Dow up 121 points to close at 18,162. The Nasdaq up nearly 1.5%, gaining 73 points to close at 5,106. The S&P500 up 19. 

 

This is NPR. 

 

In Houston, at least six people are dead, two others missing after flooding from severe storms ravaged¹⁷ the city. Officials also ordered the evacuation of around 350 houses west of Fort Worth because of a swollen¹⁸ river expected to flood the area. And more than 100 people are still searching for bodies along the Blanco River in central Texas and forecasters say more rain is expected overnight.

 

Broadway saw a record-breaking season according to the Broadway League, its industrial group. Jeff London has more. 

The books are closed on the 2014-2015 season, and the statistics are impressive. Broadway had its best year yet-- close to $1.4bn were spent on tickets and over 13mn people attended Broadway shows, an increase of over 13% in the last two years alone. The Broadway League credits a healthier economy and more visitors to New York City. Tourists account for 70% of Broadway audiences. The season will officially be celebrated¹⁹ with the Tony Awards on June 7th. For NPR News, I’m Jeff London in New York.

 

Up to 11 named storms are predicted this year and that’s less than average. Kathryn Sullivan is with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric²⁰ Administration. She says six of the 11 storms are expected from tropical up to hurricane with sustained winds of around 39 miles an hour. 

“Driving the outlook this year most importantly is the El Nino Phenomenon, which has developed in the Pacific Ocean and is expected to last through the end of the calendar year.”

And she says up to six of those storms will develop into hurricanes. 

1 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。

2 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

3 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

4 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

5 indicted   

控告，起诉( indict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The senator was indicted for murder. 那位参议员被控犯谋杀罪。
• He was indicted by a grand jury on two counts of murder. 他被大陪审团以两项谋杀罪名起诉。

6 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

7 laundering   

n.洗涤（衣等），洗烫（衣等）；洗（钱）v.洗（衣服等），洗烫（衣服等）( launder的现在分词 )；洗（黑钱）（把非法收入改头换面，变为貌似合法的收入）

参考例句：

• Separate the white clothes from the dark clothes before laundering. 洗衣前应当把浅色衣服和深色衣服分开。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He was charged with laundering money. 他被指控洗钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

9 override   

vt.不顾，不理睬，否决；压倒，优先于

参考例句：

• The welfare of a child should always override the wishes of its parents.孩子的幸福安康应该永远比父母的愿望来得更重要。
• I'm applying in advance for the authority to override him.我提前申请当局对他进行否决。

10 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。

11 spores   

n.（细菌、苔藓、蕨类植物）孢子( spore的名词复数 )v.（细菌、苔藓、蕨类植物）孢子( spore的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Ferns, mosses and fungi spread by means of spores. 蕨类植物、苔藓和真菌通过孢子传播蔓生。
• Spores form a lipid membrane during the process of reproducing. 孢于在生殖过程中形成类脂膜。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 预防生物武器

12 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。

13 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

14 scrap   

n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废

参考例句：

• A man comes round regularly collecting scrap.有个男人定时来收废品。
• Sell that car for scrap.把那辆汽车当残品卖了吧。

15 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

16 mitt   

n.棒球手套，拳击手套，无指手套；vt.铐住，握手

参考例句：

• I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日，我送给他一只棒球手套。
• Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。

17 ravaged   

毁坏( ravage的过去式和过去分词 )； 蹂躏； 劫掠； 抢劫

参考例句：

• a country ravaged by civil war 遭受内战重创的国家
• The whole area was ravaged by forest fires. 森林火灾使整个地区荒废了。

18 swollen   

adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀

参考例句：

• Her legs had got swollen from standing up all day.因为整天站着，她的双腿已经肿了。
• A mosquito had bitten her and her arm had swollen up.蚊子叮了她，她的手臂肿起来了。

19 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。

20 atmospheric   

adj.大气的，空气的；大气层的；大气所引起的

参考例句：

• Sea surface temperatures and atmospheric circulation are strongly coupled.海洋表面温度与大气环流是密切相关的。
• Clouds return radiant energy to the surface primarily via the atmospheric window.云主要通过大气窗区向地表辐射能量。