News brief: Bronx fire, record COVID-19 cases, U.S.-Russia talks on Ukraine

搜索

复制

News brief: Bronx fire, record COVID-19 cases, U.S.-Russia talks on Ukraine

Transcript¹

A fire in a New York City high-rise apartment building has killed 19 people. New coronavirus cases are up to about 700,000 per day. The U.S. and Russia are holding talks Monday in Geneva.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

A fire at a New York City apartment complex killed at least 19 people on Sunday, including nine children.

A MARTINEZ, HOST:

Officials call it one of the worst fires in the city's history. More than 200 firefighters responded to the call. A 19-story building in the Bronx was ablaze². Here's New York Fire Commissioner³ Daniel Nigro yesterday.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

DANIEL NIGRO: This fire began in an apartment that spans two floors on the second and third floor of the building. It started in a malfunctioning⁴ electric space heater.

MARTIN: For more, we've got Jake Offenhartz on the line from member station WNYC, who's been covering this. Jake, good morning. Thanks for being here.

JAKE OFFENHARTZ, BYLINE⁵: Good morning.

MARTIN: So as we noted⁶, officials there in the city say this was the deadliest fire in more than three decades. Why? What made it so bad?

OFFENHARTZ: I think a lot of people are trying to figure this out right now. We do know that it was a fireproof building, but the door to the apartment that caught fire and the door to a hallway were also open. And that allowed smoke to travel through almost the entire 19 floors of the building. And people I spoke⁷ to said that they were OK if they stayed in their apartments and barricaded⁸ their doors. But many residents tried to evacuate⁹. Some of them died in the hallways that were filled with smoke. One resident I spoke to, Ken¹⁰ Otisi, described a wall of smoke when he opened his apartment door.

KEN OTISI: It was pitch-black, thick, chalky smoke, the type of smoke that you can't breathe. There was one point I did kind of break down. I thought I was going to die. But I tried to stay as calm as possible.

OFFENHARTZ: Otisi waited inside his apartment for hours, he said. And when he was eventually able to leave, he told me that he saw multiple people and pets unconscious in the building's hallway.

MARTIN: Oh, my. So this was an older building, right? It was built in 1972 and doesn't, I assume, have some of the safeguards that newer buildings have. What can you tell us about that?

OFFENHARTZ: Yeah. So this is an affordable¹¹ housing complex built for low- to moderate-income tenants¹² with state money in the 1970s. And like many high rises that were built at the time, there were no fire escapes. Residents rely on hallways in the building. We're also told that there weren't sprinklers in the building. At the time it was built, there weren't local laws requiring sprinklers in residential¹³ buildings. And we know that the building has some outstanding violations¹⁴ for things like rodents¹⁵ and a broken elevator. Residents said that there were fire alarms that were frequently ringing in the building and that were often ignored. So officials said that these are all things they're looking into when they're conducting a full investigation¹⁶ into whether the building was following all fire safety laws.

MARTIN: What have you learned about the people who live there?

OFFENHARTZ: Yeah, we're still waiting on some details there, but we do know that there was a large population of immigrants from West Africa, a West African Muslim community in the building, including some of the victims. I spoke to a member of the Islamic Cultural Center of the Bronx, Bakary Camara. He described a close-knit community that had developed around this building specifically.

BAKARY CAMARA: We are devastated¹⁷. As a people of faith, we leave everything in the hand of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. However, you know, we need help. Some people live in this building for 40 years, and now they are uprooted¹⁸.

OFFENHARTZ: Many of these survivors¹⁹ are in shock. I spoke to a group of women who immigrated²⁰ from Guinea. One had glass in her hand from punching out a window. The Red Cross is providing emergency shelter for those who need it. And the city says it will find long-term housing if residents can't return to their apartments.

MARTIN: WNYC's Jake Offenhartz. Jake, thanks.

OFFENHARTZ: Thank you.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

MARTIN: Omicron has ushered²¹ in a record-shattering number of new coronavirus cases, averaging about 700,000 a day.

MARTINEZ: And the number of people being hospitalized across the country, including young children, is hitting new highs, too. Yet doctors say this surge is different. Many vaccinated²³ people are testing positive but are either asymptomatic or not getting seriously ill thanks to the protection of the vaccines²⁴.

MARTIN: NPR's Allison Aubrey is here. Allison, good morning.

ALLISON AUBREY, BYLINE: Good morning, Rachel.

MARTIN: So hospitalizations have shot up by a lot over the last week. Who's most at risk here?

AUBREY: Yeah, hospital admissions are near or at record pandemic highs in some states. Nationwide, about 18,000 people are being admitted a day. That's a 50% increase over last week. And the people who are most at risk are those who are not vaccinated. The CDC says unvaccinated people are 17 times more likely to be hospitalized. I spoke to Dr. Lance Becker. He's head of emergency medicine at Northwell Health in New York. He says they see many unvaccinated patients who are very ill.

LANCE BECKER: It is very upsetting to see a person who's made a decision, and now that person pays such a price for it. And we've had people who are dying and had family members say, well, maybe you could vaccinate²² them right now. And, you know, and they're, like, literally²⁵ losing their blood pressure and dying in front of your eyes. And you just want to cry. You just want to cry.

AUBREY: You can hear that in his voice, Rachel. He says because so many of these deaths are preventable, it's just tough for health care workers to be going through this again.

MARTIN: And they themselves are exposed, right?

AUBREY: Yeah, that's right. Every hospital administrator²⁶ I've spoken with paints the same picture. Lots of health care workers have tested positive, and then they can't come to work for five days or so. Now, because most health care workers are vaccinated and many are boosted, they're not getting as sick. But with people out, it creates staffing challenges. Large hospital systems like Northwell are able to move people around, managed pretty well. But a bunch of urgent care centers in New York and New Jersey²⁷ have had to close just due to a lack of staff amid this surge.

MARTIN: Allison, is the U.S. near the peak? Please say yes.

AUBREY: You know, officials in New York say the state may be nearing its peak. Numbers have flattened²⁸ over the last few days. But remember, this was the first area to see the surge. Nationwide, the CDC director said on Friday, we have not yet reached the peak. On Friday, 830,000 people tested positive, according to the agency. And that doesn't even include those who only used a rapid at-home test. I spoke to Michael Osterholm of the University of Minnesota about what we can expect.

MICHAEL OSTERHOLM: Four weeks ago, I put out a prediction at that time that we would be literally in a viral blizzard²⁹ for the next eight weeks or more. And I'm sticking with that. I think another four weeks, and we're going to see case numbers peaking and coming down quite rapidly.

AUBREY: You know, several models suggest a similar quick rise and fall. That's what's been seen in South Africa and in parts of the U.K., which has typically been about three weeks ahead of the U.S. during the pandemic. There's some initial indications there that the number of new cases may have peaked.

MARTIN: NPR's Allison Aubrey. Thanks, Allison.

AUBREY: Thank you, Rachel.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

MARTIN: OK, imagine looking over your country's border and seeing a hundred thousand Russian troops, sort of an unsettling view. But that is the situation in Ukraine right now.

MARTINEZ: And with that, talks between the U.S. and Russia are underway in Geneva. Vladimir Putin's clear threat of attack on Ukraine is a big focus. Russia has said it will not make concessions³⁰ under pressure and indicated talks might actually end early. The U.S. has said no breakthroughs are expected.

MARTIN: Nothing like low expectations.

MARTINEZ: Yeah.

MARTIN: We've got NPR national security correspondent Greg Myre with us. Hey, Greg.

GREG MYRE, BYLINE: Hi, Rachel.

MARTIN: So set the stage for what's going to happen this week in Geneva.

MYRE: Well, this is really a big week for diplomacy³¹ in Geneva and elsewhere in Europe. The U.S., led by Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, is meeting with the Russians today in Geneva. And then on Wednesday and Thursday, the U.S. and its European allies together will be meeting with the Russians. It's a genuinely tense moment, and the sides are very far apart. As you've noted, prospects³² are pretty pessimistic. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he really didn't expect any breakthrough when Russia is taking such an aggressive posture³³. Here he is Sunday, speaking on ABC this week.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

ANTONY BLINKEN: To make actual progress, it's very hard to see that happening when there's an ongoing³⁴ escalation³⁵, when Russia has a gun to the head of Ukraine.

MYRE: And so this Russian buildup with tanks, armored vehicles and artillery³⁶ and the snow and the mud of western Russia could be preparation for a major attack. Or it could be brinksmanship by Russian leader Vladimir Putin just trying to win diplomatic concessions. We should remember Russia seized Ukraine's Crimea peninsula back in 2014. Those troops are there to this day. And Russia is also supporting separatists in eastern Ukraine, so this threat has to be taken seriously. That's certainly what Ukraine is doing.

MARTIN: You mentioned maybe Putin wants easing of sanctions. But say more. Even though it's hard to get in his head, what more could Putin be agitating³⁷ for with all this?

MYRE: Well, you know, he's always pretty unpredictable. So in the short term, we don't really know what he might do here. But in the long term, the picture is pretty clear. He thinks Ukraine is really part of Russia's sphere of influence, and he sees it drifting away, becoming more aligned³⁸ with the West. He wrote a long essay last year saying Russia and Ukraine are really just one country. And, you know, that has been true at times in their thousand-year history. But Ukraine has its own culture, language, identity. And it's now been independent for 30 years. And Putin's big fear is Ukraine becomes a close partner or member of NATO. And more broadly, he wants NATO to pull back from Eastern Europe. And yet his actions are really achieving exactly the opposite. He's turning Ukrainians away from Russia.

MARTIN: Meanwhile, we just marked 30 years since the breakup of the Soviet³⁹ Union. And Russia has now deployed⁴⁰ troops to Kazakhstan? Is that right? Is this an effort to expand his power around those former Soviet republics?

MYRE: So in Kazakhstan, we've seen these large-scale, bloody⁴¹ protests against an authoritarian⁴² government for the past week, and Russia has sent troops in to help. Now, about 2,500 - not a huge force. But this is just one of several of the former Soviet republics where we have seen unrest in recent years. And if we step back and consider the big picture, Putin is often seen as a skillful operator who outmaneuvers his rivals. But he's now been in power for more than 20 years. And his closest allies in the former Soviet republics have these autocratic governments that are shaky and subject to unrest. So if you're in the Kremlin looking out, the region is looking pretty unsettled.

MARTIN: NPR's Greg Myre.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 ablaze   

adj.着火的，燃烧的；闪耀的，灯火辉煌的

参考例句：

• The main street was ablaze with lights in the evening.晚上，那条主要街道灯火辉煌。
• Forests are sometimes set ablaze by lightning.森林有时因雷击而起火。

3 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

4 malfunctioning   

出故障

参考例句：

• But something was malfunctioning in the equipment due to human error. 但由于人为的错误，设备发生故障了。 来自超越目标英语 第4册
• Choke coils are useful for prevention of malfunctioning electronic equipment. 扼流圈对于防止电器设备的故障很有帮助。 来自互联网

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

7 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

8 barricaded   

设路障于，以障碍物阻塞( barricade的过去式和过去分词 )； 设路障[防御工事]保卫或固守

参考例句：

• The police barricaded the entrance. 警方在入口处设置了路障。
• The doors had been barricaded. 门都被堵住了。

9 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

10 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

11 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

12 tenants   

n.房客( tenant的名词复数 )；佃户；占用者；占有者

参考例句：

• A number of tenants have been evicted for not paying the rent. 许多房客因不付房租被赶了出来。
• Tenants are jointly and severally liable for payment of the rent. 租金由承租人共同且分别承担。

13 residential   

adj.提供住宿的；居住的；住宅的

参考例句：

• The mayor inspected the residential section of the city.市长视察了该市的住宅区。
• The residential blocks were integrated with the rest of the college.住宿区与学院其他部分结合在了一起。

14 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

15 rodents   

n.啮齿目动物( rodent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Rodents carry diseases and are generally regarded as pests. 啮齿目动物传播疾病，常被当作害虫对待。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Some wild rodents in Africa also harbor the virus. 在非洲，有些野生啮齿动物也是储毒者。 来自辞典例句

16 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。

17 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

18 uprooted   

v.把（某物）连根拔起( uproot的过去式和过去分词 )；根除；赶走；把…赶出家园

参考例句：

• Many people were uprooted from their homes by the flood. 水灾令许多人背井离乡。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The hurricane blew with such force that trees were uprooted. 飓风强烈地刮着，树都被连根拔起了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

20 immigrated   

v.移入( immigrate的过去式和过去分词 )；移民

参考例句：

• He immigrated from Ulster in 1848. 他1848年从阿尔斯特移民到这里。 来自辞典例句
• Many Pakistanis have immigrated to Britain. 许多巴基斯坦人移居到了英国。 来自辞典例句

21 ushered   

v.引，领，陪同( usher的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The secretary ushered me into his office. 秘书把我领进他的办公室。
• A round of parties ushered in the New Year. 一系列的晚会迎来了新年。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 vaccinate   

vt.给…接种疫苗；种牛痘

参考例句：

• Local health officials then can plan the best times to vaccinate people.这样，当地的卫生官员就可以安排最佳时间给人们接种疫苗。
• Doctors vaccinate us so that we do not catch smallpox.医生给我们打预防针使我们不会得天花。

23 vaccinated   

[医]已接种的，种痘的，接种过疫菌的

参考例句：

• I was vaccinated against tetanus. 我接种了破伤风疫苗。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child? 你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？

24 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

25 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

26 administrator   

n.经营管理者，行政官员

参考例句：

• The role of administrator absorbed much of Ben's energy.行政职务耗掉本很多精力。
• He has proved himself capable as administrator.他表现出管理才能。

27 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

28 flattened   

[医]（水）平扁的，弄平的

参考例句：

• She flattened her nose and lips against the window. 她把鼻子和嘴唇紧贴着窗户。
• I flattened myself against the wall to let them pass. 我身体紧靠着墙让他们通过。

29 blizzard   

n.暴风雪

参考例句：

• The blizzard struck while we were still on the mountain.我们还在山上的时候暴风雪就袭来了。
• You'll have to stay here until the blizzard blows itself off.你得等暴风雪停了再走。

30 concessions   

n.（尤指由政府或雇主给予的）特许权( concession的名词复数 )；承认；减价；（在某地的）特许经营权

参考例句：

• The firm will be forced to make concessions if it wants to avoid a strike. 要想避免罢工，公司将不得不作出一些让步。
• The concessions did little to placate the students. 让步根本未能平息学生的愤怒。

31 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

32 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

33 posture   

n.姿势，姿态，心态，态度；v.作出某种姿势

参考例句：

• The government adopted an uncompromising posture on the issue of independence.政府在独立这一问题上采取了毫不妥协的态度。
• He tore off his coat and assumed a fighting posture.他脱掉上衣，摆出一副打架的架势。

34 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。

35 escalation   

n.扩大，增加

参考例句：

• The threat of nuclear escalation remains. 核升级的威胁仍旧存在。 来自辞典例句
• Escalation is thus an aspect of deterrence and of crisis management. 因此逐步升级是威慑和危机处理的一个方面。 来自辞典例句

36 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。

37 agitating   

搅动( agitate的现在分词 )； 激怒； 使焦虑不安； （尤指为法律、社会状况的改变而）激烈争论

参考例句：

• political groups agitating for social change 鼓吹社会变革的政治团体
• They are agitating to assert autonomy. 他们正在鼓吹实行自治。

38 aligned   

adj.对齐的，均衡的

参考例句：

• Make sure the shelf is aligned with the top of the cupboard.务必使搁架与橱柜顶端对齐。

39 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

40 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

41 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

42 authoritarian   

n./adj.专制(的)，专制主义者，独裁主义者

参考例句：

• Foreign diplomats suspect him of authoritarian tendencies.各国外交官怀疑他有着独裁主义倾向。
• The authoritarian policy wasn't proved to be a success.独裁主义的政策证明并不成功。