NPR 2012-07-31

 Colorado prosecutors¹ have formally charged former doctoral student James Holmes with 142 counts, including murder, attempted murder and position of explosives in connection with the Aurora² massacre³ nearly two weeks ago. Holmes appeared in court today, reportedly looking as days he did as in his first court hearing last week.

 

 

In Syria, fighting continues with battles raging on several fronts including Syria's largest city of Aleppo. The Syrian crisis is dominating Defense⁴ Secretary Leon Panetta's diplomatic mission in the Middle East this week. He kicked off the trip in Tunisia which inspired the Arab uprising. Panetta is also trying to allay⁵ concerns about the US's response to Iran's nuclear program. He says so far, economic pressure is working. 

These sanctions are having a serious impact in terms of the economy in Iran. But Israel argues the sanctions have failed because they have not stopped Iran's nuclear program. 

 

 

Well, Republican Presidential candidate Mitt⁶ Romney says if elected he will stand with Israel on matters of security and the economy. He told Jewish supporters in Jerusalem today that their culture is part of the reason the Israeli economy is stronger than the Palestinian economy. While Palestinian officials called Romney's comments racist⁷. More on than from Daniel Estrin in Jerusalem. 

Romney told a group of wealthy supporters that Israel's GDP per capita is dramatically higher than the Palestinian GDP per capita. He said Israel's accomplishments⁸ are due to its culture and entrepreneurial business spirit, Jewish survival through out history, and also due to god. Saeb Erekat, an aide to the Palestinian president, called Romney's comment insensitive. He says Palestinians can't realise their economic potential because of Israeli restrictions⁹. Today's breakfast fundraiser in Jerusalem added more than 1 million dollars for Romney's campaign. Part of an effort to win American Jewish voters. For NPR News, I'm Daniel Estrin in Jerusalem.

 

 

Well, Romney was also in Poland, the certain final leg of his tour to build up his foreign policy credentials¹⁰ he picked up the leaders endorsement¹¹. 

 

 

And to the Olympics, in Men's Gymnastics, not the America's finest moment, they watched China win its second straight Olympic title while Japan came away with silver, and Britain the bronze. As NPR's Mike Pesca reports. 

** gymnasts suffered a few falls not really doom¹² their chances. John Orozco, I had a brutal¹³ on the ** . Then Uchimura fell of the horse. A lot of problems all around. There were moments of glory which perhaps some of these athletes can build on in the individual competitions which Leyva and Orozco are qualified¹⁴. But the US came in fifth, but not their best that. NPR's Mike Pesca reporting.

 

 

At last check on Wall Street, the Dow is down 6 points at 13,069.

You are listening to  NPR News.

 

 

Three members of an all female punk band are on trail in Russia over a protest, staged in one of Moscow's main Orthodox cathedrals. We have details from NPR's Corey Flintoff.

The three members of the band called Pussy¹⁵ Riot could face seven years in prison for this, an unauthorised performance at Moscow's Christ Saviour¹⁶ cathedral. The song calls on the Virgin¹⁷ Mary to deliver Russia from Vladimir Putin who is then running for president. The defendants¹⁸ denied that their act was motivated by religious hatred¹⁹. They say they were protesting the support given to Putin by the church leader Patriarch Kirill. The trail of the three young women is widely seen as a test of how strongly President Putin intends to crack down on dissidents. Corey Flintoff NPR News, Moscow.

 

 

If you drive a Santa Fe SUV or a Sonata²⁰ sedan, it may be subject to a recall, because of defective²¹ airbags. Honda motor company is focusing on SUVs from 2007 through 2009 and the sedans are at 2012, 2013 model years. The recall covers more than 200,000 Honda models in the United States and Canada.  

 

 

While two tech giants are taking their fight to federal court today over smartphone and computer tablet markets. Apple is suing Samsung Electronics for allegedly marketing²² unauthorised knockouts of Apple's products.

 

 

US stocks trading lower today. With the Dow off 6 points at last glance at 13,070; NASDAQ down 11 and the S&P 500 down slightly. 

 

 

I'm Lakshmi Singh NPR News.

                                               

1 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。

2 aurora   

n.极光

参考例句：

• The aurora is one of nature's most awesome spectacles.极光是自然界最可畏的奇观之一。
• Over the polar regions we should see aurora.在极地高空,我们会看到极光。

3 massacre   

n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀

参考例句：

• There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在战争中，这里的村民惨遭屠杀。
• If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘记了大屠杀，大屠杀就有可能再次发生！

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 allay   

v.消除，减轻(恐惧、怀疑等)

参考例句：

• The police tried to allay her fears but failed.警察力图减轻她的恐惧，但是没有收到什么效果。
• They are trying to allay public fears about the spread of the disease.他们正竭力减轻公众对这种疾病传播的恐惧。

6 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。

7 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。

8 accomplishments   

n.造诣；完成( accomplishment的名词复数 )；技能；成绩；成就

参考例句：

• It was one of the President's greatest accomplishments. 那是总统最伟大的成就之一。
• Among her accomplishments were sewing,cooking,playing the piano and dancing. 她的才能包括缝纫、烹调、弹钢琴和跳舞。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

9 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

10 credentials   

n.证明，资格，证明书，证件

参考例句：

• He has long credentials of diplomatic service.他的外交工作资历很深。
• Both candidates for the job have excellent credentials.此项工作的两个求职者都非常符合资格。

11 endorsement   

n.背书；赞成，认可，担保；签(注)，批注

参考例句：

• We are happy to give the product our full endorsement.我们很高兴给予该产品完全的认可。
• His presidential campaign won endorsement from several celebrities.他参加总统竞选得到一些社会名流的支持。

12 doom   

n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定

参考例句：

• The report on our economic situation is full of doom and gloom.这份关于我们经济状况的报告充满了令人绝望和沮丧的调子。
• The dictator met his doom after ten years of rule.独裁者统治了十年终于完蛋了。

13 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

14 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

15 pussy   

n.(儿语)小猫，猫咪

参考例句：

• Why can't they leave my pussy alone?为什么他们就不能离我小猫咪远一点？
• The baby was playing with his pussy.孩子正和他的猫嬉戏。

16 saviour   

n.拯救者，救星

参考例句：

• I saw myself as the saviour of my country.我幻想自己为国家的救星。
• The people clearly saw her as their saviour.人们显然把她看成了救星。

17 virgin   

n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的

参考例句：

• Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗？
• There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。

18 defendants   

被告( defendant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The courts heard that the six defendants had been coerced into making a confession. 法官审判时发现6位被告人曾被迫承认罪行。
• As in courts, the defendants are represented by legal counsel. 与法院相同，被告有辩护律师作为代表。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

19 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。

20 sonata   

n.奏鸣曲

参考例句：

• He played a piano sonata of his own composition.他弹奏了一首自作的钢琴奏鸣曲。
• The young boy played the violin sonata masterfully.那个小男孩的小提琴奏鸣曲拉得很熟练。

21 defective   

adj.有毛病的，有问题的，有瑕疵的

参考例句：

• The firm had received bad publicity over a defective product. 该公司因为一件次品而受到媒体攻击。
• If the goods prove defective, the customer has the right to compensation. 如果货品证明有缺陷， 顾客有权索赔。

22 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。