NPR 2011-09-26

 Saudi King Abdullah says women in his country will be allowed to vote for the first time ever in municipal elections scheduled four years from now. But NPR’s Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson reports the king’s pledge falls short for some.

 

Many Saudi women and their supporters had urged King Abdullah to allow them to vote in municipal elections being held this coming Thursday. The government earlier had said that would happen, but then in recent months refused to allow women to register as candidates or voters. Officials explained that for women to take part, separate polling stations for men and women are needed to adhere to Saudi Arabia’s strict Islamic code that calls for segregation¹ of the sexes in public. On Sunday, the king in a televised speech to his advisory² council, said women will be able to run as candidates and cast ballots³ in the next municipal elections scheduled for 2015. He also pledged to appoint women to his advisory council. Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson, NPR News, Dubai. 

 

In Yemen, violence continues for a sixth day between opposition⁴ groups and forces loyal to the president. Tom Finn is a freelance reporter in the capital Sanaa. He talked to people at the hospital there, who said soldiers fired at unarmed protesters. 

 

“They said that a group of 10 soldiers just opened fire on them without any warning from about 10 meters away. Now about 18 people were shot. I saw one man with a bullet lodged⁵ in his neck; another man with a bullet in his thigh⁶. And two people were in critical condition, bleeding profusely⁷ and had to be transferred to another hospital.”

 

Tom Finn in Sanaa.  

 

President Abdullah al-Saleh spoke⁸ to the nation today for the first time since he returned to Yemen. He had spent months in Saudi Arabia recovering from an assassination⁹ attempt. He said he’s committed to transferring power through elections, but did not say he’d step down. 

 

Libyan forces attacking Sirte, one of the last major strongholds ofpro-Gaddafi supporters, are renewing their assault on the city after having regrouped overnight. The BBC’s Alastair Leithead reports they’ve made significant gains this weekend. 

 

After days of stalemate, the pro-Gaddafi lines of defense¹⁰ gave way here on the eastern edge of Sirte. And the NTC troops have been surging towards the city center. There was some resistance from the remnants of Colonel Gaddafi’s army, but the overwhelming firepower and momentum¹¹ has(have) been with the advancing forces. There was confidence among commanders that Sirte would soon fall. There is already fighting in the city itself to the west and the tanks, field guns and supplies from this site continue to push forward, more effectively surrounding the city. 

 

The BBC’s Alastair Leithead reporting

 

Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer arrived in New York today after spending the past two years in prison in Iran. They’d been accused of spying. They say they were hiking in Iraq when they were arrested. Iran released them last week under a million-dollar bail¹² deal. 

 

This is NPR News from Washington.

 

Diana Nyad has given up her attempt to swim from Cuba to Florida. Her team says the 62-year-old swimmer decided¹³ she couldn’t continue after being attacked by a man o’war. She was told another sting could be life-threatening. Her team says she completed at least 67 miles of the 103-mile passage. Nyad had made the same attempt last month, but she had to stop then after 29 hours after suffering an asthma¹⁴ attack. 

 

Many parents may be wondering what to do with savings¹⁵ for their child’s education. NPR’s Paul Brown reports investment advisers¹⁷ say people should have a long-term plan that can withstand market gyrations. 

 

“If you are wondering whether you should pull college savings out of stocks or bonds,” adviser¹⁶ Dan Keady of TIAA-CREF says, “think about where you are in the saving process.” Are your kids near college age as his are? He says this is where he is now with his college savings. 

 

“The vast, vast majority of money that I’m going to need in either two years or four years is in very, very low risk investments.”

 

But what if your kids are much younger? Keady says you have years to work on saving and you may wanna have some of the money in stocks because they have the most potential for appreciation¹⁸. He and others say that with time on your side, the sharp ups and downs will smooth out for a solid gain. 

 

Paul Brown, NPR News. 

 

There are texting and talking on their cellphones in Los Angeles again. AT&T says a hardware failure caused problems for about 900 cellular¹⁹ towers in the county. Service went down at about three o’clock yesterday afternoon. It was restored for most people sometime this morning. The utility says it’s unclear how many wireless²⁰ subscribers were affected²¹. 

 

I’m Nora Raum, NPR News in Washington.

1 segregation   

n.隔离，种族隔离

参考例句：

• Many school boards found segregation a hot potato in the early 1960s.在60年代初，许多学校部门都觉得按水平分班是一个棘手的问题。
• They were tired to death of segregation and of being kicked around.他们十分厌恶种族隔离和总是被人踢来踢去。

2 advisory   

adj.劝告的，忠告的，顾问的，提供咨询

参考例句：

• I have worked in an advisory capacity with many hospitals.我曾在多家医院做过顾问工作。
• He was appointed to the advisory committee last month.他上个月获任命为顾问委员会委员。

3 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

5 lodged   

v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属

参考例句：

• The certificate will have to be lodged at the registry. 证书必须存放在登记处。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Our neighbours lodged a complaint against us with the police. 我们的邻居向警方控告我们。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 thigh   

n.大腿；股骨

参考例句：

• He is suffering from a strained thigh muscle.他的大腿肌肉拉伤了，疼得很。
• The thigh bone is connected to the hip bone.股骨连着髋骨。

7 profusely   

ad.abundantly

参考例句：

• We were sweating profusely from the exertion of moving the furniture. 我们搬动家具大费气力，累得大汗淋漓。
• He had been working hard and was perspiring profusely. 他一直在努力干活，身上大汗淋漓的。

8 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。

9 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

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 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

12 bail   

v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人

参考例句：

• One of the prisoner's friends offered to bail him out.犯人的一个朋友答应保释他出来。
• She has been granted conditional bail.她被准予有条件保释。

13 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

14 asthma   

n.气喘病，哮喘病

参考例句：

• I think he's having an asthma attack.我想他现在是哮喘病发作了。
• Its presence in allergic asthma is well known.它在过敏性气喘中的存在是大家很熟悉的。

15 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

16 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

17 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

18 appreciation   

n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨

参考例句：

• I would like to express my appreciation and thanks to you all.我想对你们所有人表达我的感激和谢意。
• I'll be sending them a donation in appreciation of their help.我将送给他们一笔捐款以感谢他们的帮助。

19 cellular   

adj.移动的；细胞的，由细胞组成的

参考例句：

• She has a cellular telephone in her car.她的汽车里有一部无线通讯电话机。
• Many people use cellular materials as sensitive elements in hygrometers.很多人用蜂窝状的材料作为测量温度的传感元件。

20 wireless   

adj.无线的；n.无线电

参考例句：

• There are a lot of wireless links in a radio.收音机里有许多无线电线路。
• Wireless messages tell us that the ship was sinking.无线电报告知我们那艘船正在下沉。

21 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。