NPR美国国家公共电台 2013-05-23

　　From NPR News in Washington, I'm Lakshmi Singh.

 

　　The senior IRS official who weeks ago revealed her unit inappropriately targeted conservative groups is now pleading the fifth. NPR's Peter Overby reports Lois Lerner invoked¹ her right not to testify before a house committee today, prompting angry responses from members of Congress.

 

　　Lois Lerner appeared under  subpoena, she read a statement.

 

　　I have not done anything wrong. I have not broken any laws. I have not violated any IRS rules, regulations and I have not provided false information to this or any other congressional committee.

 

　　She then refused to answer questions. When Committee Chairman  Darrell Issa gave her permission to leave. South Carolina Republican Trey Gowdy  objected.

 

　　She waived² her right to Fifth Amendment³ privilege by issuing an opening statement. She ought to stand here and answer our questions.

 

　　Issa said he'll see if Lerner can be compelled to answer some questions, if not all of them. Peter Overby, NPR News, Washington.

 

　　President Obama will travel to Moore, Oklahoma, Sunday and tour the site of this week's destructive tornado⁴. The death toll⁵ stands at 24 according to the State Medical Examiners Office. Twenty-three of the victims have been positively⁶ identified. NPR's David Schaper reports from Moore that search and recovery efforts continue. Authorities say there are still six adults who have not been accounted for since Monday's monstrous⁷ twister hit.

 

　　While some crews still dig through the rubble⁸ and hopes a finding those still missing. Most here and more are shifting their efforts to cleaning up debris⁹ and recovering what if anything might be salvageable¹⁰. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano toured the area alienated¹¹ by the twister, telling residents the federal government will do everything in its power to help in the recovery.

 

　　On behalf of President Obama and on behalf of FEMA, we will be here to stay until this recovery is complete. So you have our commitment on that.

 

　　A preliminary estimate from Oklahoma's Insurance Department puts the cost of the tornado at more than $2 billion with as many as 13,000 homes and businesses damaged or destroyed. David Schaper, NPR News, Moore, Oklahoma.

 

　　A brutal¹² attack near military barracks in southeast London today, is prompting the British government to convene¹³ an emergency meeting. Witnesses in the neighborhood of Woolwich report saying a man hacked¹⁴ to death in a street. Local media reports say the victim was a British soldier. That has not been independently verified. The British Prime Minister David Cameron's cutting short his trip to France today, saying the attack appeared to be politically motivated.

 

　　We obviously are urgently seeking, the police are urgently seeking the full facts about this case. But there are strong indications that it is a terrorist incident.

 

　　Police have sealed off streets around Woolwich. There are reports that two suspects have been shot and wounded by police.

 

　　Before the closing bell, Dow was down more than 80 points.

 

　　This is NPR.

 

　　The FBI has shot and killed a man they were interviewing in connection with the Boston Marathon bombings. NPR's Dina Temple-Raston reports the incident is under investigation¹⁵.

 

　　It all happened shortly after midnight. An FBI agent and a handful of law enforcement officials went to the Orlando Florida apartment  of Ibragim Todashev to interview him when a scuffle broke out. Law enforcement officials say Todashev was a friend of one of the Boston Marathon bombers¹⁶, the elder of the two brothers suspected of launching the attack, Tamerlan Tsarnaev. And Todashev became, in their words, violent during questioning and that led to the fatal shooting. The FBI agent is in a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. It's unclear why officials want to talk to Todashev and what role of any he played in the bombings last month. Dina Temple-Raston, NPR News.

 

　　The spill over a violence from the Syrian civil war has caused more casualties in neighboring Lebanon. Authorities in the coastal¹⁷ city of Tripoli say Lebanese groups for and against Syria's Assad regime fought overnight using mortar¹⁸ shells and rocket propelled grenades. In Syria, the opposition¹⁹ says the latest battle in Lebanon was triggered by an assault on the Syrian border town of Qusayr. They say Lebanese Hezbollah militants²⁰ were helping²¹ Syrian troops.

 

　　Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke signaling the Fed. will maintain its stimulus²² efforts testifying before the joint²³ economic committee. Bernanke told lawmakers that the job market is still weak. The Fed. chief says while unemployment has fallen to a four year low of 7.5%. It's still far above levels consistent with healthy economies.

 

　　I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News, in Washington.

1 invoked   

v.援引( invoke的过去式和过去分词 )；行使（权利等）；祈求救助；恳求

参考例句：

• It is unlikely that libel laws will be invoked. 不大可能诉诸诽谤法。
• She had invoked the law in her own defence. 她援引法律为自己辩护。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 waived   

v.宣布放弃( waive的过去式和过去分词 )；搁置；推迟；放弃（权利、要求等）

参考例句：

• He has waived all claim to the money. 他放弃了索取这笔钱的权利。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I waived the discourse, and began to talk of my business. 我撇开了这个话题，开始讲我的事情。 来自辞典例句

3 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

4 tornado   

n.飓风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• A tornado whirled into the town last week.龙卷风上周袭击了这座城市。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。

5 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。

6 positively   

adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实

参考例句：

• She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。
• The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。

7 monstrous   

adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的

参考例句：

• The smoke began to whirl and grew into a monstrous column.浓烟开始盘旋上升，形成了一个巨大的烟柱。
• Your behaviour in class is monstrous!你在课堂上的行为真是丢人！

8 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

9 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

10 salvageable   

adj. 可抢救的(可打捞的)

参考例句：

• Tank wrecks found on maps are no longer salvageable. 地图上自带的坦克残骸将不能被轴心国工兵回收。
• Their marriage was not salvageable. 他们的婚姻已不可挽回。

11 alienated   

adj.感到孤独的，不合群的v.使疏远( alienate的过去式和过去分词 )；使不友好；转让；让渡（财产等）

参考例句：

• His comments have alienated a lot of young voters. 他的言论使许多年轻选民离他而去。
• The Prime Minister's policy alienated many of her followers. 首相的政策使很多拥护她的人疏远了她。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 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。

13 convene   

v.集合，召集，召唤，聚集，集合

参考例句：

• The Diet will convene at 3p.m. tomorrow.国会将于明天下午三点钟开会。
• Senior officials convened in October 1991 in London.1991年10月，高级官员在伦敦会齐。

14 hacked   

生气

参考例句：

• I hacked the dead branches off. 我把枯树枝砍掉了。
• I'm really hacked off. 我真是很恼火。

15 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

16 bombers   

n.轰炸机( bomber的名词复数 )；投弹手；安非他明胶囊；大麻叶香烟

参考例句：

• Enemy bombers carried out a blitz on the city. 敌军轰炸机对这座城市进行了突袭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Royal Airforce sill remained dangerously short of bombers. 英国皇家空军仍未脱离极为缺乏轰炸机的危境。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

18 mortar   

n.灰浆，灰泥；迫击炮；v.把…用灰浆涂接合

参考例句：

• The mason flushed the joint with mortar.泥工用灰浆把接缝处嵌平。
• The sound of mortar fire seemed to be closing in.迫击炮的吼声似乎正在逼近。

19 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。

20 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

21 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。

22 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

23 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。