美国国家电台 NPR 2012-09-30

 The civil war in Syria is now threatening to destroy an historic marketplace in the old city of Aleppo, where merchants have been selling goods for hundreds of years. Activists¹ say the fighting between government troops and rebels has started fires that already burned more than 1,000 shops. Meanwhile, the BBC's Jim Muir reports the battle for the country's largest city shows no sign of abating².

 

Some rebel commanders have heralded³ a big offensive to secure control of the whole of Aleppo. Both sides reported clashes in different parts of the city. But the signs are that the rebels simply lack the firepower and the manpower to score a significant breakthrough. The government side has made full use of its heavy weapons, tanks, and monopoly of airpower. By the same token, the government forces, despite all their disadvantages, have clearly not been able to dislodge the tenacious⁴ rebel fighters from many parts of the city.

 

The BBC's Jim Muir reporting.

 

In Portugal, tens of thousands of opponents of austerity rallied in the capital Lisbon to call for an about-turn in government policy. They say austerity measures imposed as part of the country's eurozone bailout are crushing the economy. Alison Roberts reports from Lisbon.

 

The Union Federation⁵ that staged today's demonstration⁶ is now calling for a general strike. Its members packed out Lisbon's giant riverside square to protest against austerity. Union members bused in from across the country were joined at the protest by other citizens who expressed outrage⁷ at government's insistence⁸ on policies they say are choking off economic growth, yet failing to narrow the deficits⁹.

 

"We are worse now than we were a year before. We have to stop this."

 

Recent polls do show most voters still back the three political parties that had committed to Portugal's eurozone bailout deal. But even one of those, the opposition¹¹ Socialist¹² Party, says blind spending cuts and tax hikes are killing¹³ growth, so the government must ease up on austerity. For NPR News, I'm Alison Roberts in Lisbon.

 

Hundreds of people gathered in a main square in Benghazi, Libya today not to protest, but to turn in their weapons. The military is attempting to disarm¹⁴ the militias¹⁵. 

 

The first debate of the presidential election will be held Wednesday night in Denver. Both major candidates are spending time behind closed doors this weekend getting ready. But their running mates are out campaigning. In Deering, New Hampshire, Paul Ryan said the choice is clear: Mitt¹⁰ Romney is the right person.

 

"Very rarely, do we see a situation where the man in the moment meets so well? This is a man who threw all of his accomplishments¹⁶ has shown one thing: decisive, principled leadership."

 

Vice¹⁷ President Joe Biden in Fort Myers, Florida said the Republican Party isn't what it used to be.

 

"This is not your father's Republican Party. This is not even Mitt Romney's father's Republican Party. This is nothing like it."

 

Biden also blamed the Republicans for the nation's budget troubles by cutting taxes for the wealthy.

 

This is NPR News from Washington.

 

It wasn't a good week on Wall Street, but Steve Beckner of Market News International reports it did end a positive third quarter.

 

It was rough going for the stock market during a week of fresh turmoil¹⁸ in heavily indebted European nations and often disappointing US economic news that created uncertainty¹⁹ in investors²⁰' minds. At Friday's close, the three major stock gauges²¹ are all down substantially, led by the technology-heavy NASDAQ Composite's loss of two thirds of a percent. And for a second straight week, the indices are down by at least one percent. But recent losses aren't bad enough to erase²² previous gains. So for the third quarter as a whole, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 4.3%, the S&P 500 5.8%, and the NASDAQ 6.2%. For NPR News, I'm Steve Beckner.

 

A curfew is in effect in the Iraqi city of Tikrit after a prison break this week. Authorities say they are searching for dozens of escapees, including some death row inmates²³ linked to al-Qaeda. The Interior Ministry²⁴ says they were able to break out of prison, using weapons that have been smuggled²⁵ into them during family visits. And some of the guards may have helped by leaving some doors unlocked. At least twenty people were killed. Tikrit was the hometown of the Saddam Hussein. It's located about 80 miles north of Baghdad.

 

The Pope's butler went on trial today on charges of stealing of papal documents and leaking them to a reporter. According to court records, the former servant confessed, saying he wanted to expose the evil and corruption²⁶ in the Roman Catholic Church. He told investigators²⁷ he felt inspired by the Holy Spirit to inform the Pope about the church's problems.

 

I'm Nora Raum, NPR News in Washington.

1 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 abating   

减少( abate的现在分词 )； 减去； 降价； 撤消（诉讼）

参考例句：

• The storm showed no signs of abating. 暴风雨没有减弱的迹象。
• The recent public anxiety about this issue may now be abating. 近来公众对这个问题的焦虑心情现在也许正在缓和下来。

3 heralded   

v.预示( herald的过去式和过去分词 )；宣布（好或重要）

参考例句：

• The singing of the birds heralded in the day. 鸟鸣报晓。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A fanfare of trumpets heralded the arrival of the King. 嘹亮的小号声宣告了国王驾到。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 tenacious   

adj.顽强的，固执的，记忆力强的，粘的

参考例句：

• We must learn from the tenacious fighting spirit of Lu Xun.我们要学习鲁迅先生韧性的战斗精神。
• We should be tenacious of our rights.我们应坚决维护我们的权利。

5 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

6 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

7 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

8 insistence   

n.坚持；强调；坚决主张

参考例句：

• They were united in their insistence that she should go to college.他们一致坚持她应上大学。
• His insistence upon strict obedience is correct.他坚持绝对服从是对的。

9 deficits   

n.不足额( deficit的名词复数 )；赤字；亏空；亏损

参考例句：

• The Ministry of Finance consistently overestimated its budget deficits. 财政部一贯高估预算赤字。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Many of the world's farmers are also incurring economic deficits. 世界上许多农民还在遭受经济上的亏损。 来自辞典例句

10 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。

11 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。

12 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

13 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。

14 disarm   

v.解除武装，回复平常的编制，缓和

参考例句：

• The world has waited 12 years for Iraq to disarm. 全世界等待伊拉克解除武装已有12年之久。
• He has rejected every peaceful opportunity offered to him to disarm.他已经拒绝了所有能和平缴械的机会。

15 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

16 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》

17 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

18 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。

19 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

20 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

21 gauges   

n.规格( gauge的名词复数 )；厚度；宽度；标准尺寸v.（用仪器）测量( gauge的第三人称单数 )；估计；计量；划分

参考例句：

• A thermometer gauges the temperature. 温度计可测量温度。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The fuel gauges dropped swiftly. 燃料表指针迅速下降。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 erase   

v.擦掉；消除某事物的痕迹

参考例句：

• He tried to erase the idea from his mind.他试图从头脑中抹掉这个想法。
• Please erase my name from the list.请把我的名字从名单上擦去。

23 inmates   

n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• One of the inmates has escaped. 被收容的人中有一个逃跑了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The inmates were moved to an undisclosed location. 监狱里的囚犯被转移到一个秘密处所。 来自《简明英汉词典》

24 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

25 smuggled   

水货

参考例句：

• The customs officer confiscated the smuggled goods. 海关官员没收了走私品。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Those smuggled goods have been detained by the port office. 那些走私货物被港务局扣押了。 来自互联网

26 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

27 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》