NPR 2010-08-18

The Iraqi capital's reeling from its deadliest strike in weeks. A suicide bomber¹ attacked army recruits, killing² at least 57. The BBC's Hugh Sykes reports security forces are favorite targets.

Baghdad traffic policemen and federal police have been murdered in significant numbers over the past few weeks. Members of the mostly Sunni government-backed Sahwa militia³ or the "Awakening⁴", the people who changed sides from working with al-Qaeda in Iraq to fighting against them, they have been attacked as well. And now, these men queuing for jobs in the army seems to be very clearly-targeted on the Iraqi security forces, not those awful manslaughter, random⁵ attacks on market crowds that used to happen here in Baghdad a few years ago.

The BBC's Hugh Sykes reporting.

Pakistanis clamor to get whatever international aid they can at this warehouse⁶ in Peshawar, a familiar scene across much of Pakistan where floods have ravaged⁷ much of the country and spread disease. At least 1,500 people have died in the last two weeks.

A Palestinian man may still be in the custody⁸ of guards at the Turkish Embassy in Tel Aviv, where he reportedly attempted to take hostages. The man's been shot and wounded. NPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro says the incident comes amid heightened tension between Israel and Turkey.

There're very tense relations between Israel and Turkey right now after an incident that happened over a month ago when the Israeli military stormed a flotilla that was traveling to the Gaza Strip and killed nine Turkish citizens. And so these relations have been extremely tense and clearly now there's some negotiation⁹ going on between Israel and officials at the Turkish Embassy.

NPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro.

The Obama administration says it wants fundamental change in mortgage-lending giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but as NPR's Scott Horsley reports, the shape of that change is still up in the air.

The Obama administration invited bankers, economists¹⁰ and housing experts to a conference to discuss what to do with Fannie and Freddie—the failed mortgage lenders were taken over by the government almost two years ago. Treasury¹¹ Secretary Timothy Geithner says Fannie and Freddie must not go back to financing risky¹² home loans and sticking taxpayers¹³ with the bill, but he warned changes will have to be made carefully so as not to disrupt the fragile housing market.

"This is a test for Washington. The stakes are very high. For many Americans, their home is their largest financial asset, and the housing industry supports millions of jobs."

The administration is now expected to unveil its plans for Fannie and Freddie before next year. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington.

General Motors is recalling nearly 250,000 crossover sport utility vehicles for possible damage to their safety belts. Those affected¹⁴ include the Chevrolet Traverse, Saturn¹⁵ Outlook, GMC Acadia and Buick Enclave.

Last check on Wall Street, Dow was up more than 100 points at 10,406, NASDAQ up 28 at 2,209.

This is NPR News.

Bobby Thomson, the former player behind one of baseball's legendary¹⁶ moments, has died. Thomson hit that home run which clinched¹⁷ the National League pennant¹⁸ for the New York Giants in 1951.

"There's a long drive. It’s gonna be it, I believe. The Giants win the pennant. The Giants win the pennant. The Giants win the pennant. The Giants win the pennant…"

It became known as the "Shot Heard 'Round the World". Thomson passed away last night after several years of failing health. He was 86 years old.

In Wyoming, it is Primary Election Day. Wyoming Public Radio's Bob Beck reports that the murky¹⁹ race is the Republican nomination²⁰ for governor.

With incumbent²¹ Democrat²² Dave Freudenthal wrapping up his second term, four high-profile Republicans have targeted the seat. They are State Auditor²³ Rita Meyer, former US Attorney Matt Mead²⁴, who's the grandson of former Senator and Governor Cliff Hansen, Speaker of the House Colin Simpson, who's the son of former US Senator Alan Simpson and former legislator and State Agriculture Director Ron Micheli, who's been endorsed²⁵ by a number of Right to Life and conservative organizations. County clerks say the high interest in the Republican primary has increased turnout. The winner of the GOP primary faces either former State Democratic Party Chair Leslie Petersen or former University of Wyoming football player Pete Gosar in the general election. Bob Beck, NPR News, Laramie.

Eli Lilly is putting a stop to one of its experimental treatments for late-stage Alzheimer's disease. The company says early results from studies of the drug reveal links to worsening clinical measures such as cognition.
 

1 bomber   

n.轰炸机，投弹手，投掷炸弹者

参考例句：

• He flew a bomber during the war.他在战时驾驶轰炸机。
• Detectives hunting the London bombers will be keen to interview him.追查伦敦爆炸案凶犯的侦探们急于对他进行讯问。

2 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

3 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

4 awakening   

n.觉醒，醒悟 adj.觉醒中的；唤醒的

参考例句：

• the awakening of interest in the environment 对环境产生的兴趣
• People are gradually awakening to their rights. 人们正逐渐意识到自己的权利。

5 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

6 warehouse   

n.仓库；vt.存入仓库

参考例句：

• We freighted the goods to the warehouse by truck.我们用卡车把货物运到仓库。
• The manager wants to clear off the old stocks in the warehouse.经理想把仓库里积压的存货处理掉。

7 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。

8 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

9 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

10 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

12 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

13 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

14 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

15 Saturn   

n.农神，土星

参考例句：

• Astronomers used to ask why only Saturn has rings.天文学家们过去一直感到奇怪，为什么只有土星有光环。
• These comparisons suggested that Saturn is made of lighter materials.这些比较告诉我们，土星由较轻的物质构成。

16 legendary   

adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学）

参考例句：

• Legendary stories are passed down from parents to children.传奇故事是由父母传给孩子们的。
• Odysseus was a legendary Greek hero.奥狄修斯是传说中的希腊英雄。

17 clinched   

v.（尤指两人）互相紧紧抱[扭]住( clinch的过去式和过去分词 )；解决（争端、交易），达成（协议）

参考例句：

• The two businessmen clinched the deal quickly. 两位生意人很快达成了协议。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Evidently this information clinched the matter. 显然，这一消息使问题得以最终解决。 来自辞典例句

18 pennant   

n.三角旗；锦标旗

参考例句：

• The second car was flying the Ghanaian pennant.第二辆车插着加纳的三角旗。
• The revitalized team came from the cellar to win the pennant.该队重整旗鼓，从最后一名一跃而赢得冠军奖旗。

19 murky   

adj.黑暗的，朦胧的；adv.阴暗地，混浊地；n.阴暗；昏暗

参考例句：

• She threw it into the river's murky depths.她把它扔进了混浊的河水深处。
• She had a decidedly murky past.她的历史背景令人捉摸不透。

20 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。

21 incumbent   

adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的

参考例句：

• He defeated the incumbent governor by a large plurality.他以压倒多数票击败了现任州长。
• It is incumbent upon you to warn them.你有责任警告他们。

22 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

23 auditor   

n.审计员，旁听着

参考例句：

• The auditor was required to produce his working papers.那个审计员被要求提供其工作底稿。
• The auditor examines the accounts of all county officers and departments.审计员查对所有县官员及各部门的帐目。

24 mead   

n.蜂蜜酒

参考例句：

• He gave me a cup of mead.他给我倒了杯蜂蜜酒。
• He drank some mead at supper.晚饭时他喝了一些蜂蜜酒。

25 endorsed   

vt.& vi.endorse的过去式或过去分词形式v.赞同( endorse的过去式和过去分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• The committee endorsed an initiative by the chairman to enter discussion about a possible merger. 委员会通过了主席提出的新方案，开始就可能进行的并购进行讨论。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The government has broadly endorsed a research paper proposing new educational targets for 14-year-olds. 政府基本上支持建议对14 岁少年实行新教育目标的研究报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》