NPR 2012-05-31

 13 bound corpses¹ have been found in Eastern Syria, UN observers say they discovered the bodies in Deir el-Zour province. The UN team says the victims appear to have been shot at a close range with their hands tied behind their backs. The discovery comes after a weekend killing² of more 100 Syrian civilians³ at Houla. There are reports today that Syrian government forces are again attacking rebel-held areas in the same province as Houla.

 

 

Israel’s Defense⁴ Minister is calling for more concrete action against Iran’s nuclear program. As Linda Gradstein reports Ehud Barak says Iran is moving toward a point of no return.

Speaking today, Barak said that Israelis cannot sleep soundly while the Iranians are moving systematically⁵ toward a point where Israel won’t be able to do anything. He said Israel will not close its eyes and wait for the Iranians to attain⁶ nuclear capability⁷. Barak also addressed Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians, saying ‘we are on borrow time, we will reach a war and we’ll pay the price.’ He said there was Israel’s new expanded coalition⁸ of 94 out of 120 members in the Israeli parliament. This is the time to lead diplomatic process. But if that doesn’t work, Barak said, Israel should consider an intra-agreement or even a unilateral move. For NPR news, I’m Linda Gradstein in Jerusalem.

 

 

In New Mexico, a wild fire in the Gila National Forest grew overnight into the largest fire in state history. NPR’s Ted⁹ Robbins reports the fire in southwestern New Mexico has burnt more than 265 square miles.

The wild * fires, burning in remote mountainous country. But New Mexico air quality officials have issued smoke alerts for Santa Fe and Albuquerque which is near 170 miles away. The fire was caused by lightening. It’s been burning for two weeks and is still out of control. Part of the problem is the rugged(崎岖的) terrain¹⁰ but fuel on the ground is also burning quickly because of dry conditions. New Mexico is in the midst of a draught¹¹ and humidity levels right now are as low as 5%. Ted Robbins, NPR News.

 

 

Pope Benedict XVI is speaking publicly about the leak of confidential¹² Vatican documents. Benedict’ butler(男管家) has been arrested in the case. The Pope says he is saddened by the situation but grateful to * who worked faithfully and silently to help him do his job. In comments of the end of his weekly general audience, Benedict described some media coverage¹³ as exaggerated, saying the stories are giving a false image of the Vatican.

 

 

Just days after a poll indicated that a pro-bailout party could win Greece’s elections next month, a new poll shows that hard left party that opposes the Eurozone bailout has regained¹⁴ the lead in public opinion. The conflicting opinion polls * Greek stock up this week and then sharply down today.

 

 

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 151 points to 12,433, the Nasdaq Composite Index is down 29 points of 2,840.

 

 

This is NPR.

 

 

Space X is getting ready for the return of its history making spaceship Dragon. NPR’s Nell Greenfieldboyce reports that the unman capsule is scheduled to depart from the International Space Station early tomorrow morning.

Astronauts onboard the station have unloaded all the cargo¹⁵ on Dragon and filled it up with stuff to send back to earth. They’ll use the station’s robotic arm to detach it from the outpost. Space X mission director John Couluris says it won’t be long after that before the capsule splashes(溅，泼) down in the pacific.

About 5.5 hours after released from the arm, we should be in the water. Our recovery forces will be standing¹⁶ by lake * late Monday night.

After the ships retrieve¹⁷ the capsule, it will go to a space X facility in Texas for cargo unloading and inspection¹⁸. Even if their return trip doesn’t go exactly as planned, Couluris says this first visit by a private spaceship to the station will still be considered a huge success. Nell Greenfieldboyce, NPR News.

 

 

Reuters is reporting that an explosion in northeast Kenya has killed at least one person and left another three people injured. The blast reportedly occurred in a restaurant near the border with Somali. Kenya has been dealing¹⁹ with the wave of explosion since it sent troops into neighboring Somali to battle al Shabaab and * terror group it blames for several kidnappings and cross border attacks. Earlier this week, a Kenyan official said the FBI was helping²⁰ to investigate an explosion in a building full of small shops in Nairobi.

 

 

Rescue workers in Italy say they have pulled the last body out of the collapsed²¹ factory. The death toll²² from yesterday’s 5.8 magnitude quake now stands at 17. Officials say there are no more reports of missing individuals. The quake is the second in 9 days to hit the same area in collapsed building across the region.

1 corpses   

n.死尸，尸体( corpse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The living soldiers put corpses together and burned them. 活着的战士把尸体放在一起烧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Overhead, grayish-white clouds covered the sky, piling up heavily like decaying corpses. 天上罩满了灰白的薄云，同腐烂的尸体似的沉沉的盖在那里。 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

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 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

4 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。

5 systematically   

adv.有系统地

参考例句：

• This government has systematically run down public services since it took office.这一屆政府自上台以来系统地削减了公共服务。
• The rainforest is being systematically destroyed.雨林正被系统地毀灭。

6 attain   

vt.达到，获得，完成

参考例句：

• I used the scientific method to attain this end. 我用科学的方法来达到这一目的。
• His painstaking to attain his goal in life is praiseworthy. 他为实现人生目标所下的苦功是值得称赞的。

7 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。

8 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

9 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

10 terrain   

n.地面，地形，地图

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• He knows the terrain of this locality like the back of his hand.他对这一带的地形了如指掌。

11 draught   

n.拉，牵引，拖；一网（饮，吸，阵)；顿服药量，通风；v.起草，设计

参考例句：

• He emptied his glass at one draught.他将杯中物一饮而尽。
• It's a pity the room has no north window and you don't get a draught.可惜这房间没北窗，没有过堂风。

12 confidential   

adj.秘（机）密的，表示信任的，担任机密工作的

参考例句：

• He refused to allow his secretary to handle confidential letters.他不让秘书处理机密文件。
• We have a confidential exchange of views.我们推心置腹地交换意见。

13 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

14 regained   

复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地

参考例句：

• The majority of the people in the world have regained their liberty. 世界上大多数人已重获自由。
• She hesitated briefly but quickly regained her poise. 她犹豫片刻，但很快恢复了镇静。

15 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

16 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

17 retrieve   

vt.重新得到，收回；挽回，补救；检索

参考例句：

• He was determined to retrieve his honor.他决心恢复名誉。
• The men were trying to retrieve weapons left when the army abandoned the island.士兵们正试图找回军队从该岛撤退时留下的武器。

18 inspection   

n.检查，审查，检阅

参考例句：

• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。
• The soldiers lined up for their daily inspection by their officers.士兵们列队接受军官的日常检阅。

19 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

20 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

21 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。

22 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。